Player Database: Kevin Donovan

By: Richard Hubbert
Date: 14/07/2002

The opinions of Town fans over whether Donovan really was rubbish or good still rumbles on and is likely to continue for a number of years. However, the fact is that without Donovan, Town would not have been promoted in that fantastic 1998 double Wembley season..

Donovan was a winger signed by Buckley when he returned in 1997 and was our record signing (at £300,000) for a time. If he was assessed on his 1997/98 season it was money well spent - banging in 16 goals from the wing and playing an amazing 63 games out of 64 which included the league, league cup, FA Cup and Autowindscreens Shield, as well as Play off Games. That season, "Donno" was sensational.

However, the three seasons that followed were a little less sensational - particularly the first one when he was plagued by injury and astonishingly failed to score in nearly 30 starts. The following two seasons, he was back to his best, ghosting down the wing, linking up with Macca at right back and scoring a few goals. Looking back now, he was a very useful player at division one level, but fantastic in the second division, which is where he is now.

Town fans cannot help but laugh now at Donovan's decision to leave the Mariners for Barnsley - he wanted to "further his career" and get near "the top of the table", rather than battle against relegation every year with Town. Hahahahahahahaha! What did Barnsley do when he went there? They got relegated! What did Town do? They stayed up. Good move Kevin.

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