Simon Thomas Donnelly (born 1 December 1974) is a Scottish professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach and former player. Donnelly played as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
*Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Smal ...
or
wide midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
,
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
,
St Johnstone
St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...
,
Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...
,
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
and
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
He established himself at Celtic, winning the Scottish League title in 1997–98 and being a member of the Scotland squad at the
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
. In 1999 he moved to English football with Sheffield Wednesday, but struggled with injuries in his time there. Returning to Scotland, he played for St Johnstone, Dunfermline and Partick Thistle before his playing retirement in 2011.
He has since moved into coaching, acting as
assistant manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
to
Jackie McNamara
Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional Association football, football Sports agent, agent, and former football player, player, Manager (association football), manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playin ...
at Partick Thistle,
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
and
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...
.
Club career
A wide forward, Donnelly started his career at Queen's Park but left in 1993 to join
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
. He made his league debut towards the end of the 1993–94 season, appearing as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against Hibernian. Playing in the majority of matches from March onwards, Donnelly scored five league goals in 12 appearances. He failed to improve on this tally in the following season as he did not score in 17 outings, although the team reached both domestic cup finals, and he was part of Celtic's
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1995–96 season, Donnelly became a regular, missing only one league match and scoring six goals, and featured in the majority of the 1996–97 campaign.
The 1997–98 season saw Donnelly's best return of goals, scoring 10 goals in 30 league matches as Celtic won the
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...
and
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
. The following season, he scored five goals in 23 appearances in what was his final year at
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...
. In July 1999, Donnelly – along with Phil O'Donnell – joined
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
on a Bosman free transfer.
Donnelly's time at Wednesday was interrupted by a series of injuries and he played only a dozen matches in the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
that season, scoring once as Wednesday were relegated. The following season, he featured in just three matches, although he played in 23 games in the 2001–02 season. In his final season at Hillsborough, Donnelly scored two goals in fifteen league matches before being released.
Joining
Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...
on trial, Donnelly instead returned to Scotland with
St Johnstone
St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...
, signing a one-year deal in August 2003. Surprisingly, given his injury history, he featured in every league match of that season, scoring eight goals before signing for
Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...
in July. During his time at
East End Park
East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of .
The stadium plays host to the home matches of side, Dunfermline Athle ...
, his injuries returned and he was released two years later having made fewer than 40 league appearances.
He joined
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
in June 2006 and played regularly for three seasons. He was initially released at the end of the 2008–09 season, and made a substitute appearance for
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...
in a friendly against
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...
. However, following the departure of Partick coach
John Henry
John Henry most commonly refers to:
*John Henry (folklore)
John Henry may also refer to:
People
Artists and entertainers
* John Henry (actor) (1738–1794), Irish and early American actor
*Seán Ó hEinirí (1915–1998), known in English as John ...
to
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
, Donnelly rejoined the ''Jags'' as a player-coach, scoring against Morton in a 2–0 win at
Cappielow
Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...
later that season. In a similar pattern, Donnelly was then released by Partick again at the end of the 2009–10 season, but soon re-signed once more on a one-year contract. In 2011 he ceased playing but continued at the club as a coach after his friend and teammate
Jackie McNamara
Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional Association football, football Sports agent, agent, and former football player, player, Manager (association football), manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playin ...
was appointed manager.
International career
At end of the 1996–97 season, Donnelly made his
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
debut, making substitute appearances in the friendly matches against
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
. The following season Donnelly also featured regularly for Scotland, playing in a number of friendlies ahead of the
1998 World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
, although he failed to make an appearance during the tournament. Donnelly won ten Scotland caps during his career, and had played for Scotland under-21 before appearing for the senior side.
Coaching career
On 30 January 2013, Donnelly left Partick Thistle and joined Dundee United as assistant manager, accompanying Jackie McNamara who had been appointed manager. He left Dundee United in September 2015, following McNamara's departure.
Donnelly was announced as
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...
's assistant manager two months later, following McNamara to Bootham Crescent. After McNamara's resignation as manager and appointment as chief executive, Donnelly left the club on 16 October 2016.
In September 2020, Donnelly landed the assistant manager's job at Scottish side
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...
, working with another former Celtic player, Mark Wilson. Donnelly and Wilson were sacked by Brechin in October 2020.
Rutherglen
Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...
and attended
Stonelaw High School
Stonelaw High School is a non-denominational state high school located in Rutherglen, Scotland near the city of Glasgow.
Admissions
Stonelaw High School is a Scottish school delivering the new National 4/5 qualifications introduced by the SQA. ...
. His father
Tom Donnelly
Thomas Mathew Donnelly (born 1 October 1981) is a former rugby union player who played for Montpellier in the Top 14. He also made 15 appearances for the All Blacks since 2009 and played for Otago Rugby Football Union. He moved into a coaching ...
was also a footballer, who failed to break into the team at
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
in the late 1960s but played for
Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
and East Stirlingshire over the next decade before becoming a school teacher.
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1994–95
*
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...