Phil O'Connor (10 October 1953 – 23 September 1985) was a footballer who played as a midfielder for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He began his career as an apprentice with Southend United before dropping into the non-league ranks with

Bexley United Bexley United Football Club was a football club based in Welling. A club of the same name played in the Kent League before the war, before merging with Bexley. It was resurrected as Bexleyheath and Welling in about 1952 following a local campaig ...

. In 1972, he returned to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

with Luton Town. After a loan spell with Lincoln City in the 1974–75 season, O'Connor emigrated to

. He quickly made his way into the

team, making his debut against Hong Kong on 11 August 1976 and going on to appear a total of 20 times scoring 5 goals, which included three appearances against England in 1983. A fee of $7,000 saw him move from

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

A.P.I.A. Leichhardt APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1954 as APIA Leichhardt, ...

for the 1980

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

season, netting a 14th minute debut goal in the club's 2-1 over Adelaide City at Lambert Park (Leichhardt) on 9 March 1980. After two seasons, he moved on to join Wollongong Wolves for the 1982

season. On 23 September 1985, O'Connor died in a car accident when his bread van veered off the

Appin Road Appin Road is a New South Wales secondary highway linking Campbelltown and Sydney's western suburbs with Wollongong. It gets its name from Appin, which lies on its path. Route Appin Road starts in Campbelltown and heads south to Appin, before ...

and hit a tree, killing him instantly.

References

External links

Lincoln City profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Phil 1953 births 1985 deaths Men's association football midfielders Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players National Soccer League (Australia) players English Football League players APIA Leichhardt FC players Blacktown City FC players Lincoln City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Bexley United F.C. players Irish emigrants to Australia English emigrants to Australia