Swin-Dion Town – Anglesey football star Donohue seals deal with League One club

Anglesey football ace Dion Donohue has signed for Swindon Town on a one-year deal, subject to EFL and FA clearance.

He joined the League One outfit on a month-by-month basis in October 2019, but has now become a permanent fixture at the County Ground.

The 27-year-old defender, who began his career at Bodedern, was with Everton’s youth academy for six years.

He was unable to secure a professional contract and returned to North Wales, where he had spells with Bodedern, Porthmadog, Holyhead Hotspur and Caernarfon Town.

In 2011-12, he was part of Hotspur’s treble-winning squad which lifted the Welsh Alliance League title, Cookson Cup and Barritt Cup.

The following season he celebrated another triple, landing the Welsh Alliance League Division One crown, FAW Trophy and Cookson Cup with Caernarfon.

Next up was a switch to the English pyramid with Sutton Coldfield Town, where he made 37 appearances in the 2014-15 season, helping the club rise from NPL Division One South, the eighth-tier of English football, into the tier-seven Premier.

Donohue signed his first professional contract with Chesterfield in 2015 and made his debut against Colchester in September of that year. 

At the end of the 2016/17 season, he was awarded the Players’ Player of the Year.

In 2017, Donohue moved south to Portsmouth on a two-year-deal for an undisclosed fee and was part of the squad that won the EFL Trophy.

Following the end of his contract at Fratton Park, Donohue joined Mansfield Town, but left in August 2019.

His part-time deal with Swindon now permanent, he will take the number 17 shirt at the club.

Dion told the Swindon Town website: “I’m obviously glad to get it over the line. I’m happy now I can fully concentrate playing football and with the team we’ve got here, I think we’ve got a good chance of doing something this year.

“When I originally came here, I enjoyed it more than any football for the previous two, three years, so I never ever thought about going anywhere else but here.

“I think it’s very important that you get on with the manager. On a personal level, if a manager is going to help you in all aspects of life, they’re going to get the best out of you on the pitch as well.”

A former pupil of Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern, as a youngster Dion represented the Wales U-18 team and turned out for the successful Welsh Colleges side.