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Nationality: | Irish |
| Date/place of birth: | 28 March 1992/Dundalk | |
| Position: | Central Midfielder | |
| Height: | 5ft9 | |
| Nickname: | Sam | |
| Honours: | 2010 Republic of Ireland U17 International Player of the Year, Dundalk FC Goal of the Season (2010) | |
| Ex-clubs: | Quay Celtic, Celtic | |
| Joined: | March 2010 | |
| Joined from: | Celtic | |
| Signed by: | Ian Foster | |
| Club debut: | v Sporting Fingal (H), 8 June 2010 | |
| First club goal: | v Drogheda United (H), 5 July 2010 |
Stephen McDonnell (born: 28 March 1992) is a central midfielder who played with local club Quay Celtic before moving to Glasgow Celtic where he spent 18 months before returning to Ireland in January 2010.
He signed for Dundalk the following March and made his full debut for the club when starting against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds in the Leinster Senior Cup on 24 May, a tie which Dundalk lost 4-3 on penalties after the sides had ended level at 2-2 after 120 minutes of action.
McDonnell made his league bow shortly after with a second-half substitute appearance at home to Sporting Fingal on 8 June and he scored his first club goal a month later with a bullet header against local rivals Drogheda United at Oriel Park.
In total during the 2010 campaign, he made 13 appearances in all competitions, including two in the UEFA Europa League, the second of which was a start at home to Levski Sofia on 22 July.
At the end of the season, McDonnell expressed his wish to try his luck in the UK once more, and he went on trial at Queens Park Rangers.
However, he returned to Ireland and on 2 December he signed a fresh one-year deal with Dundalk, with the youngster stating: “I’m very happy to have signed here again. It will be good to get another year of first-team football under my belt after getting a taste of it this year.
“Obviously, I know I’m not going to play week in, week out, but hopefully I’ll play a bigger part next season and progress again. It’s a very competitive league and I think another year here will benefit me.
“Recently, I was over on trial with Queens Park Rangers; I was keeping my options open and having a look around. QPR just didn’t happen for me. I had one or two other interested clubs but I felt the best thing for me was to come back here and play first-team football next season.”
On the international front, Stephen has represented the Republic of Ireland at a number of levels, and since joining Dundalk he has appeared in a green jersey on eight occasions.
The sixth of those, back on 7 October 2010, saw him score his first international goal when he netted in a 5-0 win for the U19s over Luxembourg in Bulgaria.
On 8 August previous, McDonnell was rewarded for his performances at U17 level when named the International U17 Player of the Year.
After receiving that award, the youngster, who is nicknamed Sam, told dundalkfc.com: “Obviously, it’s great to win such a big award and it’s a great honour in my career. It’s great to have on my CV.
“There were three of us in the running so obviously I thought I was going to have a good chance, so I was delighted to get it. I’m over the moon with it, really. I was shocked when they first called out my name. I knew I had a chance because it was down to three, but it was a surprise.”
McDonnell, who won Dundalk FC’s Goal of the Season award for 2010, appeared in 20 of the side’s 50 competitive games in 2011.
His first start of the season came at home to Bohemians on 18 March. He sat at the two subsequent games but returned for the visit of UCD on 1 April, a game which began a run of ten straight starts for the youngster.
An injury to his knee late on in the win over Galway United at Terryland Park on 6 May saw him miss the trip to Dalymount Park three days later. He returned to the team for the Setanta Sports Cup final against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium on 14 May but just nine minutes into the decider he suffered a serious knee injury.
McDonnell escaped surgery and went through the process of a rehabilitation programme which saw him make a long-awaited return to action with a substitute appearance at home to Saint Patrick’s Athletic on 23 September, coming on in place of Ross Gaynor on 67 minutes.
A week later, he started away to UCD, as he appeared in five of the side’s final six games, missing only the last one through a knee injury.
On 3 January, McDonnell signed a new one-year deal which will keep him at Oriel Park for the 2012 season.
On 23 February, he was named as vice-captain, and with Chris Shields ruled out through injury, he wore the armband in the league opener at Monaghan United on 2 March and at home to Saint Patrick’s Athletic seven days later.
| 2012 | Apps (Starts) | Goals |
| Overall | 8 (8) | 0 |
| League | 7 (7) | 0 |
| Setanta Sports Cup | 0 (0) | 0 |
| FAI Cup | 0 (0) | 0 |
| League Cup | 1 (1) | 0 |
| Leinster Senior Cup | 0 (0) | 0 |
| All-Time | Apps (Starts) | Goals |
| Overall | 41 (33) | 1 |
| League | 29 (24) | 1 |
| Setanta Sports Cup | 5 (3) | 0 |
| FAI Cup | 0 (0) | 0 |
| UEFA Europa League | 2 (1) | 0 |
| League Cup | 3 (3) | 0 |
| Leinster Senior Cup | 2 (2) | 0 |
Profile last updated: 23 April 2012
