Dara Joseph O'Shea (born 4 March 1999) is an Irish 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 plays as a defender for club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Club career

Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, O'Shea began his career at St. Kevin's Boys before moving to English club

. He spent the 2017–18 season on loan at

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

. O'Shea was part of the Hereford side that won the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

, winning promotion to the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

. He moved on loan to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in August 2018. In March 2019, he was praised by Exeter manager Matt Taylor. O'Shea signed a new three-year contract with West Brom on 24 January 2020. He scored his first league goal on 9 February 2020, in Albion's 2–0 victory over

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

International career

O'Shea has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-19 and under-21 youth levels. He made his debut for the senior Republic of Ireland national team on 14 October 2020, against

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 ...

. On 1 September 2021, he was named FAI Young Player of the Year for 2020.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Individual

* FAI Young Player of the Year: 2020

References

1999 births Living people Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Association football defenders St. Kevin's Boys F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Premier League players Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Expatriate footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England {{Ireland-footy-defender-stub