Peter Donnelly was born in Hull in 1936. He began his career with Doncaster Rovers but was allowed to leave the club in 1958 to join Scunthorpe United. Finding his feet at Scunthorpe, he went on to score 19 times during his time at the club and his form persuaded Cardiff City to offer Joe Bonson to Scunthorpe in exchange.
Signing for the club on their return to Division One, he put in a number of strong performances alongside the club’s other main strikers, Derek Tapscott and Graham Moore but was allowed to leave to join rivals Swansea Town in 1961.
Spending one year at Swansea, Peter went on to finish his career with spells at Brighton & Hove Albion (1962-65, 59 appearances, 13 goals) and Bradford City before later serving as manager of Margate.