Aaron Derek O'Connor (born 9 August 1983) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who currently plays for Carlton Town, where he plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Playing career

Scunthorpe United

Born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, Nottinghamshire, O'Connor started his career at Ilkeston Town before moving to

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

side

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

on 12 December 2002. However, O'Connor featured in just three games as a substitute. Manager

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

released the 19-year-old in February 2003, claiming he did not have the right attitude for the professional club.

Nuneaton Borough and Ilkeston Town

O'Connor had a brief spell at

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

at the start of the 2003–04 season, before moving back to Ilkeston Town.

Gresley Rovers

He then moved onto

Gresley Rovers Gresley Rovers Football Club is an English association football, football club from Church Gresley, South Derbyshire. Gresley is a member of the and plays home games at the Moat Ground. They were known as Gresley Rovers until 2009, when they we ...

in July 2004. He spent two and a half seasons at Gresley, winning the Player's Player of The Year, Manager's Player of The Year and Supporter's Player of The Year awards in both seasons. O'Connor had a very impressive record of scoring 80 goals in 127 appearances for the club in all competitions. He had a two-week trial with

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

in June 2006.

Grays Athletic

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

announced the signing of O'Connor on 5 January 2007, and he made his debut the following day against

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

in the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

. Despite being offered a new contract for the 2008–09 season, he did not sign and subsequently was released.

Mansfield Town

He was signed by

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

on 8 August 2008, where he made 39 appearances in the Conference Premier, scoring eight goals. He was released at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Rushden & Diamonds

On 17 June 2009, O'Connor signed for Rushden & Diamonds on a one-year contract. He signed a one-year contract extension in May 2010. Over the course of two seasons, in which he was appointed Rushden's club captain, O'Connor scored 27 goals in 78 games.

Luton Town

O'Connor left Rushden & Diamonds and joined

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

on a free transfer on 6 June 2011.

Newport County

In July 2012, O'Connor was reunited with former Rushden & Diamonds manager

Justin Edinburgh Justin Charles Edinburgh (18 December 1969 – 8 June 2019) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a left back. He notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, where he made 213 league appearance ...

when he signed for Newport County. In August 2012 O'Connor was selected as Conference Player of the Month after Newport County won all five of their opening matches of the 2012–13 season with O'Connor scoring six goals. He was part of the Newport team that finished third in the league, reaching the Conference Premier play-offs. Newport won the

2013 Conference Premier play-off Final The 2013 Conference Premier play-off Final, known as the 2013 Blue Square Bet Premier play-off Final for sponsorship purposes, was a football match between Wrexham and Newport County on 5 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the elevent ...

versus

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

2–0 to return to the Football League after a 25-year absence with promotion to League Two. O'Connor scored the second goal. He was released by Newport in May 2015 at the end of his contract.

Forest Green Rovers

On 12 June 2015, he joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

on a one-year deal. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2015-16 season in a 1–0 away win against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

. His first goal followed in his second appearance, as his first half strike against

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

The New Lawn The New Lawn, also known as The Bolt New Lawn for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. It has been the home stadium of League One club Forest Green Rovers since 2006. During the 2007–08 season the stadium ...

proved to be enough to secure a 1–0 victory.

Stevenage

He joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

on a one-month loan on 15 January 2016. He made his Stevenage debut the following day on 16 January 2016, playing 81 minutes in a 3–2 away loss against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. On 1 February 2016, he secured a permanent move to Stevenage after he had his contract cancelled by Forest Green by mutual consent. He was released by Stevenage in May 2016.

Kettering Town

O'Connor joined

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

on 3 September 2016, and was voted the Fans' and Overall Player of the Year for the season 2017–18.

Tamworth

It was confirmed on 15 July 2020, that O'Connor had signed for Southern League Premier Division Central side Tamworth. He made his debut for Tamworth on 29 September 2020 in a 2–1 home victory over

Barwell Barwell is a civil parish and large village in Leicestershire, England, with a population of 8,750 residents, Increasing to 9,022 at the 2011 census, the name literally translates as "Stream of the Boar" and is said to originate from a boar that ...

, coming on as a 78th minute substitute for Gerry McDonagh.

Basford United

O'Connor signed for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Premier Division side Basford United on 6 August 2021.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Kettering Town * Northamptonshire Cup: 2017–18; *

Northamptonshire Senior Cup The NFA Hillier Senior Cup is a football knockout tournament involving teams from Northamptonshire, England and the surrounding area. It is a County Cup competition of the Northamptonshire Football Association and involves senior non-league t ...

: 2017–18 * Southern League Premier Division Central: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Aaron 1983 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham English footballers Association football forwards Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Gresley F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Basford United F.C. players Carlton Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Southern Football League players