Donald was captain of his Stroud-on-Green school side in Chiswick, gaining an inter-district badge before joining Chiswich Old Boys, where he stayed until the start of WWI.

Joining the Middlesex Regiment he served in the Dardanelles, Egypt and Palestine. He finished the War with the 13th London Regiment and played some football for them in Alexandria. On demobilisation he assisted his work team for a while before joining London League side Chiswick Town. After a season there he joined Wimbledon, playing mostly in the reserves - helping them to the Isthmian League Reserve Section title in 1922/23.

Blessed with a long and accurate kick and anticipation that would rarely leave him out of position, he was a fine understudy full-back that stayed with the Dons for most of the 1920s.