Daniel Michael O'Shaughnessy (born 14 September 1994) is a Finnish 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 ...

who plays for

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...

and the Finland national team as a defender. O'Shaughnessy began his career in the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

s at Honka, HJK and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

and also played in England for Braintree Town and

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

. After rising to prominence and winning three

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...

championships during his second spell with HJK, he transferred to German club Karlsruher SC in 2022.

Early life

O'Shaughnessy was born in

Riihimäki Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to ...

on 14 September 1994, the son of a Finnish mother and an Irish father (Robert, a painter from

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

). He holds dual Finnish-Irish citizenship. His older brother Patrick is a former professional footballer.

Club career

Youth years

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, O'Shaughnessy began his career in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

alongside his brother Patrick at Honka and was part of the youth team which made an impressive showing at the 2008 Nike Premier Cup. Both brothers joined

club HJK in early 2009. O'Shaughnessy broke into the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

the following year, making 23 appearances and scoring two goals during the 2011

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1 ...

season, missing out on promotion to the

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' ( Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also pla ...

after a playoff semi-final defeat to

BK-46 Bollklubben-46 (abbreviated BK-46) is a sports club from Karis, Raseborg in Finland. The club was formed in 1946 and the main activities covered are football and handball with large junior sections in both disciplines. BK-46 men's first team ...

. After trials at

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

clubs

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, Manchester United, Sunderland and Scottish Premier League club Celtic, O'Shaughnessy moved to French Ligue 2 club

on a -year contract in early January 2012. He made 40 appearances and scored one goal for the club's reserve team and helped the team to the 2013–14 Championnat de France amateur 2 Group C title. O'Shaughnessy departed Metz at the end of the 2013–14 season, having failed to receive a call into the first team squad.

Brentford

joined newly-promoted

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club Brentford on trial in July 2014 and made a 30-minute cameo in a 4–0

pre-season friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

defeat to

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

on 29 July. On 1 August, it was announced that O'Shaughnessy had signed a two-year professional contract. He was an unused substitute during Brentford's two

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

ties in August 2014, but instead spent the 2014–15 season in the Development Squad, for which he made 23 appearances and scored one goal. O'Shaughnessy began the 2015–16 season in the Development Squad and 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 ...

club Braintree Town on a one-month loan on 22 September 2015. His only appearance for the club came later that day as a half time substitute for Sam Habergham during a 2–1 win over Woking. Following another spell back with the Brentford Development Squad, O'Shaughnessy joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each ye ...

club

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish muni ...

on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season in late January 2016. He made one appearance, when he replaced replaced

Kian Hansen Kian H. Hansen (born 3 March 1989) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for FC Nordsjælland. Club career Hansen has played for Esbjerg the most part of his career, having been promoted to the first team in 2008. Follo ...

after 59 minutes of a 4–1 victory over

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand ( da, Nordsjælland), refers to the northern part of the Danish island of Zealand which is not clearly defined but generally covers the area north of Copenhagen. The Danish tourist authorities have recently in ...

on the final day of the season. O'Shaughnessy was released by Brentford in May 2016, after failing to make a first team appearance during his two seasons at Griffin Park.

Cheltenham Town

On 12 July 2016, O'Shaughnessy signed a one-year contract with

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 ...

newcomers

. During a 2016–17 season in which the Robins narrowly avoided being relegated straight back into non-League football, he made 36 appearances and scored four goals. O'Shaughnessy signed a new one-year contract in June 2017, but he was down the defensive pecking order during the first half of the 2017–18 season and he departed the club on 2 January 2018. O'Shaughnessy made 49 appearances and scored four goals during 18 months at

Whaddon Road Whaddon Road, known as the Completely-Suzuki Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Cheltenham, England. It is the home ground of Cheltenham Town F.C. It has a total capacity of 7,066, with a mixture of seating and terracing ...

Return to HJK

On 2 January 2018, O'Shaughnessy returned to Finland to re-join reigning Veikkausliiga champions HJK on a two-year contract, with the option of a further year. Despite missing the final three months of the 2018 season with a knee injury, O'Shaughnessy made 24 appearances, scored three goals and in his absence, HJK were crowned Veikkausliiga champions. O'Shaughnessy was a near ever-present during the 2019 season and finished the campaign with 31 appearances and three goals. During a period while he was conducting his national service, O'Shaughnessy signed a new two-year contract in October 2019 and made 28 appearances during HJK's double-winning 2020 season. O'Shaughnessy made 35 appearances and scored one goal during the 2021 season, in which he captained the team to the Veikkausliiga championship. 2021 was O'Shaughnessy's final season at the

Bolt Arena The Bolt Arena (named Telia 5G -areena until January 2020, named Sonera Stadium until April 2017, and Finnair Stadium until August 2010; also known as ''Töölön jalkapallostadion'', " Töölö football stadium") is a football stadium in Helsinki, ...

and he ended his career with the club on 118 appearances and 9 goals. In each of his final two seasons with the club, O'Shaughnessy was voted the Veikkausliiga Defender of the Year and into the Veikkausliiga Team of the Year.

Karlsruher SC

On 30 August 2021, it was announced that O'Shaughnessy would join

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club

on 1 December 2021, on a contract running until June 2023. He made his debut on 15 January 2022 playing full 90 minutes in a match against Darmstadt. He finished a mid-table 2021–22 season with 15 appearances and one goal, before suffering a fractured

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity i ...

on international duty in June 2022. O'Shaughnessy returned to fitness in mid-November 2022, but he failed to make an appearance prior to undergoing season-ending surgery on a hip problem in March 2023.

International career

O'Shaughnessy represented

at all age-groups from U15 up to U21 level. He won his maiden call into the senior team for a friendly versus

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

on 9 June 2015, but remained an unused substitute during the 2–0 defeat. O'Shaughnessy made his full international debut as a late substitute for

Ville Jalasto Ville Jalasto (born 19 April 1986) is a Finnish professional footballer who last played for the OBOS-ligaen side Kongsvinger as a centre-back. Career Club Jalasto was born in Espoo, Finland. He made his Tippeligaen debut for Aalesund 13 April ...

in a 3–0 friendly defeat to Sweden in Abu Dhabi on 10 January 2016. He made his first start three days later versus

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and played the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 defeat. Two years after his maiden call-up to the senior team, O'Shaughnessy won his third cap as a half time substitute in a 2–1 friendly win over

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

on 11 January 2018. He won his first competitive cap with a start in a 1–0

2020–21 UEFA Nations League B The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B was the second division of the 2020–21 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the second season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA ...

defeat to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on 3 September 2020. O'Shaughnessy was named in the Finland squad for

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and was the only domestic-based player in the selection. He started in each of the Finns' three group stage matches, prior to the team's elimination. He scored his first goal for Finland in a 3–1 2022 World Cup qualifying win over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

on 13 November 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each O'Shaughnessy goal.''

Honours

Klubi 04 *

Group A: 2011 Metz B * Championnat de France Amateur 2 Group C: 2013–14 HJK *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...

Individual *Veikkausliiga Defender of the Year:

*Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2020, 2021

References

External links

Karlsruher SC official profileDaniel O'Shaughnessy
–

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

competition record * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:OShaughnessy, Daniel 1994 births Living people People from Riihimäki Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Finnish footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Finland men's international footballers Finnish people of Irish descent FC Honka players Klubi 04 players FC Metz players Brentford F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players FC Midtjylland players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Veikkausliiga players Kakkonen players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players English Football League players National League (English football) players Danish Superliga players UEFA Euro 2020 players Finnish expatriate footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Karlsruher SC players Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany 2. Bundesliga players Sportspeople from Kanta-Häme