Many will forget former Birmingham City, Sheffield United forward started his career at Hull City | OneFootball

The striker began a lengthy career across the EFL in East Yorkshire

Clayton Donaldson enjoyed a lengthy career within the EFL, scoring 139 times in the Championship, League One and League Two.

The Jamaican international initially proved himself as a lethal finisher in the bottom two professional divisions for the likes of Crewe Alexandra and Brentford, before eventually featuring for the likes of Birmingham City, Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers in the second tier as he hit a high ceiling.

During this period, the experienced frontman would feature against Hull City on a regular basis for the first time in his career, as he hoped to prove a point to those at the MKM Stadium who didn't utilise his services after breaking through the ranks in East Yorkshire after moving from Bradford City.

Donaldson joined the Tigers with the landscape of the club a complete contrast to where it currently finds itself and has previously been, with City in the midst of an eight-year spell in the EFL's basement division, with former Aston Villa manager Brian Little at the helm.

The striker would catch the eye of Hull's Centre of Excellence manager, Billy Russell, with the now-retired Donaldson saying to club media in September 2024: "I scored a couple of goals (against Hull) and Billy Russell called me up after the game saying he knew I wasn’t getting anything at Bradford and would I like to train for the week with the Under-18s.

"I trained for a week, did really well and the club offered me a two-year YTS. I was quite lucky in that sense that I did well against Hull City. It is little things like that I look back on that if I didn’t have my best game, the move wouldn’t have happened," he added.

The Bradford-born man would remain in the academy ranks before going on to make his professional debut in October 2002 in an EFL Trophy defeat to Port Vale, where he would net a consolation just 12 minutes after replacing Gary Alexander.

He would make two substitute cameos in League Two against Lincoln City and Boston United as City moved into their current 25,000-seater home after 56 years at Boothferry Park, before failing to edge the likes of Danny Allsop and Ben Burgess in the 2003/04 promotion campaign, making two EFL Trophy appearances against Darlington and Scunthorpe United amid loan spells with Scarborough, Halifax Town and Harrogate Town, eventually being released in the summer of 2005 as Hull returned to the Championship.

Clayton Donaldson went on to have a strong career after Hull City setback

Donaldson's first move after his setback was to York City, where he found the net 44 times in 93 appearances, although the Minstermen were unable to regain their EFL status, eventually signing a pre-contract with Hibernian in January 2007, before scoring five times in just 18 appearances at Easter Road.

A move to Crewe Alexandra reignited his goalscoring form, particularly after the Cheshire side were relegated to League Two, as he went on to score 45 times in the fourth tier at Gresty Road, which included topping the individual scoring charts in 2010/11 with a tally of 28, before moving to Brentford.

'The Don continued to find the net on a consistent basis at Griffin Park as the Bees went in search of Championship football, with his goalscoring instinct the catalyst behind a strong 2012/13 season which ended in Wembley heartbreak at the hands of Yeovil Town, before his total of 17 goals in 2013/14 saw the West London side clinch automatic promotion behind record-breakers, Wolves.

This set Donaldson up for his first-ever taste of Championship football, although that would come with Birmingham after agreeing a 'Bosman' deal to move to St Andrew's under Lee Clark, before eventually going on to become a steady performer in royal blue alongside the likes of Demarai Gray and Che Adams.

He hit double figures in his first two seasons with the West Midlands, before struggling for consistency and eventually returning to Yorkshire under Chris Wilder at Bramall Lane, scoring five times in just 26 appearances for the Blades, although he would score on debut against Sunderland.

"To score a brace on my debut away at Sunderland for your first game was a dream – it was a perfect start for me," he said.

The striker would then endure a solitary chaotic relegation season at Bolton amid a backdrop of huge financial uncertainty, before ending his EFL career back at Bradford between 2019 and 2021, eventually winding down in non-league for York, Gainsborough Trinity and Farsley Celtic.