Playing_career Clayton_McDonald

1 playing career

1.1 manchester city
1.2 walsall
1.3 port vale
1.4 grimsby town
1.5 tranmere rovers
1.6 non-league

playing career
manchester city

a graduate of manchester city youth set-up, mcdonald signed first professional contract manchester city. turned professional in 2008. signed on loan macclesfield town in august 2008, , made competitive debut in 2–0 defeat @ accrington stanley on 23 august. substituted in 70th minute after picking injury. macclesfield manager keith alexander commented did job us, delighted performance , young lad come in , well, augurs future. alexander stated had option extend loan, both parties agreed best if returned parent club. mcdonald signed on loan chesterfield on transfer deadline day, 2 february 2009, on one-month emergency loan. on return manchester, played reserves in manchester senior cup final on 9 march, in 1–0 defeat manchester united reserves @ ewen fields, hyde.

walsall

mcdonald signed one-month loan deal walsall in september 2009. father played club. manager chris hutchings said s talented young lad. s strong in air, tackles , can play. impressed hutchings, twice had loan extended month, before signed walsall on permanent basis in december 2009, following player s release manchester city. decision leave city walsall won him praise new teammate troy deeney. played 27 games in 2009–10 campaign, , picked first senior goal on 16 february, in 2–1 victory on leeds united @ elland road. more of bit-part player in walsall s 2010–11 season, making seventeen appearances. in april 2011 picked shoulder injury keep him out of action rest of season.

port vale

after being told not retained saddlers , due sign contract @ port vale in june 2011, failed medical due shoulder injury. regardless of signed six-month deal club following month. aimed regain fitness, win first team place, , thereby earn longer stay @ vale park. managed achieve first 2 of these goals october, started 9 of vale s first fourteen games of season. achieved third target in december, signing contract lasting until end of 2011–12 season, having made eighteen appearances in league , cup. next contribution vale s campaign 64th minute sending off @ southend united, following second bookable offence. returned first team after serving suspension, received second red card of campaign on 17 march after receiving second yellow card 47 minutes defeat @ crawley town. played 31 games valiants court case hanging on head, though boss micky adams said there no favours player proving innocence , insisted decision on whether or not offer contract mcdonald based on footballing ability had shown on course of campaign. though suspensions , court appearances limited contribution campaign, still managed post 33 first team appearances in 2011–12. accepted adams offer of new one-year contract in may 2012; adams stated m pleased clayton has agreed sign. has done since has been @ club , has potential better. under lot of stress going on last season, can mind clear , concentrate totally on football.

after david artell left club, gareth owen picked injury , joe davis suffered loss of form, mcdonald managed build solid centre-back partnership john mccombe @ start of 2012–13 campaign, warned lose weight , improve fitness manager micky adams. scored first goal club in 3–2 win against forest green rovers @ new lawn on 3 november, in first round of fa cup; during match made goal-line clearance score @ 2–2. speaking after game, mcdonald said m trying pay fans , manager support in past performances on pitch. s first of many... can catch tom pope up. support have given me has meant lot me. top bunch of people, s top area. arrival of new signings darren purse , liam chilvers displaced mcdonald first team picture. on 21 january, joined bristol rovers on loan until end of season, cover injured garry kenneth. pirates bottom of football league, , manager john ward said mcdonald prepared come down cause [of avoiding relegation] , s big plus me. mcdonald remained on bench gas lost 3 of next 15 games, , had wait until tom parkes received suspension before started game club on 6 april, in 1–0 win @ memorial stadium saw rovers climb 11th place. returned vale in time see club secure promotion third-place finish. not offered new contract @ end of season , released free agent.

grimsby town

mcdonald signed one-year contract grimsby town of conference premier in july 2013. on 19 november, mcdonald scored first goal mariners providing winner in 2–1 victory on local rivals scunthorpe united in fa cup first round. key first team player until losing place due injury. played 17 league games during 2013–14 campaign grimsby secured play-off spot, losing gateshead @ semi-final stage. released manager paul hurst in may 2014.

tranmere rovers

in august 2014, mcdonald joined newly relegated league 2 club tranmere rovers on non-contract terms manager rob edwards impressed ability not convinced fitness levels. however, left club later in month after making 1 first team appearance. mcdonald later stated i’m gutted. have lost job @ tranmere rovers because stuff (rape acquittal) keeps re-appearing in newspapers , on tv. it’s hard move on publicity.

non-league

mcdonald signed martin foyle s southport of conference premier in september 2014. after playing in 13 games on non-contract basis mcdonald released on 28 december 2014.

he joined southern league side redditch united in february 2015. next month kidderminster harriers manager gary whild tried sign him, mcdonald chose stay redditch. reds missed out on play-offs in 2014–15 season after finishing 1 point , 1 place behind st neots town.

he signed worcester city of national league north in june 2015. joined league rivals corby town on three-month loan deal in october. captained corby during loan spell. rejoined redditch united in june 2016 after club s supporters agree pay wages; cited manager darren byfield , enthusiasm of supporters 2 major factors in decision join club. joined national league north side altrincham in december 2016. moved onto northern premier league division 1 north club droylsden following month. bloods finished 13th in 2016–17 season.