Ally Donaldson Player Profile

Biography

Ally Donaldson was a fine Dundee goalkeeper for many, many years where he made 408 appearances for the Club, for seven different managers, during two spells. He is sixth on Dundee’s all time appearance list and is fondly remembered amongst the fine tradition of goalkeepers that Dundee has. His career at Dundee was colourful to say the least, with the big goalkeeper involved in no fewer than three disputes in his time at Dens and without them, he could have gone on to make the most appearances in the Club’s history.
Edinburgh born Donaldson joined Dundee in 1961 from Tynecastle Athletic and made his first team debut in the final game of the 1963/64 season in a 5-1 Summer Cup win over St Johnstone, in a side that included Bobby Cox, Bobby Seith, Andy Penman, Alan Cousin, Alec Stuart and Alan Gilzean, all of whom had won Scottish championship medals in the 1961/62 season when Ally was an unused back up keeper to Pat Liney. He shared the reserve team duties with Les Cameron and was at Muirton on the title winning day, travelling back on the coach from Perth to the reception at the City Chambers. He also loved playing against the first team in practice matches and claims that Bobby Cox & Co. didn’t always win!
He had replaced another legendary figure in the goal in Bert Slater and Slater was back in goal for the start of the following season. However after a poor start to the season and Dundee’s interest in the League Cup already over, manager Bob Shankly decided to make sweeping changes for the final sectional tie at home to Motherwell, with morale at a low ebb.
Out went the experienced Slater, Cox, Seith, Cameron, Houston and in came youngsters Ally Donaldson, Alex Totten, John Phillips and Jocky Scott and the gamble paid off with an astonishing 6-0 win.
Ally’s career at Dens was up and running and by the end of the season he had played forty games including both matches against Real Zaragoza in the European Cup Winners’ Cup which Dundee qualified for by losing the Scottish Cup Final to league champions and treble winners Rangers the previous season.
After receiving a bye in the first round, Dundee were drawn against the Spanish Cup holders Real Zaragoza in the second and were up against a side of real quality. Like the Dark Blues it may only have been Zaragoza’s second ever European campaign but in their first, in the previous year’s Inter-Cities Fairs Cup they ended up as champions beating fellow Spaniards Valencia 2-1 in the Final.
When they headed to Dens therefore for the first leg on November 18th 1964, they were not only the current holders of the Copa del Generalísimo (The name given to the Copa Del Rey during General Franco’s rule) and the Fairs Cup, they also had six internationalists in their squad and had beaten Maltese side Valletta 8-1 on aggregate in the first round.
Dundee were a quality side themselves however with eight of the team that had won the Scottish League championship still on their books but they were going to be without their star man Alan Gilzean for the tie.
After scoring an incredible 55 goals the previous season, Gilzean had refused to re-sign in the summer and demanded a transfer but manager Bob Shankly was adamant that Gilzean was going nowhere as he was a key man at Dens. Gillie therefore sat on the sidelines as the 1964-65 season kicked off and by the time the August 15th deadline arrived for registering players for European competition the impasse continued and Gillie became ineligible for the assault on Cup Winners’ Cup.
The deadlock was broken when Gilzean agreed to sign a two month contract and made his seasonal debut on October 24th against Hearts with Ally in the goal and Dundee made an appeal to UEFA asking if their top goal scorer could play against Zaragoza the following month.
Dundee tried to point out to UEFA that they had still held Gilzean’s registration despite him not signing a new deal and so was technically still a Dundee player but they got no reply from UEFA’s headquarters in Berne. As the first leg approached the SFA stepped in to appeal again on Dundee’s behalf but also received no response form Switzerland. Twenty-four hours before kick off Dundee sent another request by cable to UEFA asking if Gillie could be declared eligible and finally on the afternoon of the match, received a reply saying no.
It was a blow for The Dee considering Gilzean had scored nine goals in their first European campaign two years earlier and had scored twice in four games since his return but in reality the decision came as no surprise.
The Dark Blues were also without new signings Jim Easton and Alex Harley who had joined after the deadline and so Dundee lined up with Donaldson, Hamilton, Cox, Cousin, Beattie, Stuart, Penman, Murray, Waddell, Houston, Robertson.
With six Spanish internationalists in their starting XI Real Zaragoza lined up as; Yarza, Pepin, Reija, Santamaria, Cortizo, Isasi, Santos, Canario, Marcelino, Villa, Laperta
The match was hugely anticipated with memories of the fabulous 1962/63 Champions’ Cup campaign coming flooding back 21,000 descended upon Dens for the return of European football; 7,000 more than the turned up for the last home game against Dunfermline and 6,000 more than were at Celtic Park for Dundee’s last league match with Ally keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 win.
Encouraged by the enthusiastic crowd, Dundee raced out the traps and took an early lead when Steve Murray headed home after just two minutes.
From then until the interval, the Spaniards turned on the style and got back on level terms on twenty-three minutes thanks to Tenerife born midfielder Eleuterios Santos.
Three minutes later Spanish international midfielder Juan Manuel Villa silenced the home crowd when he shot Zaragoza into the lead and from then until the break, Real turned on the style with their slick passing game.
After the break however it was all Dundee but despite having most of the possession and most of the chances had to wait until the 89th minute for Doug Houston to grab an equaliser. With Gilzean’s predatory instinct sorely missed, the Dark Blues were to regret their missed opportunities but with away goals not counting double in European competition until the following season’s Cup Winners’ Cup, there was still all to play for, for the return match in Aragon.
The second leg took place in the Estadio de La Romareda in front of 23,000 on Wednesday December 8th and The Dee got off to a great start when Hugh Robertson gave them the lead after 18 minutes.
However just as they had done as Dens, Los Blanquillos hit Dundee with two lightening quick goals to give them an aggregate lead. Two goals in two minutes shortly before the interval from Zaragoza’s twenty-three year old international outside-left, Carlos Laperta k.o.’d a gallant Dundee bid for Cup Winners’ Cup glory.
The left winger’s goals came in the 40th and 42nd minutes to cancel out Robertson’s opener and there were enough to send the Spanish side through 4-3 on aggregate.
Tommy Gallacher in The Courier reported that “Dundee’s performance in holding this classy Zaragoza side to a one-goal margin defeat was simply terrific.”
The Dark Blues had played the whole of the second half with Bobby Cox a helpless passenger on the left-wing; hirpling with a heavily strapped up thigh and Doug Houston took over at left-back.
The entire game was a tale of relentless Zaragoza pressure against a stone-walling Dundee defence marshalled well by Donaldson. Dundee had clearly pinned their hopes on keeping the Spaniards out and depending on breakaway tactics for their goals and it very nearly worked.
It was Dundee’s first and only appearance in the Cup Winners’ Cup as when they again profited from being runners-up in the Scottish Cup to a treble winning Rangers, it was the UEFA Cup they entered after the demise of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999.
Real Zaragoza were enjoying their golden era and went all the way to the semi-final where they lost 3-2 on aggregate to West Ham United who then defeated 1860 Munich 2-0 in the Final at Wembley (the second time Dundee had entered a European competition when the Final was at Wembley).
The number one shirt was now primarily Donaldson’s for the next seven seasons although he did share the goalkeeping duties with John Arrol for a couple of years and it was the former Clyde man who was preferred between the sticks for the 1967 League Cup Final against Celtic which the Lisbon Lions won 5-3.
Donaldson returned to the side for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round, second leg match against DWS Amsterdam and played in both legs of the quarter-final tie against FC Zurich and in both legs of the semi-final against Don Revie’s Leeds United and in total made ten European appearances for The Dee, the most of any Dundee keeper, in which he kept three clean sheets.

