Profiling those Saddlers that came and went in the blink of an eye...
AS WE embark upon a year of celebration to mark Walsall FC’s 125th Anniversary, a lot will, quite rightly, be said about the most popular players or those who have made the most appearances for the club over the years.But what about those players that came and went in the blink of an eye? They may have only appeared on a handful of occasions, but nevertheless, have made a contribution to the history of this great club of ours.
We will be highlighting some of the forgotten Saddlers from the Bescot Years, continuing with a fleet-footed wide-man...
Former England Under-21 International, Louie Donowa, first arrived at Bescot Stadium on loan from neighbours, Birmingham City in October 1996.
Playing six games for the club, his final outing saw him find the net for the first time in a 4-0 demolition of a Peterborough United side that had caused controversy during the summer by using the tribunal system to their advantage by luring Martin O’Connor and Scott Houghton to London Road.
The Posh must have liked what they saw that day because Barry Fry snapped Donowa up on loan straight away before later signing him on a permanent basis.
He was back with The Saddlers for the start of the 1997/98 campaign, though, as he became part of Jan Sorensen’s attack-minded squad.
Starting the season in the team, he went on to make a further seven outings as we struggled to get into gear before heading north of the border to Ayr United.
His colourful career had also taken him to Spain, Holland and Finland before he finally hung up his boots in 2000.