Ray O'Brien (born 21 May 1951) is an Irish former 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 le ...

Early life

O'Brien was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Career

O'brien began his career with Shelbourne before transferring to Manchester United. He was then transferred to

Notts County F.C. Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

in 1974 for £45,000 without making the first team at Old Trafford. At Meadow Lane he created a club record in 1979–80 when he became the first full back to finish as leading scorer. He spent ten years at County making over 300 Football League appearances. He also won four caps for the

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

, making his debut on 24 March 1976 in a 3–0 home win over Norway in a friendly game. He later managed non-League clubs including

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

and Arnold Town.Arnold Town FC: A club history
Arnold Town F.C. His brother Fran O'Brien also played for his country.

References

;Sources *''The Complete Who's Who of Irish International Football, 1945-96'' (1996):Stephen McGarrigl

*Gifted in Green, Adam Ward, 1999. PB p. 23

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Ray 1951 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-23 international footballers League of Ireland players Shelbourne F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Republic of Ireland association football managers Boston United F.C. managers Arnold Town F.C. managers Men's association football defenders