George William Cope Donkin (1 December 1892 – 1927) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Barnsley.
Career Donkin was born in Carlton and played junior football for Wharncliffe Woodmoor in 1910, Royston Midland in 1911, Monckton Athletic in 1912 and Mirfield United from where he signed for Second Division Barnsley in 1913 and made his Football League debut that November at Clapton Orient. By the next season he had become a first team regular, however the interruption of World War I, during which he served in the Army, meant he lost four seasons of his career. He played both sides of the War for Barnsley and he was an England trialist in an England v The North match in January 1922 and also represented Sheffield & Hallamshire in the annual match against Glasgow.
An ever present in Barnsley's 1920–21 campaign, he missed three matches as Barnsley finished third in the Second Division in 1921–22 campaign, narrowly missing out on promotion. He played his last match in February 1925 and possibly suffered a career ending injury (as he received a payment for £250 from The Football League at the end of the season, presumably compensation for his injury), in total he scored 20 goals in 243 appearances, playing the whole time in the Second Division, retiring in 1925 and passing away two years later in 1927 in his mid-thirties.
Career statistics Source:
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBarnsley1913–14Second Division7100711914–15Second Division324103341919–20Second Division392204121920–21Second Division424104341921–22Second Division393504431922–23Second Division151001511923–24Second Division334203541924–25Second Division23120251Career total2302013024320
References