Garry Lawrence John O'Connor (born 7 May 1983) is a Scottish 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, rugb ...

. He played for Hibernian, Peterhead,

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, Tom Tomsk,

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

and represented Scotland. O'Connor began his career with Hibernian, where his performances in 2002 earned him selection for Scotland as an 18-year-old, and he later earned a lucrative transfer to

. He scored a winning goal in the 2007 Russian Cup final for Lokomotiv. O'Connor struggled to settle in Russia, and he returned to the United Kingdom later that year by signing for

. O'Connor struggled to hold a place in the Birmingham side due to injuries, and he spent most of the 2010–11 season with

. He then returned to Hibernian for the 2011–12 season, scoring 12 goals in 33 league appearances. O'Connor signed for Russian club Tom Tomsk in July 2012, but was released after making only six appearances.

Club career

Hibernian (first spell)

Born in Edinburgh and raised in Port Seton in East Lothian, O'Connor's early mentor in football was his uncle Mark, who was killed after being struck by a car when O'Connor was 14. A Hibernian youth graduate, he made his debut for the club under manager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

in April 2001 as a substitute against Dundee, his only appearance that season. O'Connor made just four appearances before Christmas in the following season. After the departure of McLeish to

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and the appointment of new manager

Franck Sauzée Franck Gaston Henri Sauzée (born 28 October 1965) is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played 39 times for the France national team between 1988 and 1993, scoring nine goals and captaining the team several times. He achie ...

, O'Connor featured more regularly in the first team. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

in February 2002. Although Sauzée was sacked later that month, O'Connor continued to feature in the first team under Sauzée's successor

Bobby Williamson Robert Williamson (born 13 August 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish football player and manager. Williamson played as a striker for Clydebank, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock. He then became a manager at Kilmarn ...

. O'Connor went on to score a further seven goals that season, including goals in five consecutive games between March and April. Following two seasons in which he struggled to fulfil his early promise, the arrival of manager

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with ...

at Hibs in May 2004 led to improved form for both O'Connor and the team as a whole, as Hibs finished third in the 2004–05 Scottish Premier League. O'Connor formed a formidable partnership with

Derek Riordan Derek George Riordan (born 16 January 1983) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker. He has been capped three times by the Scotland national team. Riordan started his career with Hibernian in 2001 and had a brief spell o ...

, and between them they scored 42 goals that season, as Hibs earned qualification for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, w ...

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 26 February 2006, it was reported that O'Connor was set to join Lokomotiv Moscow for approximately £1.6 million. This offer was subsequently accepted by Hibernian, with

conceding that the personal terms on offer, a reported weekly wage of £16,000, were "life-changing for Garry and his family". On 6 March, it was announced that the transfer had been agreed. O'Connor scored a total of 58 goals for Hibs in all competitions and scored in his final Hibs appearance, against Falkirk in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, He donated his portion of the transfer fee to the club to fund their training facilities. On 22 March 2006, O'Connor scored for the first time for Lokomotiv Moscow, the opening goal in a 2–2 draw with Spartak Moscow in a Russian Cup tie. He opened the scoring for his side against

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...

in a 4–1 win on 14 May. In the 2006 season, he scored seven league goals and a cup goal in the 29 matches he played in (although only on the field for the full 90 minutes in five matches – he averaged 58 minutes of playing time per match), and was yellow-carded once. In Moscow he formed a partnership with Russian international Dmitry Sychev, although

Dramane Traoré Dramane Traoré (born 17 June 1982) is a Malian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He made 30 appearances scoring 7 goals for the Mali national team. International career Traoré was a regular for the Mali national tea ...

, the Mali international, threatened his position. On 27 May 2007, O'Connor came off the bench to score the winning goal for Lokomotiv Moscow in the 2006–07 Russian Cup Final against city rivals

FC Moscow :''This article refers to the Moscow government team formed in 2004. For the predecessors in the Russian Premier League, see FC Torpedo-ZIL and FC Torpedo-Metallurg.'' FC Moscow (Russian: Футбольный клуб Москва) was a Russian ...

