Jamie Carson McDonnell

Jamie McDonnell scored his first goal for Oxford United in a 4–0 win over Leicester City on 5 September. It was his 17th appearance for the club, which he joined in January from Nottingham Forest for a reported fee of around £1 million.

It triggered a sell-on clause that gave Glentoran, where he played in the youth teams, 10% of the fee. McDonnell, from Lisburn, had also played for Lisburn Youth before Forest took him into their academy in July 2020. He signed his first professional contract there in February 2021.

He never played a senior game for Forest, so his football came on loan. At Colchester United in 2024–25 he made 32 League Two appearances and scored once. The club named him their Young Player of the Year. Mansfield Town took him for the following season, and he played 19 games and scored twice before Forest recalled him in January.

McDonnell plays as a defensive midfielder, and Northern Ireland has followed him through every age group from Under-16 to Under-21. His senior debut came on 7 September 2025, when he came off the bench in a 3–1 defeat to Germany in 2026 World Cup qualifying. He had won two senior caps by early 2026 without scoring.