8:40am Saturday 27th February 2010
By Dave Flett
ENGLAND goalkeeper Paul Robinson and fellow Premier League stopper David Stockdale have proved there is life after York City in recent times.
The pair were both released by the Bootham Crescent club but Beverley-born, one-time City schoolboy Robinson represented his country in the 2006 World Cup.
Stockdale, meanwhile, has played top-flight and European football for Fulham this season and is currently starring in the Championship for Plymouth following a loan move.
Now, another former City juniors’ net-minder is beginning to attract Football League interest just ten months after being deemed surplus to requirements by City.
With Michael Emmerson the only second-year apprentice offered professional terms last season, teenage goalkeeper Jonathan McDonald was among seven trainees from City’s under-funded youth team to be shown the door.
While admitting it was a “big blow” at the time, McDonald is well on his way to turning a negative into a positive, having attracted the interest of Cardiff City and a London-based League One side this season.
After missing out on a contract with the Minstermen, the Stockton-born stopper was offered a four-year scholarship in Kentucky and a place with a UniBond League premier division side last summer.
But he opted to put his American opportunity on hold to continue his national sports diploma while playing college football in this country, after a call from former Grimsby Town stalwart John McDermott.
Since then, he has been a key figure during an unbeaten season for McDermott’s Grimsby College team, who recently reached the English Colleges’ National Cup semi-finals following a 4-0 victory over their York counterparts. McDonald, now 19, has also spent this week representing England Colleges at an international tournament in Italy and admits the experiences of other ’keepers discarded by City provided him with the encouragement to bounce back from last spring’s disappointment.
He said: “I speak to Dave (Stockdale) quite a lot and it’s nice to see kids who have been at York City can achieve better things. What he is doing gives me inspiration and should do the same for other young ’keepers at the club.
“He’s at a top club and earning good money. Everybody knows about Dean Kiely, of course, and Paul Robinson was also at the club when he was younger.
“That’s a fair pedigree and (City goalkeeping coach) Pete Glanville worked with all of them, as well as me.”
About his departure from Bootham Crescent, McDonald added: “It came as a shock when I was released, as I was expecting to stay at York.
“It was a big blow not to get a contract, but I’ve picked myself up. It’s not the end of the world being released by York City even though I enjoyed my time there, still look out for the results and would consider going back.
“It was difficult having three or four different managers while I was at the club. Michael Ingham was first-choice and it did not make financial sense for the club to carry three ’keepers.
“It came down to a straight choice between me and Mimmsy (Josh Mimms), who is only a few years older than me. In my eyes, the manager made the wrong decision but it’s his choice.
“He released me and now I’m getting opportunities at bigger clubs so leaving York might prove beneficial to me. I wanted to carry on playing this season in England to see where that would take me before thinking about going to America and I’ve also got another option to go on a 13-week trial in Sweden this summer.”
McDonald caught the eye of ex-Manchester City and Wales ’keeper Martyn Margetson, now a Cardiff coach, during a two-week trial with the Bluebirds working alongside Scotland and Finland internationals David Marshall and Peter Enckelman.
About that experience, he said: “It went really well and, hopefully, we are looking to come to some sort of arrangement in the near future. They were really interested but cannot take me on at the moment because of the club’s financial situation.
“They are likely to let a lot of players go in April though and then look to bring younger players through. I’m also going to a London-based League One club for a week’s trial on Monday.
“There are plenty of clubs looking at me, so my chances of staying in the game here seem quite good.”
Leaving York has also given McDonald an opportunity to represent his country, playing at the prestigious Roma Caput-Mundi tournament this week having made his Three Lions debut earlier in the season against Wales.
He became the national team’s first choice between the sticks after negotiating four sets of trials at Lilleshall and enjoyed the challenge of taking on full under-18 international teams in Rome, saying: “It’s nice to put on your shirt for the national side and, when you think about how many pupils there are at all the colleges in the country, it’s a real privilege to walk out and hear the national anthem.
“We got knocked out early on in Italy but the standard was really good and the results did not reflect our performances. We played Slovenia and they were a big, strong side who beat us 2-1.
“We lost 2-0 to Romania, but the second goal was scored with the last kick of the game. We should have won both matches but didn’t take our chances.”
McDonald also receives expert coaching from former Millwall and Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper John Granville while with the national team.
But he still recognises the role played in his early development by City coach Glanville, saying: “Pete has been a good servant to the club and he brought me on leaps and bounds during the three years I worked with him.
“He’s a good all-round coach who was always there with advice on the end of a phone when you didn’t have your best game. He’s a really, nice bloke with great coaching ability.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/trade_directory/