Shaun MacDonald (footballer, born 1988)

For other people with similar names, see Shaun MacDonald (disambiguation).

Shaun Benjamin MacDonald (born 17 June 1988) is a Welsh footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cymru South club Trefelin.

Shaun MacDonald

MacDonald with Wales, 2016
Personal information
Full name	Shaun Benjamin MacDonald[1]
Date of birth	(1988-06-17) 17 June 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Swansea, Wales
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Trefelin
Youth career
	Swansea City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2011	Swansea City	24	(0)
2009	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	4	(2)
2009	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	12	(2)
2010	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	19	(1)
2010–2011	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	15	(0)
2011	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	11	(4)
2011–2016	AFC Bournemouth	84	(1)
2016–2019	Wigan Athletic	39	(1)
2019–2021	Rotherham United	32	(0)
2021	Crewe Alexandra	3	(0)
2021–2024	Penybont	48	(1)
2024–	Trefelin	0	(0)
International career
2005–2006	Wales U19	5	(1)
2006–2010	Wales U21	25	(2)
2010–2016	Wales	4	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 April 2024

A product of the Swansea City youth team, he earned four caps for Wales and is the current record caps holder for the Wales Under 21 team with 25 caps. As well as Swansea, MacDonald played club football for Yeovil Town (on loan), AFC Bournemouth, Wigan Athletic, Rotherham United and Crewe Alexandra.

Club career

Swansea City

MacDonald was born in Swansea, and began his career with his home side Swansea City, making his way up through the youth ranks before being making his first-team debut on 31 August 2005 in a 3–1 defeat to Reading in the League Cup.^[2] He went on to make a total of 13 appearances in all competitions during his first season, including playing four times in the Football League Trophy as Swansea went on to win the trophy.^[3]

He scored his first goals for the club during the 2008–09 season against Brentford in the League Cup on 12 August 2008,^[4] but after making just six appearances during the season, he was allowed to join League One side Yeovil Town on a one-month loan deal on 27 January 2009.^[5] On his debut for the side, MacDonald scored the only goal of the game in a 1–0 win over Huddersfield Town,^[6] going on to make a total of four appearances before returning to Swansea.

After making just three appearances during the start of the 2009–10 season, MacDonald returned to Yeovil Town on a three-month loan deal on 21 September.^[7] MacDonald impressed for Yeovil in his three-month loan spell starting all 12 of Yeovil's league games and grabbing 2 goals.

Once he returned to Swansea, negotiation began with Yeovil regarding a loan deal back at Yeovil until the end of the 2009–10 season. The loan deal was agreed on 31 December 2009.^[8]

In late August 2010, MacDonald returned to Yeovil on loan for the fourth time in less than two years until January 2011.

He joined Yeovil on loan for the fifth time on 17 March 2011, until the end of the 2010–11 season.^[9] He scored a first half hat-trick on 26 March 2011 in a 5–1 win over Leyton Orient.

AFC Bournemouth

MacDonald signed for AFC Bournemouth on 25 August 2011, for a fee believed to be in the region of £125,000.^[10] He scored his first goal for Bournemouth in a 4–1 Football League Trophy win over Hereford United on 30 August 2011.^[11] His first league goal for the club came on 21 April 2012 against Colchester United.^[12] He made five league appearances during Bournemouth's 2014–15 season after which they were promoted to the Premier League.^[13] MacDonald made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Manchester City on 17 October 2015.^[14]

Wigan Athletic

MacDonald returned to the Championship and signed for newly promoted Wigan Athletic on 13 August 2016.^[15] MacDonald scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw against Leeds United on 18 October 2016.^[16] He missed all of the 2017-18 campaign after suffering a broken leg in a defeat at Reading in April 2017.^[17]

Rotherham United

On 3 June 2019, following his release from Wigan Athletic, MacDonald signed for League One side Rotherham United on a two-year deal.^[17] His time at the club was impacted by illness and injury, with a virus keeping him out of the side for a significant spell during the 2019–20 season, and a broken leg side-lining him for over two months in the middle of the 2020–21 season.^[18][19] On 17 May 2021, Rotherham United published their retained list, and confirmed MacDonald would be leaving the club at the end of his contract.^[20]

Crewe Alexandra

On 24 June 2021, it was announced that MacDonald had agreed to join Crewe Alexandra on a two-year deal.^[21] He made his Crewe debut on 7 August 2021, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 league draw against Cheltenham Town at Gresty Road.^[22] However, on 1 September 2021, Crewe confirmed that MacDonald had left the club after making just four appearances, having decided to retire from professional football.^[23]

Penybont

On 23 December 2021, MacDonald came out of retirement to sign for Cymru Premier side Penybont on an 18-month deal.^[24]

International career

MacDonald has represented his country at under-19 and Under-21 levels. In June 2009 he was called into the full national squad for the World Cup qualifier in Azerbaijan in Baku. After playing his 22nd game at under-21 level he surpassed the Welsh appearance record previously set by James Thomas.

MacDonald made his full international debut on 12 October 2010 against Switzerland in Basel and earned his second cap against Israel in a 2016 European Championships qualifying match in 2015.

