Championship club feel former Cliftonville and Glentoran star 'brings real pedigree' after making permanent return
Championship outfit Newington believe former Cliftonville and Glentoran forward Ruaidhri Donnelly “brings real pedigree” after confirming his permanent return to the club.
Donnelly recently departed the Reds after his third spell at Solitude, making 13 Premiership appearances for Jim Magilton’s side last term.
The 33-year-old started his senior career with Cliftonville before earning a move to Swansea City in 2012 and spent five years across the water, enjoying loan spells at Coventry City and Tranmere Rovers prior to joining Gillingham on a permanent deal.
Donnelly netted 10 goals in League One during his maiden campaign at the Gills and returned to Cliftonville in 2017.
After spending four years with Glentoran, Donnelly rejoined the Reds as Magilton looked to replace the likes of Ronan Hale, Ben Wilson and Sam Ashford.
During his time in East Belfast, Donnelly enjoyed a loan spell at Newington in 2024, scoring five league goals and also helped them reach the Irish Cup quarter-finals before losing out to Larne.
His younger brother Jay had a major impact at Newington last season, netting 16 times in only 13 Championship appearances after joining on loan in January to help Paul Hamilton’s side steer clear of relegation, ultimately finishing in 10th.
"We’re delighted to confirm that Ruaidhri Donnelly has returned to Newington FC,” Newington posted on social media. “A proven goalscorer with experience at Swansea, Gillingham, Cliftonville, and Glentoran — Ruaidhri brings real pedigree to our frontline.”
Donnelly was one of six players confirmed to be leaving Cliftonville earlier this week alongside Kris Lowe, who has signed for Glenavon, Declan Breen, Destiny Ojo, Arran Pettifer and Ryan Markey.
In a social media post last month, Donnelly said: "Firstly I wanna thank Jim for the chance he gave me to put a Reds top back on, always an honour wearing that top.
"It has been a difficult and frustrating season on and off the pitch for myself and I truly believe no player deserves a contract without fighting for one, which I was unable to do due to injury.
"Secondly I would like to thank all my team mates and staff at the club, this year hasn’t been easy but just wanna say I’m proud of how everybody stuck together.
"Lastly to you the fans, personally I wanna say thank you for welcoming me back to the club and sorry again that I couldn’t keep myself fit. I pushed myself to the limits to try and get myself back for the end of the season.
"Just didn’t happen for me, that’s football though.
"The Reds fan base is something else. Thank you Cliftonville Football Club, once a Red, always a Red.”