The 2016 Dundee FC Hall of Fame Dinner will take place on Friday 4th March at the Invercarse Hotel and this week we are revealing in alphabetical the six nominees for a Legends Award of which two will be inducted. After all six are revealed we will invite the support to vote for who they want to see inducted and we are delighted to announce that the second nominee is Dundee FC clean sheet record holder, goalkeeping great Ally Donaldson.
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 seventh 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 Scottish Championship winning medals.
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.
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.
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 Hibs 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 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 4874 crowd enjoy a thrilling 4-4 draw.
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 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.
Honours at Dundee:
Scottish League First Division winners: 1978/79
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final: 1967/68
Scottish League caps: 2
Scotland Under-23 caps: 2
Appearances:
League: 314
Scottish Cup: 23
League Cup: 49
Europe: 10
Other: 12
Total: 408
For details of Hall of Fame dinner – click here