In his first spell at Dens international recognition came Ally’s way when he won two Under-23 caps against England and Wales in 1965 and won two Scottish League caps against the Irish league in 1966 and 1970 but that first spell came to an end after a dispute with manager John Prentice.

The emergence of youngster Mike Hewitt and the signing of Thomson Allan from Hibernian put pressure on Ally’s position and he was prepared to give up the game, being ready at one point to join the police. However Falkirk manager Willie Cunningham came in with a £14,000 bid for Ally and he was on his way to The Bairns after making 256 appearances for Dundee.

He stayed at Brockville for four years before manager Davie White brought him back to Dens Park in 1976 after the Club were relegated to the First Division for around half the fee Dundee had originally received for him.

Donaldson was an ever present in the 1978/79 First Division title winning side and although his first ever season in the Premier Division ended in relegation, it ended on a high for Ally as he was part of the side to famously defeat Celtic 5-1 at Dens in April 1980 and his testimonial three weeks later against Dundee United saw a 4,874 crowd enjoy a thrilling 4-4 draw.

Tommy Gemmell left at the end of the 1979/80 season but a dispute with new manager Donald McKay ended his second spell at Dens and after another 152 first team games, Ally left Dens Park to play for Hibs and Raith Rovers before a short spell as former Dundee team mate Steve Murray’s assistant at Montrose.

During his sixteen years at Dens, Donaldson played for seven different managers from Bob Shankly to Donald McKay and in Shoot magazine in 1971, Ally quotes Dundee’s League winning manager Bob Shankly as having the biggest influence on his career.

Ally proved to be an outstanding custodian whose height was invaluable at dealing with big centres and he holds the club record of 126 for goalkeeping clean sheets. He was a big favourite with the fans and when during some quieter moments in a match, the Dens Park terracing chanted, “Ally, Ally give us a wave”, Donaldson would always oblige to his adoring Dark Blue public. He was able to wave to the Dundee fans once again in 2017 when he was on stage at the Invercarse Hotel to be inducted into the Club’s Hall of Fame with a Legends Award to a standing ovation.