Full name Anthony McDonnell Name Tony McDonnell Years Team | Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Place of birth Dublin, Ireland | |
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Date of birth (1976-02-10) 10 February 1976 (age 39) Playing position | ||
Anthony "Tony" McDonnell (born 10 February 1976, in Dublin) is a retired football player for Irish side, UCD.
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A former St Kevin's Boys player McDonnell made his League of Ireland debut on 27 March 1994 at Abbeycartron in a 2-1 win over Longford Town.
He went on to represent College until 2007, and is second on the all-time appearances list for the Dublin club as well as the club's sixth highest league goal scorer. He was also the club captain for the best part of a decade. He played as a right- or centre-back, but in later seasons he was deployed as a central midfielder. He made 308 league appearances for UCD, scoring 28 league goals, before deciding to call time on his career on 6 December 2007. The latter period of career was blighted by hamstring injuries, a major factor in his retirement. Asked about this in an interview, he replied that his hamstrings were "[t]ighter than a camels ass in a sand storm. They say all the lightning quick players have trouble with them……so no idea why I do!"
He was a nominee for the League of Ireland player of the year in the 2005 season, and was appointed chairman of the PFAI in August 2006. He has also worked as a pundit on RTÉ's Monday Night Soccer show since retirement and still regularly attends UCD's home games.
His uncle is Maurice Swan and his cousin is Derek Swan.