Donald Colman
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Donald Cameron Cunningham | ||
| Date of birth | 14 August 1878 | ||
| Place of birth | Renton, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 1942 (aged 63–64) | ||
| Place of death | Aberdeen, Scotland | ||
| Playing position | Right-back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Glasgow Perthshire | |||
| Tontine Athletic | |||
| Renton | |||
| Maryhill | |||
| 1905–1907 | Motherwell | ||
| 1907–1920 | Aberdeen | 324 | (1) |
| 1920–1925 | Dumbarton | 51 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1911–1913 | Scotland | 4 | (0) |
| 1910–1911 | Scottish League XI | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Donald Cameron Cunningham, known as Donald Colman (14 August 1878 – 1942) was a football player and coach (or trainer) in the early years of the 20th century, playing and coaching most notably for Aberdeen. His career in senior football did not begin until he was in his late twenties, and he was capped by Scotland at the late age of 33.
As a coach, he was renowned partly as the inventor of the dugout, a sunken, sheltered area for note taking, which he introduced at Aberdeen's Pittodrie Stadium, making it the first football stadium to feature this innovation.
Colman was born and brought up in the Dunbartonshire town of Renton, home of Renton F.C., an early power in the Scottish game. The young Colman was passionate about football, and had helped out at his local club as a boy before signing to play for the junior club Glasgow Perthshire. Colman feared that his choice of profession would not be favoured by his parents, and signed under his grandmother's name of Colman - by the time he was accepted by his family as a professional footballer, he felt that it was too late to revert, so he was known throughout his football career as Donald Colman.
From Glasgow Perthshire, Colman moved to a number of other junior clubs, including Maryhill and his hometown club, but a career in senior football seemed to have eluded him in spite of interest at various times from Hibs and Sunderland. He was considered to be too small in stature to make a professional, and seemed destined to remain a junior player until he was signed by Motherwell at the late age of 27 in 1905.
Colman played for Motherwell for only two seasons before being released on a free transfer. At the relatively advanced age of 29, it would have been reasonable for him to consider his senior career over. However, he was signed by Aberdeen manager Jimmy Philip in the summer of 1907 and soon established himself as Aberdeen's first choice right-back; becoming club captain in 1909. In 1911-12, Colman was capped three times for Scotland, winning a fourth cap two years later. His career was interrupted but not ended by the First World War, during which he served in France.
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