. The extra-time goal, coming in the 109th minute, was enough to seal a 1–0 victory for the railway team, and provided a measure of redemption for O'Connor, who had struggled to settle in Russia for family reasons.

Birmingham City

O'Connor completed a £2.7 million move to

on 28 June 2007, and scored his first goal for the club on his first appearance, on 15 August 2007 against Sunderland in a 2–2 draw. However, he lost his place, and manager

told him he needed to get fitter to return to the starting eleven. He had to wait until January 2008 for his second league goal, an equaliser against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

. He missed several games in early 2008 through illness, and McLeish told him to "write the season off and come back this season all guns blazing". O'Connor worked with a fitness coach over the summer, lost weight, and returned to training with a positive attitude towards the coming season and towards his manager. He had a successful pre-season and started well in the

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 ...

with an assist for Kevin Phillips followed by scoring three goals in three games, but then sustained a groin injury. Returning to the team a month later, he produced some good performances and scored three more goals in two games, prompting his inclusion in the Championship Team of the Week, before again injuring his groin, this time in the pre-match warm-up at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Roa ...

on 29 October 2008, a match which Birmingham went on to lose. He returned to first-team action against Doncaster on 14 March 2009, and his goal on 6 April that confirmed a 2–0 win over Championship leaders

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

for a Birmingham side reduced to ten men was voted as the club's Moment of the Season. O'Connor missed most of the 2009–10 season after undergoing two operations on a hip injury. McLeish suggested that the injury dated back to O'Connor's time with Hibernian and had been aggravated by playing on synthetic pitches in Russia while he was with Lokomotiv Moscow. A

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...

documentary '' Dispatches'', aired in September 2011, claimed that O'Connor had been sidelined due to failing a drugs test. His contract had been due to expire at the end of the season, but the club extended it for six months to give him a chance to prove his fitness.

Barnsley

To regain match fitness, O'Connor signed

club Barnsley on 10 September 2010 on a month's loan. He scored on his debut in a 5–2 win against Leeds United. Although Birmingham were happy for the player to remain at Barnsley, whose manager wanted to extend the loan, budgetary considerations made it impossible. Though O'Connor returned to Birmingham's first team,

Cameron Jerome Cameron Zishan Rana-Jerome (born 14 August 1986), known as Cameron Jerome, is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Luton Town. Jerome began his career as a trainee with Huddersfield Town, Grimsby Town, Sheffiel ...

's recovery from injury left the player again looking for regular football, so in November he rejoined Barnsley for another month. His 89th-minute winning goal at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

on his second Barnsley debut secured the club's first away win since February. O'Connor then scored the third Barnsley goal in a 3–1 win at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

. O'Connor then signed on a permanent basis with Barnsley, from 1 January 2011 until the end of the 2010–11 season. He scored only once in 13 appearances, and his contract was cancelled by mutual consent in April 2011.

Later career

O'Connor re-signed for Hibernian on a one-year contract on 15 June 2011. He scored his first goal in his second spell with the club in their second match of the 2011–12 season, a 92nd-minute winner away to

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

. Hibs had never previously won at the

Caledonian Stadium Caledonian Stadium is a football ground in the Longman area of Inverness, Scotland, near the banks of the Moray Firth. It hosts home matches of Scottish Professional Football League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. History Inverness Caled ...

. O'Connor made an excellent start to the season, scoring 10 goals in his first 11 appearances. This form meant that O'Connor was the subject of transfer speculation in January 2012, but injuries restricted his appearances. O'Connor was rested from matches and given additional training to improve his level of fitness. He responded by scoring in three consecutive matches, which helped to earn four league points and a place in the

2012 Scottish Cup Final The 2012 Scottish Cup Final was the 127th final of the Scottish Cup. The match took place at Hampden Park on 19 May 2012 and was contested by the Edinburgh derby rivals, Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs) and Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Mid ...

