Ryan Mark Donaldson (born 1 May 1991) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

Club career

Newcastle United

Donaldson joined his hometown club at aged 9. He made his way through the academy to the u18s where he reached the semi-final of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 2007 and captained the team to the fifth round in 2009 where they lost out to Manchester City. After being promoted to the first team for the 2008–09 season, Donaldson made the bench for a handful of games but did not manage to make an appearance. He eventually made his league and home debut for Newcastle on 31 August 2009 in the 1–0 home win against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and then made his second appearance as a second-half substitute for Ryan Taylor playing the final 15 minutes of the game in a 4–0 victory over

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

on 26 September 2009. He made his full debut when Chris Hughton handed him and several youngsters a starting role in the 22 September League Cup game away at

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

. He was a regular member of the squad which won the championship that season, collecting a winners medal after the last game of the season at home to

. His second Newcastle start came in the 2010–2011 season when he played in the second round League Cup tie against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

in central midfield alongside

Haris Vučkić Haris Vučkić (born 21 August 1992) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Domžale. Vučkić represented Slovenia internationally at youth level, before making his senior debut against Scotl ...

. On 24 January 2011, Donaldson joined

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

on a month-long loan. He made his debut the following day in a 1–1 draw with

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. On 25 February, Hartlepool extended Donaldson's loan for a further month. After his next loan move to Tranmere was cut short by a torn hamstring, he was released by Newcastle United on 1 June 2012.

Gateshead

On 17 August 2012, Donaldson turned down interest from League 1 and the SPL to sign for local

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

side

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

until 1 January 2013. He made his debut the following day as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

. He scored his first senior goal on 24 August 2012 in a 2–1 win over

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

, before being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

late in the game. On 26 November 2012, Donaldson signed an extension to his contract until the end of the 2012–13 season.

Cambridge United

On 23 May 2013, Donaldson chose to leave Gateshead and signed for Cambridge United on a two-year deal when the 12/13 came to a close, thus reuniting with his former Newcastle academy director

Richard Money Richard Money (born 13 October 1955) is an English former footballer and manager who was most recently manager of National League club Hartlepool United. Before this, he managed Cambridge United, overseeing the side's return to the Football Leag ...

. Donaldson scored twice in Cambridge's 4–0

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

victory over Gosport Borough. He then scored the winner in the Conference Promotion Final as Cambridge overcame his old team Gateshead 2–1 at Wembley. He received the man of the match award on both Wembley visits. Donaldson left Cambridge United at the end of the 2015–16 season.

Plymouth Argyle

Donaldson became the first summer signing for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

in June 2016. Donaldson made 22 appearances before he was sidelined in December 2016 with a broken jaw, suffered during a training ground collision.

Hartlepool United

Donaldson signed for

on a two-year deal in June 2017. After his first season, Donaldson was made available for transfer by manager

Matthew Bates Matthew David Bates (born 10 December 1986) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, as well as holding a UEFA B coaching licence. Born in Stockton-on-Tees, he began his youth career with Manchester United before moving ...

. However, he was back in favour and made team captain under new manager

Craig Hignett Craig Hignett (born 12 January 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker and later in his career as a midfielder. Born in Whiston, he started his senior club career with Crewe Alexandra in 1988. After making ...

and signed a contract extension in May 2019. Donaldson scored what proved to be the decisive penalty in a 5–4 shoot-out win over

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

in the 2021

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

promotion final. This helped Hartlepool to return to the EFL after a four-year absence and secured the club's first promotion in 14 years. On 13 July 2021, Donaldson left Hartlepool after turning down a deal to stay at the club.

Morpeth Town

On 16 July 2021, Donaldson signed for Morpeth Town.

Blyth Spartans

On 18 June 2024, Donaldson joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division side

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

. He departed the club in December 2024.

Ashington

In January 2025, Donaldson signed for

International career

In the summer of 2007, Donaldson was called up to the England U17 squad and made his debut on 31 July at the Nordic Championships, helping them to a third-place finish. He took part in the Algarve Tournament the following summer and England's unsuccessful

2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 26th UEFA European Under-17 Championship, UEFA's premier football tournament for players under the age of 17. The tournament was held in Turkey from 4 to 16 May 2008. Pla ...

qualifying campaign. Donaldson was promoted to the U19s and made his debut in September 2009. He started and scored the opening goal in a 3–1 win over Slovenia. He played regularly during the U19s' run to the European Championship semi-final before they were defeated 3–1 by Spain.

Career statistics

Honours

Cambridge United *

play-offs:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

: 2013–14 Plymouth Argyle *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

runner-up: 2016–17 Hartlepool United *

play-offs:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Ryan 1991 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Newcastle United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Morpeth Town A.F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Ashington A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players 21st-century English sportsmen