Joshua Manfred O'Brien (born 7 February 2003) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for USL Championship club Indy Eleven.

Early life

O'Brien was born in Dublin, but moved to the United States at ten weeks old due to a change in his father's job. O'Brien's father is Irish and his mother, Nicole, is German. O'Brien has four brothers; Aran represented

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

and Ethan played for the University of Notre Dame. O'Brien was educated at

Eastside Catholic Eastside Catholic School is a private Roman Catholic secondary school located in Sammamish, Washington, a suburb east of Seattle within the Archdiocese of Seattle. It has a faith-based educational program for students in grades 6 through 12. Des ...

in Washington state and Archbishop Mitty in California.

Career

Youth career

O'Brien began his career with the Crossfire academy, though moved to Northern California to join developmental team De Anza Force in 2020. He attended the University of Washington, but in 2021 put his studies on hold to join English Premier League club Watford on a one-year contract (with the option of a further year) following a successful trial. O'Brien had been recommended to the club by the brother of Northern Ireland international George Saville. O'Brien was released by Watford in the summer of 2022 and joined the development squad at Salford City of

EFL 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 ...

Professional career

O'Brien made his senior debut for Salford on 30 August 2022, playing the full ninety minutes of a 2–1 win over Liverpool U21 at Moor Lane, and his first league start came against Northampton Town, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win at

Sixfields Sixfields is an area of Northampton, Northamptonshire, England about west of the town centre along the A4500 St James Road and Weedon Road towards M1 junction 16 about further west. It is close to the Duston, Upton and St James areas o ...

. On 12 December he joined Telford United on loan. O'Brien joined Scottish League One side Hamilton Academical in August 2023, making 10 total appearances for the

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club. On 1 February 2024,

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

-based club Indy Eleven announced the signing of O'Brien ahead of the

2024 USL Championship season The 2024 USL Championship season will be the 14th season of the USL Championship and the seventh season under Division II sanctioning. The 2024 season will have 24 teams participating in two conferences during the regular season. Conference real ...

. The USL Championship club's owners had been interested in signing O'Brien since he joined Watford's development squad in 2021. O'Brien made his first appearance with the Eleven in their 2–1 season opening defeat against

Oakland Roots Oakland Roots Sports Club is an American professional soccer team based in Oakland, California. The club was formed in 2018 by a group of Oakland natives, and began play in the National Independent Soccer Association in the fall of 2019. In 2021, ...

as a substitute in the 75th minute, replacing Younes Boudadi. O'Brien scored his first goal for the Eleven on 1 June in a 2–1 away win against Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

Personal

O'Brien's brother, Ethan O'Brien, is also a professional footballer. Ethan joined his brother at Indy Eleven in 2024.

Career statistics

References

2003 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Salford City F.C. players English Football League players University of Washington alumni Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish people of German descent AFC Telford United players American men's soccer players De Anza Force players Indy Eleven players {{Ireland-footy-bio-stub