Liam Donnelly (footballer)

Last updated

Liam Donnelly
Liam Donnelly Fulham.jpg
Donnelly playing for Fulham U21s in 2015
Personal information
Full name Liam Francis Peadar Donnelly [1]
Date of birth (1996-03-07) 7 March 1996 (age 29) [2]
Place of birth Dungannon, Northern Ireland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [2]
Position(s) Centre-back, Right-back, Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 St Mirren
Number 22
Youth career
Dungannon Swifts
2012–2014 Fulham
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2011–2012 Dungannon Swifts 7 (0)
2012–2016 Fulham 0 (0)
2015 → Crawley Town (loan) 10 (0)
2016–2018 Hartlepool United 60 (3)
2018–2022 Motherwell 53 (8)
2022–2025 Kilmarnock 74 (3)
2025– St Mirren 0 (0)
International career‡
Northern Ireland U16 3 (1)
Northern Ireland U17 14 (1)
2012–2018 Northern Ireland U21 24 (5)
2014– Northern Ireland 4 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 4 June 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 14:48, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

Liam Francis Peadar Donnelly (born 7 March 1996) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club St Mirren.

Contents

Donnelly, who can also play as a defender, has previously played for Dungannon Swifts, Fulham, Crawley Town, Hartlepool United, Motherwell and Kilmarnock. He has also represented Northern Ireland internationally.

Club career

Fulham

Donnelly signed for Fulham as a youngster from IFA Premiership club Dungannon Swifts. Donnelly captained Fulham to the 2014 FA Youth Cup final. [3]

On 31 July 2015, Donnelly signed for Crawley Town on a one-month youth loan. [4] The loan was then extended until January 2016, [5] however he was recalled early by Fulham in October. [6]

Hartlepool United

On 19 August 2016, Donnelly signed for Hartlepool United, following his release from Fulham. [7]

Motherwell

On 7 June 2018, Motherwell announced the signing of Donnelly on an initial two-year contract from Hartlepool United for an undisclosed fee. [8] He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 victory against Livingston on the final day of the season. [9]

At the beginning of the 2019–20 season, Donnelly moved from defence into midfield, [10] and went on to score four goals in three games in the Scottish League Cup group stages, against Queen of the South, [11] Greenock Morton [12] and Annan Athletic. [13] Then in the league, he scored four goals in the opening four matches, with two against Celtic [14] and penalties against Hamilton Academical [15] and Hibernian. [16] In October 2019, Donnelly was rewarded for his early season form as he signed an extension to his contract at Fir Park, to run until summer 2022. [17]

In the opening game of the 2020–21 season, Donnelly missed a penalty as Motherwell lost 1–0 away to Ross County. [18] Following that match he picked up a knee injury in training which was initially expected to keep him out for two months, [19] however he then required surgery on the injury, ruling him out until after the new year. [20]

Donnelly made his return from injury on 14 July 2021, as a substitute in a 1–0 win away to Queen's Park in a Scottish League Cup group stage match. [21] He was released by Motherwell at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Kilmarnock

On 5 July 2022, Donnelly signed a one-year contract with Kilmarnock. [22] On 1 August 2023, he signed a new two-year contract with Kilmarnock. [23]

St Mirren

Donnelly signed a two-year contract with St Mirren in June 2025. [24]

International career

Donnelly made his senior Northern Ireland debut on 4 June 2014 against Chile, coming on as a substitute in the 89th minute. [25]

On 11 September 2018, Donnelly made his 22nd appearance for Northern Ireland's under-21s in a 2–1 win away to Spain, a match in which he scored from a penalty, and in doing so became the nation's record cap holder at that level. [26] He eventually finished his time with the under-21 side with 24 caps. [27]

Donnelly was recalled to the senior squad in August 2019, ahead of a friendly against Luxembourg and a Euro 2020 qualifier against Germany. [28] He came on as a substitute against Luxembourg on 5 September, earning his second cap, five years after his first. [29] [30]

