Donaldson’s delighted to be back at Rams
TONY Donaldson was only eighteen years of age when he signed his first professional contract at then League Two club Doncaster Rovers back in 2017.
Three years on, the versatile attacking midfielder is plying his trade in the NPL North West Division having joined Ramsbottom United at the beginning of this season for his second spell with the Greater Manchester club and the decision to return was an easy one to make.
“I loved it the first time, the club’s great, the chairman is good, and I feel I’ve got a decent relationship with the fans,” said Donaldson.
“A few of the lads are still here, the gaffer (Chris
Willcock) has always been good with me as well so I felt that it was a good time as soon as I heard that I could come back I jumped at the chance and I’ve enjoyed it.
“There’s been a few new lads come into the team, big Sefton (Sefton Gonzales) who I know well, and all the lads are good and there’s still a couple here from when we got into the play-offs two seasons before.
“As soon as I heard I could come back I jumped at the chance!”
The decision to re-join the Rams has proved a good one so far as they sit top of the league with Donaldson contributing three goals in the eight games he has played so far since he returned.
The last time he took to the field was at the end of October before the season was – and still is – temporarily halted and the 22-year-old is eager for the campaign to resume and is confident the team are preparing the best way possible to continue where they left off.
“We’re back in training now, we started last week or the week before we had a few sessions and we also had a game against Stockport the other night,” Donaldson explained.
“Through the whole of the lockdown we were on the Strava app which the gaffer sorts and you’ve got to do it and all the lads did to be fair and hopefully all this will help, when we do come back, to be as fit as possible.
“The whole team was doing well, and we were top of the league and the two games before it that we got two good results and I chipped in with a couple of goals.
“We’ve just got to try and make sure that we can hit the ground running again and pick up where we left off and keep getting the wins which is all we can do.”
Having previously had a taste of it, Donaldson admits he still aims to get back to playing full-time one day, the perfect scenario being with Ramsbottom.
“I know there’s a lot of National League clubs that have all gone fulltime and at the end of the day it is everyone’s aim,” admitted Donaldson.
“I’m 22 now and 23 in February and you still hope that there’s time where you can go in fulltime but at the minute, I’m enjoying every game I’m playing here and hopefully we can achieve what we want to and be playing a league higher next season with Ramsbottom which is the ultimate aim looking forward.
“I’d love to play at a higher level and hopefully just getting as many games under my belt as I can and then hopefully, I can have another stint at it.”
‘We’ve got to make sure we hit the ground running again’