*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.
Peter Donnelly
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Appearances: 17+3 Goals: 9
Date / Year of birth: 22nd September 1936
Position: Striker
Season of first appearance: 1966/67
Season of last appearance: 1966/67
Also played for: Doncaster Rovers (6,1), Scunthorpe United (41,19), Cardiff City (Wales) (32,9), Swansea Town (Wales) (17,3), Brighton & Hove Albion (59,13), Bradford City (13,5) and Canterbury City
Hull-born striker who played for Hull Boys during the 1951/52 season before joining Doncaster as an amateur in the summer of 1952.
In March 1954 Peter was signed as a professional and he made his first team debut for Rovers in a 3-1 home defeat against Derby in Division Two on 17.4.54. He was only 17 at the time. Peter went on to score once from two further senior appearances before the end of the 1953/54 season. He didn't feature in Doncaster's first team again until the 1956/57 campaign when he played three times without scoring and he then spent the whole of 1957/58 in the reserves before joining Scunthorpe in July 1958.
Peter went on to score 19 goals from 41 first team outings for Scunthorpe during the 1958/59 and 1959/60 seasons and they were in the Second Division at the time.
In June 1960 he was signed by Cardiff who had just been promoted to the First Division and Peter's transfer was an exchange deal that saw Cardiff's Joe Bonson join Scunthorpe. Peter played regularly for Cardiff during 1960/61 and on 27.10.60 he scored a controversial goal in a 2-1 home win over Leicester when he charged England goalkeeper Gordon Banks into his net. Peter went on to score a total of nine goals from 32 appearances for Cardiff before being sold to Second Division club Swansea for a £ 6,500 fee in October 1961.
He scored three times from 17 outings for the Swans before the end of the 1961/62 campaign and then in July 1962 Brighton paid £7,000 to sign Peter.
He went on to make 59 appearances for Brighton, scoring 13 goals, before joining Division Four outfit Bradford City during the 1964/65 season.
Peter's spell in Yorkshire saw him score five goals from 13 sporadic senior appearances and at the end of the 1965/66 campaign he was released by Bradford.
In the summer of 1966 Peter joined Margate and scored after just six minutes of his debut, a 5-2 win over Barry at Hartsdown Park on 20.8.66. His next goal was a magnificent full-length diving header in a 2-1 home win over Chatham in the FA Cup on 3.9.66 and he earned himself a 'danger man' reputation during the early part of the season. Unfortunately for Peter the remainder of the campaign didn't go as well. He was dogged by injury and suffered a loss of form that meant he rarely featured in the first team during the second half of 1966/67. However his tally of nine goals in 20 appearances (three as a substitute) was respectable enough and helped Margate to win promotion from the Southern League Division One by finishing as runners-up.
In the summer of 1967 Peter was appointed as player-manager of Margate Reserves and he didn't feature at all in the first team during the 1967/68 campaign. However at the end of the season he had to leave the club due to work commitments.
Peter joined Canterbury for the 1968/69 campaign and made nine Southern League appearances for City during the season, scoring three goals.
After a spell in local Thanet football Peter went back to Canterbury during the 1970/71 season and made three more Southern League appearances without scoring. Those games were the last of his career in senior football.
He later spent many years playing Sunday football in the Thanet area, his clubs included St.Peters Old Boys and Margate Athletic, before returning to Hartsdown in March 1977. Peter spent two months as Margate's caretaker manager after the departure of Les Riggs and he was a non-playing substitute for a game at Gravesend & Northfleet on 19.4.77.
He later had another short spell as caretaker manager in 1980 prior to the appointment of Terry Morris. Peter then began a second spell as reserve team manager for the 1980/81 season and he also became assistant manager to Morris in the summer of 1982.
When Morris resigned in November 1982 Peter stepped in as caretaker manager of Thanet United but although he did well he stepped down to allow Alan Fagan to take over for the 1983/84 season.
Peter then became the club's General Manager and the role included him taking charge of the reserves once again. However he left Hartsdown Park for the last time in December 1983.
Peter later became a keen tennis player and was a member of Margate Lawn Tennis Club in 1989.
By the start of 2013 Peter was 76 and still living locally. He kept very active and attended the Hartsdown gym in Margate on a weekly basis as well as being a keen member of Birchington Bowls Club.
On 12.4.14 Peter was one of the many former Margate players who attended the club's 'Legends Day' at Hartsdown Park.
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
SLC |
KSC |
KFC |
KSS |
|
1966/67 (MFC) |
17 (72) |
3 |
9 |
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (2ND OF 24) |
3QR |
QF |
RU |
GR |
2R |
| Margate promoted to
Premier Division. Played in Kent Senior Cup Final 2nd Leg (06.04.67 - lost 1-0 at Dover). | |||||||||