Career statistics

MacDonald warming up for Yeovil Town, 2010

Club

As of 4 March 2023^[25]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup[lower-alpha 1]		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Swansea City	2005–06[26]	League One	7	0	0	0	1	0	5[lower-alpha 2]	0	13	0
	2006–07[27]	League One	8	0	2	0	0	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	12	0
	2007–08[28]	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	3	0
	2008–09[29]	Championship	5	0	1	0	3	2	—		9	2
	2009–10[30]	Championship	3	0	0	0	0	0	—		3	0
	2010–11[31]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		24	0	3	0	4	2	9	0	40	2
Yeovil Town (loan)	2008–09[29]	League One	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2
	2009–10[30]	League One	31	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	32	3
	2010–11[31]	League One	26	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	28	4
	Total		61	9	3	0	0	0	0	0	64	9
AFC Bournemouth	2011–12[32]	League One	25	1	0	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	1	26	2
	2012–13[33]	League One	28	0	2	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	2	31	4
	2013–14[34]	Championship	23	0	0	0	2	0	—		25	0
	2014–15[35]	Championship	5	0	2	1	3	0	—		10	1
	2015–16[36]	Premier League	3	0	3	0	3	1	—		9	1
	Total		84	1	7	1	8	1	2	3	101	6
Wigan Athletic	2016–17[37]	Championship	39	1	2	0	0	0	—		41	1
	2017–18[38]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2018–19[39]	Championship	0	0	1	0	1	0	—		2	0
	Total		39	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	43	1
Rotherham United	2019–20[40]	League One	13	0	0	0	2	0	2[lower-alpha 3]	0	17	0
	2020–21[41]	Championship	19	0	0	0	1	0	—		20	0
	Total		32	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	37	0
Crewe Alexandra	2021–22[42]	League One	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
Penybont	2021–22[43]	Cymru Premier	9	1	3	1	0	0	1[lower-alpha 4]	0	13	2
	2022–23[43]	Cymru Premier	11	0	1	0	0	0	—		12	0
	Total		20	1	4	1	0	0	1	0	25	2
Career total			263	12	20	2	17	3	14	3	314	20

1. Includes FA Cup, Welsh Cup
2. Appearances in Football League Trophy
3. Appearances in EFL Trophy
4. Appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup play-offs

International

As of match played 28 March 2016.^[44]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Wales	2010	1	0
	2015	2	0
	2016	1	0
Total		4	0

Honours

Swansea City

• Football League Trophy: 2005–06

AFC Bournemouth

• Football League Championship: 2014–15
• Football League One Runners-up: 2011–12

References

1. "The Football League Limited: Club list of registered players as at 16th May 2015" (PDF). The Football League. 16 May 2015. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
2. "Reading 3–1 Swansea (aet)". BBC Sport. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
3. "Carlisle 1–2 Swansea". BBC Sport. 2 April 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
4. "Swansea 2–0 Brentford". BBC Sport. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
5. "Yeovil Town make double signing". BBC Sport. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
6. "Yeovil 1–0 Huddersfield". BBC Sport. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
7. "Welcome back Mac". ytfc.co.uk. 21 September 2009. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
8. "Return of the Macs". ytfc.co.uk. 31 December 2009. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011.
9. "Swan Shaun MacDonald joins Yeovil in a fifth loan spell". BBC Sport. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
10. "MacDonald Commits Future To Cherries". AFCB.co.uk. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
11. "Cherries 4 Bulls 1". afcb.co.uk. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
12. "Bournemouth 1–1 Colchester". BBC. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
13. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
14. "Man City 5–1 Bournemouth". BBC. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Shaun MacDonald: Wigan Athletic sign Bournemouth midfielder". BBC Sport. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
16. "Leeds 1–1 Wigan". BBC Sport. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
17. "Shaun MacDonald: Rotherham United sign midfielder after Wigan exit". BBC Sport. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
18. "Shaun MacDonald: Rotherham United midfielder ruled out until new year with broken leg". BBC Sport. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
19. "Rotherham United: Number of injury worries for Millers ahead of FA Cup trip". The Star. JPIMedia. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
20. "Retained list confirmed by Millers ahead of 2021/22 campaign". Rotherham United F.C. 17 May 2021.
21. Baggaley, Michael (24 June 2021). "Crewe Alexandra sign experienced former Rotherham and Bournemouth midfielder". Cheshire Live. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
22. "Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Cheltenham Town". BBC Sport. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
23. "Shaun MacDonald Retires From Professional Football". CreweAlex.net. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
24. @PenybontFC_ (23 December 2021). "🤝 Penybont are delighted to announce the signing of former Bournemouth, Swansea and Wigan midfielder and Wales inte…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
25. "Shaun MacDonald". Soccerbase. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
26. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
27. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
28. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
29. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
30. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
31. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
32. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
33. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
34. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
35. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
36. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
37. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
38. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
39. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
40. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
41. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
42. "Games played by Shaun MacDonald in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
43. "S. MacDonald: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
44. "Shaun MacDonald". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 30 March 2016.

External links

• Shaun MacDonald at Soccerbase