Despite only being two years beyond his teens, Kwaku Donkor has established a fair amount of experience during his brief career so far, developing as high as the Championship during his early years before spending two seasons out on loan within non-league.
Hailing from London to Ghanian parents, he was spotted by Blackpool whilst playing in the Onside Football Academy and made the brave decision to move four hours north at the age of 16, with a switch to the Lancashire Coast in order to pursue the opportunity to develop within a side who at the time were in the fourth successive season in League One, but who by the end of his maiden campaign in the club’s academy would go on to win promotion back to the Championship via the play-offs.
Capable of playing at right-back or right wing-back, Kwaku Donkor signed a two-year scholarship at Blackpool in the summer of 2021 and continued his rise up the ranks at Bloomfield Road across a three-year stay in the youth setup.
He enjoyed a string of positive performances during the 2021/22 season, including contributing to a 6-1 win over Rochdale and a 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic, with his qualities on the overlap and determination to bomb forward evident, while further contributions to a 1-0 win over Salford City and a 2-0 win over Oldham Athletic saw Donkor also display his versatility by being deployed in a more advanced role in the latter. He scored his first goal for the Tangerines in a 3-0 win over Walsall, adding gloss to the scoreline before the half was even out when he finished off a brilliant team move, with the right-back finding himself in a world of space before smashing the ball in the top corner after some nice work down the right hand-side.
Kwaku cited more game time as something helped him improve as a player after fellow right back Jack Moore signed professional terms with Blackpool, and resulted in the now-Sutton player seeing his game time rise due to Moore’s loan spell at Radcliffe Borough. In his absence, Donkor was deployed at both right-back and left-back and was involved in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final against Chelsea, as well as starting in a cup semi-final against Bolton.
(Photo by Steve Flynn/News Images)
Come the end of the campaign, Kwaku was a part of the Blackpool side who were crowned Lancashire Pro-Youth Cup champions after a 3-2 victory over Rochdale, notably making a crucial tackle that created all kinds of confusion in the Dale midfield and saw the ball played to Jake Daniels, who slotted Joe Strawn through for the game’s opener.
As such, he was rewarded for his performances by signing professional terms in 2023 with a two-year deal, while the Seasiders also held an additional one-year option, having enjoyed an impressive campaign, winning two pieces of silverware in the Central League Cup and EFL Youth Alliance league under Stephen Dobbie and Neal Eardley respectively, and saw him join the likes of Harvey Bardsley, Johnson Opawole and Dannen Francis in signing professional terms across the previous few months.
Having shown immense promise during stages of his scholarship, he fast became a player with great potential, with Academy Director Ciaran Donnelly praising the young wing-back upon his decision to commit his immediate future with the Tangerines, describing him as a player who could really make his mark over the next couple of seasons.
And he followed this up with an immensely proud moment in his career, with Donkor making his first team debut for Blackpool in September 2023 in an EFL Trophy group game against Barrow. Then only 18-years old, the right back replaced Jensen Weir just past the hour-mark, having found out during training on the Monday before that he was going to be in the squad, and later said that he felt both nerves and excitement when receiving the call from manager Neil Critchley. Nonetheless, it was a mark of his hard work during his scholarship that helped him massively on his footballing journey, and led to him stepping out onto the pitch in a first team game for the first time.
Critchley also commented on Donkor’s debut for the Tangerines, touching on his obvious physical attributes which catch the eye with his speed up and down the pitch, and saw him give a deserved moment for the young wing-back after doing brilliantly for the development squad.
This was followed by his first major contribution to Blackpool’s first team the following month, after coming off the bench in an EFL Trophy clash with Liverpool. After going in at the break level, Blackpool retook the lead in the 75th minute when Donkor curled a delivery in from the right onto the head of former Sutton forward Kylian Kouassi who diverted it into the ground, before it bounced into the corner of the net.
After continuing his fine form in the development squad, and adding another first team appearance with a 45-minute spell against Morecambe a month after his contribution against Liverpool, Donkor then embarked on his first senior loan in an effort to gain regular exposure to first team football, having appeared three times for Blackpool so far, all in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. Joining Havant & Waterlooville, he extended his deal until the end of the 2023/24 season after making the switch for an initial month and played in almost every game since his arrival, and went on to appear 14 times for the Hawks.
He subsequently joined Welling United on another loan in the summer of 2024 and impressed, again seeing it extended, and saw him add another 12 National League South appearances to his name after remaining with the Wings until Christmas. After returning to Blackpool at the turn of the year, he briefly turned out for Mickleover before departing Lancashire at the expiry of his contract, bringing an end to his five-year stay in the North-West.
A permanent return to non-league saw him sign for Tamworth in July 2025 following a successful trial, impressing in pre-season during his brief stay with the Lambs so far. He has gone on to make 31 appearances in all competitions for Andy Peaks’ side, who have maintained their remarkable rise up non-league by sitting 13th in their second ever campaign at fifth tier level. The wing-back continued to display his pace and directness during his stint in Staffordshire, notably taking the ball down the right flank before slipping it into the box for Dan Creaney to finish from close range with a deft touch to reduce arrears in a 2-1 defeat against Rochdale, notching his only assist of the season so far.
He since got the chance to watch on from the sidelines as Sutton defeated Tamworth last month thanks to a Davide Rodari goal, getting his first taste of Agutter’s style of football despite being an unused substitute, before playing his last minutes in a red and black shirt only three days ago, playing the bulk of their 1-0 win over FC Halifax Town in the National League Cup Quarter-Final.
However, he has now opted to join up with Agutter’s ranks, swapping Staffordshire for South London in a swift move that took less than a day to finalise, with Donkor returning closer to home for the first time in more than half-a-decade.
Source: suttonunited.net
