Career
He was a right back who played for Everton F.C. and Grimsby Town. Donovan joined Everton in 1951 from junior football in Ireland and went on to play 187 times for The Toffees scoring just twice.In August 1958, he was transferred to Grimsby Town for a fee of £5,000 where he played until 1964 before becoming player manager of Boston United. He was a huge success at Boston, winning League titles in each of his three seasons with the club
At international level, he represented Republic of Ireland five times at senior level making his debut in November 1954
Donovan died on 26 September 2013.