Brendan Richard O'Callaghan (born 23 July 1955) is a former professional

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 played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

. Born in England, he made six appearances for the Republic of Ireland national team.

Career

Born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

to Irish parents, O'Callaghan was spotted by

playing for Bradford Boys and Yorkshire schools. But the offer to become a professional footballer was a tough decision to make for O'Callaghan as he had been accepted into

Loughborough College Loughborough College is a general further education college located in Leicestershire, England which offers a range of courses including further education, higher education, apprenticeships and professional qualifications. List of princip ...

to undertake a physical education teaching diploma. He signed the contract, deferring college for a year in case the football did not work out. After six months in Donny's reserves he was promoted to the first team and he developed a fine partnership with

Peter Kitchen Michael Peter Kitchen (born 16 February 1952) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League in the 1970s and 80s as a forward. Career Born in Mexborough, Kitchen began his career at Doncaster Rovers, after bei ...

and he top scored in 1975–76 with 28 goals. By the time his goal tally had reached 77 for Doncaster he had attracted the attentions of bigger clubs and on 1 March 1978

manager

Alan Durban William Alan Durban (born 7 July 1941) is a Welsh former international footballer and manager, whose career was at its peak between the 1970s and 1990s. He played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Derby County and was player-manager of ...

signed him for £40,000. The following Wednesday O'Callaghan was on the bench as Stoke struggled to break down a resolute

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

and with time running out and Stoke winning a corner Durban decided to bring O'Callaghan on for his début. From the resulting corner he headed past

Eddie Blackburn Edwin Huitson Blackburn (18 April 1957 – 20 April 2018) was an English association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He played in the Football League for Hull City A.F.C., Hull City, York City ...

to make him an instant hero (fastest debut goal). He ended the 1977–78 season with six goals and was top-scorer in 1978–79 with 16 as Stoke won promotion to the First Division. With Stoke making a slow start in 1980–81 Durban moved O'Callaghan, who had lost his place to the younger

Lee Chapman Lee Roy Chapman (born 5 December 1959) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker from 1978 until 1996, in which he scored over 200 first team goals. He is best known for spells with Stoke City, Leeds United, Sheff ...

, to centre back filling in for the injured Denis Smith. He adapted well and his partnership with

Mike Doyle Michael, Mick or Mike Doyle may refer to: Politics *Michael Doyle (Irish politician), Irish Farmers' Party politician from Wexford, TD from 1922 to 1927 *Michael Doyle, alleged member of the Molly Maguires *Mike Doyle (American politician) (born 1 ...

saw Stoke in to a final mid-table position of 11th. He began the 1981–82 season in defence before reverting to forward in January 1982 where he scored five goals and he again scored five in 1982–83. He struggled under Richie Barker's long ball tactics in 1983–84 and he handed in a transfer request but Barker was sacked and replaced by

Bill Asprey William Asprey (born 11 September 1936) is an English former football player and manager. A defender, he made 418 league appearances in a 15-year career in the Football League. He then had a 25-year career as a coach. He spent 1953 to 1965 at ...

and so O'Callaghan stayed at Stoke. Under Asprey Stoke staged a relegation survival but in 1984–85 Stoke were awful and well on their way to an embarrassing relegation so O'Callaghan moved on to

for £30,000 after making 294 appearances for Stoke scoring 47 goals. In the first match of the 1985–86 he suffered an

adductor muscle A adductor muscle is any muscle that causes adduction. It may refer to: Humans * Adductor muscles of the hip, the most common reference in humans, but may also refer to ** Adductor brevis muscle, a muscle in the thigh situated immediately behind ...

strain which caused him to retire on the advice of doctors.

Post-retirement

After leaving Oldham, O'Callaghan took a degree in business administration at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. Having been Stoke's

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

representative, he worked in 1989 as a community development officer at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. He later became north-west Midlands area manager for

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

charity.

Style of play

Tall at and weighing over , 'Big Bren', as he was known, worked well as a willing target man, shielding the ball and acting as a link between midfield and a pacey striker.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Profile from Doncaster Rovers site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocallaghan, Brendan 1955 births Living people Footballers from Bradford English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players English Football League players English people of Irish descent