From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roy McDonough (born Solihull, England 16 October 1958) was a professional football player and manager in the English football league.

Roy, dubbed Donut or Big Roy by fans clocked up some 80 goals in over 400 appearances in the professional and semi-professional (or "non-league") competitions in England. While he turned out for a handful of national clubs, he spent the majority of his career in the county of Essex.

A tall, imposing forward (though he played as an orthodox centre-half on a number of occasions) he had a reputation as one of football's "hard men" and rarely shied away from the physical aspects of the game. As a result, he holds the English record for the number of red cards awarded, being 21 (13 of which were received in the English league ^[1]).

He began his career at Colchester United, moving as a youth player from Chelsea in 1980. Roy went on to make some 88 appearances, scoring 24 goals in his first spell at Layer Road before moving to local rivals Southend United in 1983. In 22 appearances for the "Shrimpers" between '84 and '85 he scored 4 times.

Between 1985 and 1986 Roy moved first to Exeter City(21 appearances, 1 goal) and then Cambridge United (32 appearances, 5 goals) before returning to Roots Hall and Southend. In his second spell at Southend, Roy became to some fans a cult hero ^[2]. In around 186 appearances he scored 30 times and picked up a large number of his career red cards. However certain sections of the crowd were not always enamoured with his playing style^[3].

In July 1990 he returned to Colchester United making 63 appearances, many of them as player-manager (see below) and scoring 16 times before leaving in 1994 for Dagenham & Redbridge and later Chelmsford City amongst others.

Roy took the managerial position at Colchester United during the 1990/1991 season and achieved legendary status at the North Essex club over the following two years by guiding them first to the runner-up spot in the (non-league) Football Conference and then to a 'Conference' and FA Trophy 'double' the following season, promoting them back into the full football league.

During his period in charge, McDonough stoked the bitter rivalry with Martin O'Neill's Wycombe Wanderers that had developed during both clubs' time in non-league's 'top flight', culminating in the dramatic promotion season of 1992 when Colchester advanced into Division Four on the last day via a superior goal difference. While Wycombe and Colchester played out a mini-league of their own (both clubs finished some 21 points ahead of their nearest rivals) Big Roy had on occasions taunted the Wycombe players and staff and antagonised them by un-sportsmanlike tactics ^[4].

Commenting on an incident where Colchester United hooligans attacked children in the Wycombe end of a Conference championship deciding match in 1992 at Adams Park, he was infamously quoted as saying, "It takes two to fight, one to punch, the other to stand there and be punched." ^[5]

Arguably it was his confrontational style, carried over from his playing days, that ultimately saw him leave Colchester and move through the non-league ranks with Dagenham & Redbridge, Chelmsford, Canvey Island and Heybridge Swifts amongst others.

He is also rumoured to be able to drink a pint of lager while standing on his head. As ridiculous as this sounds, many regulars at Layer Road during McDonough's time there can confirm this unusual yet astonishing talent.

1. ^ The Guardian 'The Knowledge' April 20, 2005
2. ^ BBC Sport Cult Hero Nominees - Southend United
3. ^ Southend Supporters site - SUFC Hard Men
4. ^ Scotsman Article from 2003 describing the history between McDonough and O'Neill
5. ^ When Skies are Blue fanzine article on the rivalry between Colchester United and Wycombe Wanderers, in which McDonough features heavily.