The Thistle Archive

A wide forward, Donnelly started his career at Queen's Park but left in 1993 to join Celtic. 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-winning side. In the 1995–96 season, he became a regular, missing only one league match and scoring six goals, and featured in the majority of the 1996–97 campaign. At end of the 1996–97 season, he made his Scotland debut, making substitute appearances in the friendly matches against Wales and Malta. 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 and Scottish League Cup. He also appeared regularly for Scotland during that season, notably featuring in the crucial 2–0 victory over Latvia at Celtic Park on 11 October 1997, which helped secure Scotland’s spot at the tournament. He made the squad for France '98 but didn't appear… although he came very close to doing so. With Scotland losing 3–0 and down to 10 men in the final match versus Morocco, manager Craig Brown told Donnelly to warm up and prepare to take the pitch. Our man was actively doing star jumps on the touchline, ready to make his World Cup debut, when Brown suddenly changed his mind at the last second and subbed on Scott Booth instead. Because teams were strictly limited to three substitutions at the time, Donnelly's opportunity evaporated!

In 1998-99, he scored five goals in 23 appearances in what was his final season at Celtic Park. He won the last of his ten Scotland caps that term and set a strange record of 10 games against 10 different opponents in 10 different stadiums. Bizarrely, six of his games were at home, but he never played at the national stadium, Hampden Park, instead playing at Rugby Park, Celtic Park, Ibrox, Easter Road, Tynecastle, and Pittodrie. In July 1999, Donnelly – along with Phil O'Donnell – joined Sheffield Wednesday 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 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. Donnelly returned to Scotland with St Johnstone, 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 in July. During his time at East End Park, his injuries returned and he was released two years later having made fewer than 40 league appearances.

He joined Partick Thistle in June 2006 and, ultimately, played regularly for five seasons. He was initially released at the end of the 2008–09 season, and made a substitute appearance for Greenock Morton in a friendly against Oxford United. However, following the departure of Thistle coach John Henry to Burnley, Donnelly soon re-joined the Jags, this time as a player-coach, scoring against Morton in a 2–0 win at Cappielow later that season. In a similar pattern, Donnelly was then released by Thistle 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 was appointed manager. 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'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, working with another former Celtic player, Mark Wilson. Donnelly and Wilson were sacked by Brechin in October 2020.

Simon is included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists →

2009 - SFL FIRST DIVISION