. Hibs retained their place in the SPL, but then lost to Hearts in the cup final. O'Connor's contract with Hibs expired on 1 June 2012; on the same day, he was found guilty on charges of possessing cocaine and obstructing a police officer. O'Connor returned to Russian football in July 2012, when he signed a two-year contract with

FC Tom Tomsk FC Tom Tomsk (russian: Футбольный клуб Томь Томск) is a Russian professional association football, football club, based in the Siberian city of Tomsk. The team plays in Trud Stadium (Tomsk). History The team was previously ...

. He was initially unable to play for the club, which was subject to a registration ban because of its failure to pay debts to players. O'Connor made his debut appearance for the club on 6 August, but was sent off after 65 minutes in the match against Baltika Kaliningrad. He was released from his contract in December 2012, having made just six appearances and scored once; he later stated that he and other players had not been paid by the club for several months. O'Connor returned to Scottish football on 6 January 2014, agreeing a contract with

until the end of the 2013–14 season. He left Morton at the end of the season, having scored only one goal as they were relegated to League One. O'Connor signed a one-year contract with Lowland League club Selkirk on 1 August 2014. He scored 18 Lowland League goals in the 2014–15 season, 21 in all competitions; he then re-signed with Selkirk for the 2015–16 season.

International career

Scotland national team manager

Berti Vogts Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts (; born 30 December 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga his whole professional club career and won the FIFA World Cup w ...

gave O'Connor his international debut, against South Korea in May 2002. He was then relegated to the Scotland under-21 squad for a few seasons as he struggled to find his best form. Improved form in the 2004–05 season earned him a recall to the full squad, and he scored his first Scotland goal in a 2–2 draw with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...

in August 2005. After featuring in the 1–0 victory against France at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the nor ...

on 7 October 2006, O'Connor and the rest of the team were given an evening off before reconvening ahead of the trip to Ukraine for another qualifying match. O'Connor failed to rejoin the squad and was axed from the travelling party by manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

. O'Connor subsequently issued an apology through his agent without revealing the exact cause of his failure to appear, while assistant manager Tommy Burns announced that O'Connor was unlikely to be frozen out of the squad permanently. O'Connor said that his wife was unhappy with life in Moscow and he had decided to stay with her rather than return to training. He was recalled to the Scotland squad in May 2007 under new manager, and his former boss at Hibs, Alex McLeish. Initially drafted in due to squad call-offs, O'Connor was given a place in the starting line-up for the friendly match with Austria and scored the only goal of the game. Seven days later, he scored in the 2–0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying victory over the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

. After appearing against the Ukraine in October 2007, O'Connor was left out of the Scotland squad for almost two years, was recalled for the matches in September 2009 against Macedonia and the Netherlands after

Kevin Kyle Kevin Alastair Kyle (born 7 June 1981) is a Scottish retired footballer and media personality who played as a centre forward. He played for eleven senior clubs in his career. Kyle gained ten full Scotland international caps and scored one goal. ...

withdrew due to injury.

Coaching career

On 28 October 2015, O'Connor was appointed as Selkirk caretaker manager following the sacking of Steve Forrest, a role he continued until the appointment of Ian Fergus.

Personal life

In August 2020, a documentary entitled "Playing the Game- Garry O'Connor" aired on

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. ...

. The programme charted O'Connor's career and explored his troubles with substance abuse, mental health issues and early retirement from football. Whilst being interviewed for the programme, O’Connor revealed that he had considered suicide towards the end of his playing career, citing the love of his family and his responsibility towards his three children as motivation for seeking help through mental health counselling. O'Connor lost the fortune he made as a footballer, and had to move out of his mansion and into a

council house A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 a ...

. His son Josh is also a footballer, who plays in the same position. Josh signed a first professional contract with Hibernian in January 2021 and made his first team debut in March 2022.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first; score column indicates score after each O'Connor goal''.

Honours

Lokomotiv Moscow * Russian Cup: 2006–07 Birmingham City * Football League Championship promotion: 2008–09

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Garry 1983 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Footballers from East Lothian Association football forwards Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland B international footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Hibernian F.C. players Peterhead F.C. players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Birmingham City F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Russian Premier League players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Russia FC Tom Tomsk players Greenock Morton F.C. players Selkirk F.C. players Selkirk F.C. managers Scottish football managers Lowland Football League players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Russia