Not everyone can be a star. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of Coll Donaldson, born on 9 April 1995 and, of course, hailing from the blessed land that is Scotland. Like a real-life Where's Waldo, this man is a central defender for Falkirk and sports the number 6 jersey. Standing at an unenviable height of 1.88m (that’s 6ft 2in for us disciples of metric) and weighing in at a passable 82kg (or 12st 12lb – I wouldn’t challenge him to an arm wrestle if I were you), Donaldson is by any measure a robust player.
Of course, in a sport governed by financial matters (as all good things in life are), the bottom line is that our boy is worth roughly £130k, as Transfermarkt so helpfully informs us. He's got another ten months to cause havoc at Falkirk before his contract runs out on the 31st of May 2026.
Before he Swaggered to Falkirk, Donaldson found himself testing the waters at Livingston, his debut in the Scottish Premiership season 2012 - 2013 amounting to the laughablly small figure of five first team appearances. Apparently, someone decided to give him a chance after that and in the following season of 2013 - 2014, he managed to squeeze his way into 19 first team appearances.
What dreams may come when a player’s aspirations lead him to Queens Park Rangers, in England no less, at an expected expense of £150k in January 2014. His English ventures were however short-lived and we find our young Paladin back to Scotland, at the cosy confines of Dundee United in July 2015. Not much success followed though, racking up a meagre total of 14 first team appearances by 2017.
A trip up north saw him settling in at Inverness CT in August 2017, followed by an adventure over to Ross County, with the meanderings of his career path being kept as hushed as an old dame's gossip. Season 2019 - 2020 at Ross County, where he displayed a stunning performance of... well, seven appearances, again kept secret his transfer fee.
In January 2022, Donaldson sought pastures anew, this time on loan over at Dunfermline Athletic in the Championship, only for him to return back to Ross County six months later. It seems our boy can't resist the charm of Ross County - or perhaps no one at Dunfermline could pronounce his name? Who can say, really.
At present, he finds himself biding time at Falkirk, in the Premiership no less, since July 2022. This season, however, pleasing as it might be to believe that his career can reach no lower depths, Donaldson has no successful exploits within Falkirk's first eleven to his name. One can only conjecture what may come of his remaining ten-month tenure at Falkirk, and where his career winds may take him. Just a shame on the one Scottish Cup outing for the 2024 - 2025 season with Falkirk. And they say never meet your heroes.
