Clayton Donaldson

Clayton Andrew Donaldson (born 7 February 1984) is a professional footballer and manager who plays as a striker for club Farsley Celtic, where he is also the manager.

He has played in the English Football League and Scottish Premier League for Hull City, Hibernian, Crewe Alexandra, Brentford, Birmingham City, Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City, and at senior international level for the Jamaica national team.

Donaldson started his career with Hull City in 2002, scoring on his first-team debut in the Football League Trophy later that year.

Donaldson was a trainee with Hull's youth system when scoring from close range on his first-team debut in Hull's Football League Trophy 3–1 away defeat to Port Vale on 22 October 2002, having replaced Gary Alexander as a 60th-minute substitute.

He was sent out on loan to Northern Premier League Premier Division club Harrogate Town in November 2002, and scored in the 68th minute of his debut, a 3–1 away win over Gateshead on 12 November.

He stayed with Harrogate for three months, in that time scoring 5 goals in 10 appearances before returning to Hull.

He made one further appearance in the 2002–03 season, as a 69th-minute substitute in a 1–0 away win against Boston United.

He made his Football League debut for Hull on 8 February 2003, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for Damien Delaney in a 1–0 defeat at home to Lincoln City.

Two days later, he signed a two-year professional contract with Hull.

In August 2003, Donaldson joined Football Conference club Scarborough on a one-month loan.

His debut came in a 2–1 home defeat to Burton Albion on 23 August 2003, and made only one more appearance before his loan expired.

On his return to Hull he made two further appearances, both as a substitute in the Football League Trophy, before joining Football Conference club Halifax Town in February 2004 on a one-month loan.

Having made his debut as a 58th-minute substitute for Jake Sagare in a 2–0 away defeat to Margate on 8 February 2004, Donaldson finished his spell at Halifax with four appearances.

With little prospect of a first-team place at Hull, he rejoined Harrogate in September 2004 on a one-month loan, and scored in the 18th minute of his second debut for the club, a 3–0 home win over Lancaster City on 18 September.

He was voted the Conference North Player of the Month for October 2004, having scored three goals from five appearances in that period.

His second loan spell with Harrogate ended having scored 4 goals from 11 appearances.

At the end of 2004–05, Donaldson was released by Hull, as manager Peter Taylor was unable to guarantee him first-team football.

He was sent out on loan to non-League clubs on four occasions, and with chances in the first team at Hull limited, he was released in 2005 and subsequently joined York City.

In his first season at the club, he was voted as their Clubman of the Year and his second season saw him finish as the team's highest scorer and third highest scorer in the league.

After his release by Hull, Donaldson was spoken to by Barrow, but was signed by Conference National club York City on 23 June 2005, with manager Billy McEwan saying: "He's a young player who is very hungry for his chance and he'll bring competition up front".

He made his debut in a 0–0 home draw with Crawley Town on 13 August 2005.

His first goal came in a 1–0 win against Cambridge United on 2 September 2005.

Picking the ball up on the half-way line, he ran past two opposition defenders on the left wing before shooting the ball into the bottom-right corner from outside the penalty area.

During 2005–06, Donaldson scored 18 goals for York and was awarded the Clubman of the Year award, voted for by the club's supporters, before the final match of the season against Hereford United on 29 April 2006.

He agreed a contract extension with York for 2006–07 in July 2006.

York manager McEwan compared Donaldson to Paulo Wanchope in September 2006, but following York's 2–0 away defeat against Oxford United later that month, McEwan criticised Donaldson's selfishness in attack, saying it cost them the match.

In late 2006, Donaldson became subject of much transfer speculation.

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy watched him in York's 1–0 home victory over Altrincham, in which he scored his 12th goal of the season, on 5 November 2006.

He joined Scottish Premier League club Hibernian in July 2007, after signing a pre-contract agreement with them in January whilst with York.

After a season at the club he left to return to England with Crewe Alexandra.

After three years with Crewe, being the top goalscorer in League Two in his last season, he joined Brentford in 2011.

He spent three years with the club, helping them gain promotion into the Championship in 2013–14, before signing for Birmingham City at the end of that season when his contract expired.

Donaldson played internationally for the England National Game XI, who represent England at non-League level, with whom he earned two caps, before accepting an invitation to represent Jamaica in 2015.

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Donaldson grew up in Manningham and attended Manningham Middle School and Rhodesway School.

He played football for his school team before joining his hometown club Bradford City, who he supported as a child.

Donaldson was released by the club aged 16, with only one player, Lewis Emanuel, being retained from his age group.

He was soon signed by Hull City, having been spotted by their youth-team coach Billy Russell.

After three seasons with Birmingham, he signed for another Championship club, Sheffield United, in August 2017.

Spending just a year with the club, he moved to Bolton Wanderers in June 2018.

He has since played in the lower league divisions of English football, with the likes of York, Gainsborough Trinity, and most recently, Farsley Celtic