Luke Marcus O'Neill (born 20 August 1991) is an English 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 as a

right back 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 ...

for club

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

. He graduated from the

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

youth academy. He has represented England at under-17 level.

Career

Leicester City

Born in Slough, Berkshire, O'Neill came through the youth academy at

and was part of the side that won the

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 ...

in the 2006–07 season. He was named as a substitute for the first time in a

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 ...

win over

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

on 12 August 2008, however he was unused on that occasion. On 29 August 2008, just a few days after his 17th birthday, O'Neill signed a three-year professional contract, tying him to Leicester until the summer of 2011. He then made his first-team debut for Leicester on 2 September 2008 against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

in a 3–0

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

win. O'Neill's next first-team involvement for Leicester came almost a year later when he was named as an unused substitute in their opening day fixture against Swansea City. He made his first appearance of 2009–10 three days later, playing the full 90 minutes as Leicester beat

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

2–0 in the League Cup. On 26 December 2009, O'Neill made his league debut for Leicester, coming on as a half-time substitute against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, replacing the injured

Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...

Tranmere Rovers

On 18 February 2010, O'Neill joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

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 ...

on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

Kettering Town

On 31 January 2011, he joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

club Kettering Town on a one-month loan.

Mansfield Town

On 30 June 2011, O'Neill signed for Conference Premier club

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

on a one-year contract. He made his debut on 13 August 2011 in a 1–1 draw with

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

, he then later scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 win over Newport County. O'Neill helped Mansfield to a play-off semi-final where they lost 2–1 on aggregate to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. His performances throughout 2011–12 attracted

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 ...

clubs

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, Cardiff City and

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 profession ...

. Burnley had a bid rejected by the Conference club, but manager Paul Cox admitted O'Neill could leave if the offer is right.

Burnley

On 15 June 2012, O'Neill signed for Championship club Burnley for an undisclosed fee.

York City

He joined

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 ...

club

on 4 October 2013 on a 28-day emergency loan. His debut came the following day in a 3–0 away defeat to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, before scoring his first goal for York in a 2–2 draw away to Chesterfield with a 30-yard shot into the bottom right corner. On 31 October 2013, O'Neill's loan was extended until 4 January 2014, after making six appearances and scoring one goal for York. He was recalled by Burnley a day early on 3 January 2014 to be part of the squad for their

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

match against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. He had made 16 appearances and scored one goal for York.

Southend United

On 17 January 2014, O'Neill joined League Two club

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

on a 30-day emergency loan.

Scunthorpe United

He joined Scunthorpe United on 18 August 2014 on a three-month loan, making his debut a day later in a 2–0 home defeat to Fleetwood Town.

Leyton Orient

On 26 February 2015, he joined

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

on loan until the end of 2014–15.

Southend United

O'Neill rejoined Southend United, by this time in League One, on 22 August 2015 on a one-month loan. He had his Burnley contract terminated by mutual consent on 1 September 2015, ahead of a permanent transfer to Southend on a two-year contract. He scored his first goal for Southend in a 3-1 win against

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, eas ...

on 17 September 2016.

Gillingham

O'Neill signed for League One club Gillingham on 6 June 2017 on a two-year contract. He was released by Gillingham at the end of the 2018–19 season.

AFC Wimbledon

O'Neill signed for League One club AFC Wimbledon on 4 July 2019 on a contract of undisclosed length. He scored his first goal for Wimbledon in an EFL Cup tie against rivals

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

on 13 August 2019. O'Neill was released by the club at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Return to Kettering Town

In November 2021, he dropped back into non-League football when he signed for

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 Syst ...

club Kettering Town on a free transfer, having previously spent time on loan there in 2011.

Stevenage

O'Neill signed for League Two club Stevenage on 3 January 2022. He was released at the end of the season.

Career statistics

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Luke 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Slough English footballers England youth international footballers Association football defenders Leicester City F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Burnley F.C. players York City F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Stevenage F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Berkshire