Romelle Donovan

Romelle Donovan (born 30 November 2006) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Birmingham City and the England under-18 team.

Life and career
Donovan was born in Birmingham, and joined Birmingham City's youth system at the pre-academy stage. In early 2023, first-team head coach John Eustace included Donovan in the matchday squads for all three of Birmingham's FA Cup ties, but did not use him. Had he taken the field, he would have become the club's second youngest debutant, behind Jude Bellingham but ahead of Jude's brother Jobe.

Donovan took up a two-year scholarship with Birmingham City ahead of the 2023–24 season. Under-18s coach Martyn Olorenshaw described him as "a creative midfield player with a strong left foot [who] loves scoring from distance with a strong playing personality." He was included in the party for the first-team's pre-season training camp in Spain in July 2023. Still only 16, he began the season as a regular in Birmingham's under-21 team, whose coach, Steve Spooner, said: "With Romelle, when you play him wide he is a danger but if he doesn't see too much of the ball you want him on the ball. We put him in the ten role and he starts creating things and makes things happen", but he needed "to get better disciplined when the ball changes hands." Eustace named Donovan among the substitutes for both of Birmingham's 2023–24 EFL Cup matches, but again he remained unused.

When Wayne Rooney took over as manager in mid-October 2023, he brought Donovan in to train with the first team and named him on the bench for his first match in charge, away to Middlesbrough. Again, Donovan was unused, but he made his Championship debut four days later, replacing Oliver Burke for the last few minutes of a 2–0 defeat at home to Hull City. On 30 November 2023, his 17th birthday, Donovan signed his first professional contract, to run until June 2026.

International career
On 22 May 2024, Donovan made a goalscoring debut for the England U18s during a 4–2 win over Northern Ireland at St George's Park.