Michael Terrance O'Brien (10 August 1893 – 21 September 1940) was an Irish

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 ...

and coach whose career took him to at least 17 different clubs. A well built six footer, O'Brien was highly regarded as a centre-half. O'Brien was a dual international and played for both Ireland teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI. In April 1927 O'Brien made his debut for the FAI XI, four days after he made his last appearance for the IFA XI. During the 1930s O'Brien managed both

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 Ro ...

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 ...

Club career

O'Brien did not play football until he was 18, when his family settled in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

in County Durham. He then played for several clubs in the North East of England, including

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

, before attracting the interest of

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 Fo ...

. However, after failing to make it into the Celtic first team he joined

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in December 1914. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, O'Brien served in both the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. Between 1919 and 1933, O'Brien went on to make 370 English League appearances, scoring 19 goals, for eight different clubs. These included

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 ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

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

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. Although best known as a centre half, he was also capable of playing in the forward line and, while playing as an inside-left, he scored twice for an English League XI against a

British Army XI The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

in 1921''The Boys in Green – The FAI International Story'' (1997): Sean Ryan In 1926 he also had a brief spell playing for

Brooklyn Wanderers The Brooklyn Wanderers was a U.S. soccer team which was a founding member of the National Association Football League in the late nineteenth century. Later versions joined the original American Soccer League and the reorganized American Soccer Le ...

, making 7 appearances in the American Soccer League.

Irish international

During the years O'Brien played international football, there were, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland–based

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Ac ...

and the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

–based FAI, claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and selected players from the whole island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including O'Brien, played for both teams. Meanwhile, many sources claim that O'Brien was from Kilcock, County Kildare. But although he may well have had family there, it has been established by the programme editor at Brentford FC (a former club) that he was born in Ushaw Moor, County Durham. There is speculation that he may have concocted the story about Kilcock in order to be eligible to represent the two Irish Associations (a parent or grandparent was not sufficient to qualify in those days, it had to be birthplace).

IFA XI

Between 1921 and 1927, while playing for

and

, O'Brien made 10 appearances for the IFA XI. He made his international debut on 2 February 1921 at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

in a 2–0 defeat against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. His teammates on the day included Bill Lacey and Louis Bookman. On 13 February 1926, on his ninth appearance, he helped the IFA XI to a 3–0 win against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. This was the only time O'Brien played in a winning IFA XI. He made his last appearance for the IFA XI on 19 April 1927 in a 2–2 draw with Wales.

FAI XI

Between 1927 and 1932 O'Brien also made 4 appearances for the FAI XI. O'Brien was playing for four different clubs –

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

and

– when he won each of his four FAI caps. He made his debut for the FAI XI on 23 April 1927, four days after he made his last appearance for the IFA XI. Despite the FAI XI losing 2–1 in the friendly against Italy B at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

, O'Brien was noted for his performance. The game also saw him, together with, Tommy Muldoon,

Harry Duggan Henry Anthony Duggan (1903–1968) was an Irish footballer. Described as a talented and speedy right winger, he played for both Leeds United and Newport County. Duggan was a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams – the FA ...

and Joe Kendrick, become one of the first four English League based players to represent the FAI XI. He subsequently played twice for the FAI XI against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 1929 and 1930, helping them to 4–0 and 3–1 victories respectively. He won his last cap for the FAI XI on 5 May 1932 against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The now veteran O'Brien put in a commanding performance as he captained a young FAI XI that included

Paddy Moore Paddy Moore (4 August 1909 – 24 July 1951) was an Irish professional footballer who played for, among others, Shamrock Rovers and Aberdeen. Moore was a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. ...

Alex Stevenson Alexander Ernest Stevenson (9 August 1912 – 2 September 1985) was an Irish footballer who played for Rangers and Everton, amongst other teams. As an international, Stevenson also played for both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. ...

and Jimmy Kelly to a 2–0 win.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player O'Brien became a coach, managing

between 1933 and 1935. He led the club to fourth place in

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

in the 1933–34 season. However a poor season in 1934–35 led to his dismissal. After a spell as assistant manager at

, O'Brien then took charge at

on 29 May 1936. He became the club's first professional manager and during the subsequent 1936–37 season they made their professional debut in the Southern League and finished as champions. In later years O'Brien worked as a coach for the

Middlesex FA The Middlesex Football Association is an organisation that regulates and promotes football, aiming to increase the quantity and quality of participation in the historic area of Middlesex. History The Middlesex F.A. was founded in 1883 by the Footb ...

Honours

Manager

Ipswich Town * Southern League: 1936–37

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Mick 1893 births 1940 deaths Association footballers from County Kildare Royal Flying Corps officers Irish people of World War I British Army personnel of World War I Royal Navy personnel of World War I Republic of Ireland association footballers Association football midfielders Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Brooklyn Wanderers players Derby County F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players South Shields F.C. (1889) players Watford F.C. players Republic of Ireland football managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers Ipswich Town F.C. managers Irish association footballers (before 1923) Dual Irish international footballers Irish Free State international footballers Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Irish Free State association footballers English Football League representative players English Football League players Brentford F.C. non-playing staff People from Ushaw Moor Footballers from County Durham