Joshua Adam O'Keefe (born 22 December 1988) is a former

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 played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he retired in 2020 after spending four years at Chorley.

Career

Blackburn Rovers

Born in

Whalley, Lancashire Whalley is a large village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large wooded hill over the river from the village. The population of the civil parish ...

, O'Keefe was educated at

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (QEGS) is a co-educational free school in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Founded in 1509 as a boys' school, it is now a co-educational independent free school with over 1200 students from ages 4 to 18. Pupils ...

, where along with

Frank Fielding Francis David Fielding (born 4 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Stoke City. He began his career at Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League. He spent time on loan at Wycombe Wanderers, Northampton T ...

he played in their victorious Boodles ISFA Cup team of 2003–04, defeating

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

5–4 on penalties following a 2–2 draw in the final at the

Walkers Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

, whilst also playing representative football for ISFA. He then joined the

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

academy, making his

Premier Academy League The Premier Academy League (sometimes abbreviated as FAPAL) was the top level of youth football in England before it was to be replaced by a new league proposed by the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012, which was accepted by the 72 member ...

debut for the club in the 0–0 draw at Newcastle United on 2 April 2005.

Walsall

He then signed for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

on a free transfer and made his debut on 12 September 2009, coming on as a substitute for

Richard Taundry Richard Daniel Taundry (born 15 February 1989) is a professional footballer who last played for National League North side Leamington, where he played as both a defender and a midfielder. He is perhaps best known for making 192 appearances fo ...

, in the Football League One clash with

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

at Prenton Park, which ended in a 3–2 win to Walsall. He was released by Walsall on 10 May 2010 along with six other players.

Lincoln City

O'Keefe was then signed by Lincoln City on 17 May 2010 on a two-year contract. On 3 January 2011, he scored his first ever goal as a professional, scoring an equaliser in the match against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. On 26 December 2011 O'Keefe left Lincoln City by mutual consent.

Non-league career

On 1 March 2012, O'Keefe joined Conference Premier team

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

. On 24 September he joined

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

. On 11 June 2013 he signed a new one-year contract to remain with the club for the 2013–14 season. On 31 January 2014, he signed an 18-month deal with play off hopefuls Kidderminster Harriers. On 1 September 2014, he moved to Telford United on a month-long loan deal where he made five appearances. On 11 November 2014, he was sent on a two-month loan to Chester having only made one appearance all season for the Harriers. His loan spell, due to end on 1 January 2015, was cut short due to injury. On 12 May 2015, he signed for

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

, after being released by Kidderminster having made 20 appearances. In June 2016, he agreed a deal to join Chorley.

International career

On 8 August 2008, he was called up for the Republic of Ireland U21 squad, qualifying by virtue of his father's Irish parents. He made his debut as a second-half substitute in the 1–1 draw with the Austria U21 side on 19 August 2008.

Career statistics

Personal life

In 2018 he graduated from the

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

with a first class degree in physiotherapy. He is married.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okeefe, Josh 1988 births Living people People from Whalley, Lancashire English footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Southport F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players AFC Telford United players Chester F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Chorley F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Alumni of the University of Salford Footballers from Lancashire