A profile of Caernarfon Town captain Dion Donohue who has handed his club an early Christmas gift
Caernarfon Town fans have received a great early Christmas present – captain Dion Donohue has signed an extended contract with the Cymru Premier club.
The 29-year-old Anglesey man has penned a new deal which will see him stay at The Oval until the end of the 2023/24 season.
Donohue, who was originally with the Canaries between 2012 and 2014, re-joined the club during the summer of 2021 after spells at Chesterfield, Portsmouth, Swindon and Barrow and his performances have seen him cement his place among the best players in the Cymru Premier League.
Last season, Dion played in the Wales C side in their 4-0 victory over England and has again been in superb form this term.
Dion believes it’s an exciting time to be at The Oval:
He told the Caernarfon Town website: “I am delighted to extend my contract for another season. The squad we have this season is very good and I am sure that it will only get better so to be here for another season is exciting for me.
“I’m looking forward to helping the team push on this season for the top six and then hopefully finish the term strongly. I’m hoping we might even strengthen in January because I genuinely feel that we’re very close to those teams who qualify for Europe every season. I’m convinced there are exciting times ahead!”
Town manager Huw Griffiths shares his skipper’s enthusiasm: “I am absolutely delighted with the news that Dion has extended his contract with us,” he said.
“To have such a quality player signing and committing this early is a massive boost and I look forward to working with him for another year.”
DION DONOHUE – CAREER SUMMARY
Born on August 26, 1993, Dion began his career at Bodedern and 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 with Caernarfon under Lee Dixon – Welsh Alliance League championship, FAW Trophy and Cookson Cup
Next up was a switch to England 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 Football League 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.
He signed a new one-year contract with Swindon in September 2020 after initially joining the club in the truncated 2019-20 season and he played a part in helping the Robins secure the Sky Bet League Two title on a points-per-game basis.
However, by December 2020, he had left the club.
On 28 January 2021, Dion joined Barrow on a short-term deal until the end of the season, but was blighted by injuries and made just four appearances.
The Ynys Môn midfielder/defender has made a total of 117 Football League appearances across spells with Chesterfield, Portsmouth, Mansfield, Swindon and Barrow.
There was talk of him joining another Football League club in summer 2021 as he built up match-fitness playing in friendlies for former side Bodedern.
However, he rejoined Caernarfon in June 2021 and is now in his second full season back with the Canaries. He made 29 league appearances in 2021-22 and is on 9 for the current campaign.
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, as well as representing Ynys Môn at the Island Games.
CAREER APPEARANCES AND GOALS RECORD
2011-12: Holyhead Hotspur (Welsh Alliance League) League apps 12 Goals 3
2012-13: Caernarfon Town (Welsh Alliance League) League apps 36 Goals 4
2013-14: Caernarfon Town (Cymru Alliance) League apps 24 Goals 8
2014-15: Sutton Coldfield Town (NPL Division One South): League apps 37 Goals 1
2015-16: Chesterfield Town (League One): League apps 17 Goals 0
2016-17: Chesterfield Town (League One): League apps 37 Goals 1
2017-18: Chesterfield Town (League Two): League apps 2 Goals 0
2017-18: Portsmouth (League One): League apps 32 Goals 0
2018-19: Portsmouth (League One): League apps 10 Goals 0
2019-20: Mansfield Town (League Two): League apps 0
2019-20: Swindon Town (League Two): League apps 5 Goals 0
2020-21: Swindon Town (League One): League apps 10 Goals 0
2020-21: Barrow (League Two): League apps 4
2021-22: Caernarfon Town (Cymru Premier): All competition apps 32 Goals 3
2022-23: Caernarfon Town (Cymru Premier – up to November 18, 2021): All comp apps 11 Goals 1