Ryan Henk Donk (born 30 March 1986) is a former 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 played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he played for the Suriname national team.

Club career

RKC and AZ

Donk impressed in the 2005–06 season at RKC Waalwijk and with an expiring contract, he wanted to make a step up to a higher level. AZ first approached him, but other clubs including

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, PSV and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

showed serious interest in him. Donk chose to go to AZ as a replacement for Joris Mathijsen who had been sold to German club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

, thinking it to be the best for his development. Initially, AZ intended to loan Donk to Waalwijk, but he stated his intent to stay at the club in an attempt to push into the first team. He earned himself a place in the starting lineup and impressed with his performances.

Loan to West Brom

On 31 August 2008, Donk signed for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

for one year on loan. He made his debut in a 1–0 win away at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

on 28 September 2008.

Club Brugge

On 26 June 2009, Donk moved from AZ in his home country of the Netherlands, to Belgium to play for Club Brugge.

Kasımpaşa

At the start of the 2013–14 season, Donk transferred to Turkish side Kasımpaşa for an undisclosed fee. He played as a central defender for the team in his first two years, however during the first half of the 2015–16 season before transferring to Galatasaray, he played mainly as defensive midfielder.

Galatasaray

On 5 January 2016, Galatasaray announced that they had signed Donk. On 9 January 2016, Donk made his debut for Galatasaray and scored his first goal in penalty box against Karşıyaka in the 2015–16 Turkish Cup. He also made an assist for his teammate Bilal Kısa in same match. On 31 August 2016, after being rarely used by Galatasaray during his first season at the club, Donk joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

in a season-long loan deal, with a buyout clause.

Return to Kasımpaşa

In August 2021 Donk joined fellow Turkish club Kasımpaşa on a one-year deal, with an option for a further year. Donk was in

Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

during the

2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

and feared for his life. He has since spoken about the trauma of the event and decided to retire at the end of the 2022–23 season due to its impact on his life.

International career

In 2007 Donk was called up by Jong Oranje coach

Foppe de Haan Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch football coach. He is known for his long association with Frisian club Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national team during 2011 and then rejoined Heerenveen's youth prog ...

to be part of his squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship held in the Netherlands. Donk participated in both of their first round group matches against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

(1–0 win) and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

(2–1 win) to secure a semi final spot and to qualify for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. During the tournament his sister was involved in a car accident. Donk left the Dutch squad for a day and returned into the tournament after it was known her health was improving. After the Dutch qualified for the semi-final and Olympics Donk took off his football jersey to reveal another shirt having the text "Dit toernooi is voor jou, ik hou van je." (This tournament is dedicated to you, I love you.) on it to support his sister. In the semi-finals against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

(1–1, 13–12 after 32 penalty kicks) Donk assisted Maceo Rigters to score his 90th-minute equaliser with a bicycle kick which took the game into extra time. Donk was the only Dutch player on the field at the end of the game not to shoot a penalty after one England player ( Nedum Onuoha) was unable to shoot due to an injury while England had no substitutes left. The Dutch went on to retain their 2006 title by beating

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

4–1 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. After his display at the tournament, Donk made the pre-selection of the Dutch national team on 6 August. Born in the Netherlands and of Surinamese descent, Donk was called up for a friendly match with the

Suriname national football team The Suriname national football team (; Sranantongo: ) represents Suriname in international football. The team is controlled by the Surinaamse Voetbal Bond (), which is a member of CONCACAF. History Although the former Dutch colony is located ...

in 2014, but was not given permission to join the squad. In 2015, Donk expressed an interest in representing the

Turkey national football team The Turkey national football team (), recognized as Türkiye by FIFA and UEFA, represents Turkey in men's international Association football, football matches. The team is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation (), the governing body for ...

, being eligible through residence in the country. He has not received a formal callup to the team. In November 2019, Donk got an official call up by Dean Gorré to represent Suriname. He made his debut, as a team captain, on 24 March 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against the Cayman Islands and scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory. In June 2021 Donk was named to the 23-man Suriname squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was ...

Style of play

A tall and commanding defender, Donk has drawn comparisons to many former footballers – one being former Dutch defender Jaap Stam.Nederlander Ryan Donk voor vier jaar naar Club Brugge 'Hij heeft meer talent dan Jaap Stam'
– Nieuwsblad

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Suriname's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Donk goal.''

Honours

Galatasaray *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

: 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 2015–16, 2018–19 * Turkish Super Cup:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

Ryan Donk player profile
at wba.co.uk * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donk, Ryan 1986 births Living people Footballers from Amsterdam Surinamese men's footballers Suriname men's international footballers Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders AVV Zeeburgia players RKC Waalwijk players AZ Alkmaar players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Club Brugge KV players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers Galatasaray S.K. footballers Real Betis players Eredivisie players Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Süper Lig players La Liga players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Surinamese expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in England Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Surinamese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Spain