{{short description|Scottish footballer}} {{about|the Scottish football player|the British cyclist|Bob Donaldson (cyclist)|other people|Robert Donaldson (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Bob Donaldson | image = | caption = | fullname = Robert Donaldson | birth_date = {{birth date|1868|8|27|df=y}} | birth_place = Coatbridge, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|1947|4|28|1868|8|27|df=y}} | death_place = Airdrie, Scotland | height = | position = Forward | youthyears1 = |youthclubs1 = | years1 = {{0|000}}?–1888 |clubs1 = Cliftonhill Rovers |caps1 = ? |goals1 = ? | years2 = 1888–1891 |clubs2 = Airdrieonians |caps2 = ? |goals2 = ? | years3 = 1891 |clubs3 = Blackburn Rovers |caps3 = 0 |goals3 = 0 | years4 = 1891–1897 |clubs4 = Newton Heath |caps4 = 130 |goals4 = 56 | years5 = 1897–1898 |clubs5 = Luton Town |caps5 = 17 |goals5 = 10 | years6 = 1898–1899 |clubs6 = Glossop North End |caps6 = 32 |goals6 = 18 | years7 = 1899–1900 |clubs7 = Ashford United |caps7 = ? |goals7 = ? | totalcaps = 179 |totalgoals = 84 | nationalyears1 = |nationalteam1 = |nationalcaps1 = |nationalgoals1 = }}

'''Robert Donaldson''' (27 August 1868 – 28 April 1947) was a Scottish footballer. He played as a forward.

Donaldson signed with Scottish Football League Second Division Airdrieonians from Cliftonhill Rovers in December 1888.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 December 1888 |title=Sport And Pastime: Notes by "Athlete" |newspaper=Coatbridge Express |page=4}}</ref> On leaving Airdrieonians in May 1891 he signed registration forms with both Blackburn Rovers and Newton Heath.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 August 1891 |title=En Passant (column 3) |newspaper=Athletic News |page=1}}</ref> The ensuing dispute between the two clubs was settled when he declared that as Blackburn had failed to register their form within the specified time he was therefore a Newton Heath player.<ref>{{cite news |date=19 August 1891 |title=Football Gossip |newspaper=Dundee Evening Telegraph |page=3}}</ref> The club were members of the Football Alliance for the 1891–92 season.

In the summer of 1892 Newton Heath were elected to the country's top league, the Football League First Division. He scored 66 goals in 147 Football League appearances for Newton Heath, the first of these goals scored against Blackburn Rovers on 3 September 1892 was the club's first ever Football League goal. Following Newton Heath's demotion to the Football League Second Division in 1894 he remained with the club for over three more seasons.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.redcafe.net/archives/history/newton-heath.php|title= Club History: Newton Heath 1877-1902|accessdate= 27 November 2006|url-status= dead|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070311230500/http://www.redcafe.net/archives/history/newton-heath.php|archivedate= 11 March 2007}}</ref> In November 1897 he was suspended by Newton Heath for a breaching training regulations and placed on the transfer list<ref>{{cite news |date=25 November 1897 |title=Football Notes |newspaper=Sporting Life |page=4}}</ref> and a month later for an £80 fee joined Football League Second Division club Luton Town.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 December 1897 |title=Football Notes |newspaper=The Manchester Evening News |page=5}}</ref>

His stay at Luton lasted only five months as at the end of the 1897–1898 season they were reconstructing their team and Donaldson was transferred with three other team-mates to Glossop North End. The transfers were the subject of a dispute between the clubs: a Football League tribunal set the fee at the £200 offered by Glossop rather than the £500 requested by Luton.<ref>{{cite news |date=15 August 1898 |title=The Football League |newspaper=Sporting Life |page=1}}</ref> In his single season with Glossop they were runners-up of the Football League Second Division and gained promotion to the First Division.

He left Glossop at the season's end before they played in their new league and signed-on at the start of the 1899–1900 season as a professional player with Kent League club Ashford United.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 August 1899 |title=Glossop |newspaper=Lancashire Evening Post |page=2}}</ref> In January 1900 owing to cost-cutting measures he was released by Ashford<ref>{{cite news |date=20 January 1900 |title=Football |newspaper=Kent Messenger & Gravesend Telegraph |page=3}}</ref> and in February was subject of negotiations between Glossop – who had continued to hold his Football League registration – and Newton Heath who were looking to appoint him as there reserve team coach.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 February 1900 |title=Glossop |newspaper=Glossop-dale Chronicle and North Derbyshire Reporter |page=6}}</ref>

==Career statistics== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="2"|League !colspan="2"|FA Cup !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total |- !Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="6"|Newton Heath<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stretfordend.co.uk/playermenu/donaldson.html|title=THE WEBSITE OF DREAMS|website=stretfordend.co.uk|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-date=25 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325004336/http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/playermenu/donaldson.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> |1892–93 |26||16||1||0||2||0||29||16 |- |1893–94 |24||7||3||3||1||0||28||10 |- |1894–95 |27||15||1||0||1||0||29||15 |- |1895–96 |17||7||3||2||0||0||20||9 |- |1896–97 |29||9||8||5||4||0||41||14 |- |1897–98 |8||2||0||0||0||0||8||2 |- !colspan="2"|Total !131!!56!!16!!10!!8!!0!!155!!66 |}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, Bob}} Category:1868 births Category:1947 deaths Category:Footballers from Coatbridge Category:Scottish men's footballers Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Category:Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Category:Manchester United F.C. players Category:Luton Town F.C. players Category:Glossop North End A.F.C. players Category:Ashford United F.C. players Category:Scottish Football League players Category:Football Alliance players Category:English Football League players Category:Kent Football League (1894–1959) players Category:19th-century Scottish sportsmen

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