Career statistics

As of match played 20 May 2023
ClubSeasonLeagueNational CupLeague CupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dungannon Swifts 2011–12 [31] IFA Premiership 7000000070
Fulham 2012–13 [32] Premier League 0000000000
2013–14 [33] Premier League0000000000
2014–15 [34] Championship 0000000000
2015–16 [35] Championship0000000000
Total0000000000
Crawley Town (loan) 2015–16 [35] League Two 10000101 [a] 0120
Hartlepool United 2016–17 [36] League Two32000001 [b] 0330
2017–18 [37] National League 28310001 [c] 0303
Total603100020633
Motherwell 2018–19 [38] Scottish Premiership 71004000111
2019–20 [39] Scottish Premiership2273044002911
2020–21 [40] Scottish Premiership1000000010
2021–22 [41] Scottish Premiership230314000301
Total53861124007113
Kilmarnock 2022–23 [42] Scottish Premiership222104100273
2023–24 [43] Scottish Premiership270301000310
Career total179131111853021119
  1. ↑ Appearance(s) in the Football League Trophy
  2. ↑ Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy
  3. ↑ Appearance(s) in the FA Trophy

References

  1. ↑ "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 4 February 2014. p. 35. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Liam Donnelly profile". Fulham F.C. 5 June 2014. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Chelsea seal Youth Cup glory after thriller at the Bridge, The Football Association, 6 May 2014
  4. ↑ "Liam Donnelly: Crawley Town sign Fulham defender on loan". BBC Sport. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Liam Extends Crawley Loan". Fulham F.C. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "Liam Donnelly: Fulham recall defender from Crawley Town loan". BBC Sport. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "Former Fulham Defender Liam Donnelly Signs For Hartlepool United". Hartlepool United F.C. 19 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "Liam Donnelly is signing number two". motherwellfc.co.uk. Motherwell F.C. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  9. ↑ "Turnbull double downs Livingston in thriller". BBC Sport.
  10. ↑ Archer, Kenny (4 September 2019). "Liam Donnelly delighted to be back with Northern Ireland". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  11. ↑ Goldthorp, Craig (13 July 2019). "Queen of the South 0–3 Motherwell: Steelmen win Betfred opener". Motherwell Times. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  12. ↑ McDougall, Mark (19 July 2019). "Motherwell smash Morton as Dundee United ease past Cowdenbeath in Betfred Cup". Daily Record. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  13. ↑ Cameron, Neil (28 July 2019). "Motherwell 4, Annan Athletic 0: Stephen Robinson's new team looking good". Evening Times. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  14. ↑ English, Tom (10 August 2019). "Motherwell 2–5 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  15. ↑ Mullen, Scott (24 August 2019). "Hamilton Academical 1–3 Motherwell". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  16. ↑ Sutherland, Jonathan (31 August 2019). "Motherwell 3–0 Hibernian". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  17. ↑ "Liam Donnelly: Motherwell 'revelation' earns contract extension". BBC Sport. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  18. ↑ Campbell, Andy (4 August 2020). "Ross County 1–0 Motherwell". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  19. ↑ "LIAM DONNELLY SIDELINED WITH KNEE INJURY". motherwellfc.co.uk. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  20. ↑ McGilvray, Andy (11 September 2020). "Motherwell dealt further Liam Donnelly injury blow". Daily Record. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  21. ↑ "QUEEN'S PARK 0-1 MOTHERWELL". motherwellfc.co.uk. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  22. ↑ "Liam Donnelly: Kilmarnock sign Northern Ireland midfielder after Motherwell exit". BBC Sport. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "Northern Ireland international signs two-year contract extension at Kilmarnock". Belfast Telegraph. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  24. ↑ "St Mirren: Northern Ireland international Liam Donnelly joins from Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. 23 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  25. ↑ "Late goals seal Chile win over Northern Ireland". BBC Sport. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  26. ↑ "Spain U21 1–2 Northern Ireland U21". BBC Sport. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  27. ↑ "Captain Donnelly leaves Under-21s after record 24 appearances". Northern Irish Football Association. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  28. ↑ "Liam Donnelly: Midfielder ready to grab Northern Ireland chance 'with both hands'". BBC Sport. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  29. ↑ Sterling, Mark (5 September 2019). "Northern Ireland 1–0 Luxembourg". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  30. ↑ Hanna, Gareth (6 September 2019). "How Shayne Lavery and Liam Donnelly's Northern Ireland cameos provided optimism for big international futures". Belfasttelegraph. Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  31. ↑ Liam Donnelly at Soccerway . Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  32. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  33. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  34. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  35. 1 2 "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  36. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  37. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  38. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  39. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  40. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  41. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  42. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  43. ↑ "Games played by Liam Donnelly in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
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