Ever since the moment that his sumptuous volley dipped and quivered in the cool March air past a bewildered Chris Woods to send the Mariners through to Wembley for the first time in the club’s history, I knew I’d found my favourite player.
The man who lays claim to that ‘worldy’ - and my attachment – is Kevin Donovan; a player who played the majority of his career in the ‘middle leagues’ of English Football in the 1990s. His early career held little in the way of majesty; as a skinny-legged teen he’d shown enough to earn a professional contract with Huddersfield Town but struggled to make an impact in his four years at Leeds Road. However the 21 year-old Yorkshireman was given the opportunity to sparkle at Second Division West Bromwich Albion and, under the stewardship of legendary Argentinean Ossie Ardiles, the Baggies clinched promotion to the First Division with Donovan bagging himself a goal in the 3-0 defeat of Port Vale at Wembley in the play-off final. The Wembley strike earned Donovan cult status at the Hawthorns and the Winger enjoyed regular first-team football under Ardiles, Burkinshaw, Buckley, Mann and Harford during his in the Black Country. However it was to be his special relationship with one of those managers that brought about a change of club and undoubtedly the most dazzling spell of his career.
In the summer of 1997 Alan Buckley returned to Blundell Park to take up the position he held before he was lured to the Hawthorns. Buoyed by the sale of youth-starlet John Oster to the blue side of Merseyside for £1.5 million and £700,000 paid by Alan Curbishley for the talismanic Clive Mendonca, Buckley went about assembling a squad capable of winning promotion back to the First Division at the first attempt. Messrs Davison, Nogan and Groves arrived quickly, along with the capture of a certain blond-haired Winger from the Baggies for the princely sum of £300,000 – a fee which equalled the club’s highest ever paid, at the time.
Buckley’s new project started slowly but the dogged determination and sublime artistry of Donovan began to earn him a number of supporters.
He helped Town to victories against Northampton and Wigan thanks to the midfielder’s steady nerve from the penalty spot and he was also instrumental in the defeat of Premiership opposition Sheffield Wednesday. By the time Martin O’Neil’s Leicester City came to Blundell Park in the League Cup 3rd Round, Donovan, like the rest of his teammates, had discovered the kind of form which could even put the League Cup holders to the sword.
That season Donovan was the bane of every Second Division defence. Out on Town’s right flank he’d bob and weave, he’d go in-side or out-side. Whichever way he went it usually resulted in a moment of magic. The Lower Findus would fall silent in mesmeric expectation whenever he received the ball. Experienced full-backs would come to Blundell Park and crumble when Donovan dropped a shoulder and showed a clean pair of heels. That season he really was that good.
The Leeds-born Winger wasn’t just a flair player; he scored vitally important goals too. None more so than the one I mentioned at the start, Town’s second goal against Burnley in the Semi Final 2nd Leg of the Auto Windscreen Shield at Turf Moor. It was the most perfect of footballing moments…if you’re a Grimsby fan. In the Semi Final 2nd Leg of the Second Division play-offs he popped up again to secure the Mariners second visit to Wembley in a month, when he slipped it past Maik Taylor in Fulham’s goal; and in the Play-off Final itself it was he that coolly rounded Northampton’s Andy Woodman and slotted home to send 25,000 Town fans into sheer ecstasy and the Mariners back to the First Division - just as he’d done 5 years earlier for West Brom.
Kevin Donovan ended that golden season top of the goal scoring charts with 21 to his name. Much was expected of Donovan the following season but the Winger struggled to recapture the form that earned him the reputation of being one of the best players outside of the Premier League. Over the next couple of seasons Donovan remained a firm favourite under Buckley and later Lennie Lawrence but rarely did he scintillate the Blundell Park faithful like he had done in the past. Donovan played a part in securing Town’s First Division survival in a final day of the season victory against Premiership-bound Fulham and it was fitting that the mercurial wide-man was venerated that day by the fans that streamed onto Blundell Park in their thousands.
In the summer of 2001 Donovan signed for First Division rivals Barnsley after four years with Town but by all accounts the ageing Midfielder failed to endear himself to the Barnsley fans and quickly found himself plying his trade in the basement division with his old master Buckley at Rochdale – it proved to be a disappointing end to a career that provided unquestionable moments of wonder.
But one thing that will always mean Kevin Donovan has a place in my heart: that sumptuous volley that dipped and quivered in the cool March air past a bewildered Chris Woods.
Jack Johnson
Commercial Assistant I Grimsby Town Football Club
Follow on Twitter @OfficialGTFC
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Memory added on May 1, 2013
1 Comment (Add your voice)
I remember that well, Jack. That night at Burnley and the volley is a night I hopefully never forget.
– Phil McVeigh, October 30 2013 at 13:36
