Ronnie O'Brien (born 5 January 1979) is an Irish retired

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 ...

. Although released early in his career by his first club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, he was subsequently signed by

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in 1999. During three years with the Italian club, he played only occasionally for the first team and was loaned out to

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

in Switzerland, lower division Italian clubs

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

and

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label=Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). ...

, and

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

in Scotland. After leaving Juventus in 2002, O'Brien spent the rest of his career playing in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

(MLS) for

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

and

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

before retiring in 2008. He was named in the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

in both 2004 and 2005, and was selected for the

MLS All-Star Game The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star ga ...

for four years running. O'Brien also represented the Republic of Ireland under-16 team and was part of the squad that won the 1998 Under-16 European Championship.

Playing career

Club career

O'Brien's footballing career began very promisingly, when at the age of 18 he signed a contract with

of the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. After two years and little playing time with

, O'Brien was released on a free transfer. Italian giants

offered the 20-year-old O'Brien a five-year contract; however, he had trouble getting playing time on such a talented side and was loaned out to

of Switzerland,

of Scotland, and lower league Italian side

. After several years of disappointment and one

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

appearance, O'Brien was released from his contract with Juventus in 2002. His solitary competitive appearance for Juventus was an Intertoto Cup match against

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

on 4 August 1999 when he entered the match as a substitute for

Zoran Mirković Zoran "Bata" Mirković ( sr-cyrl, Зоран Бата Мирковић, ; born 21 September 1971) is a retired Serbian footballer and current manager. Playing career Club career Mirković made his first appearance for FK Rad during the 1990– ...

in the 77th minute.

MLS

In search of consistent playing time, O'Brien, made the unconventional decision to move to America to join the Dallas Burn. O'Brien made an immediate impact, scoring on his debut for the club in a

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

match. He finished the 2002 season with two goals and two assists in 11 games but had proven himself one of the more dynamic players on the team. O'Brien entered the 2003 season with great expectations, but these were cut short early in the season. In the Burn's third game of the season, a tackle from

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

Dema Kovalenko Dmytro "Dema" Kovalenko ( uk, Дмитро (Діма) Коваленко; born 28 August 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent the majority of his playing career in the United States after moving there i ...

broke O'Brien's tibia, effectively ending his season. O'Brien returned to the team in 2004 and was one of the team's offensive leaders – he started 29 games, registering two goals and 10 assists, was named to the

, and helped revitalise a Burn team that had recorded one of the league's worst records ever in the previous season. In 2005, O'Brien repeated his Best XI form, finishing the year with six goals and 12 assists. During the 2006 season, O'Brien clashed with FC Dallas' head coach Colin Clarke all season. His form was poor and he finished with only one goal in 27 games. At the conclusion of the season, O'Brien was traded to the expansion club

with a gentlemen's agreement that Toronto FC would not draft any other FC Dallas players. Due to a knee injury during a training session, which was later aggravated during a friendly match, O'Brien was limited to 13 games in the 2007 season. In 2008, O'Brien was traded to the San Jose Earthquakes. In return, Toronto FC received San Jose's first round pick in the 2009 draft plus an undisclosed amount of money. He made 28 appearances, scoring 4 goals (his 16th in the MLS). His 6 assists brought his MLS career assist total to 45 (from 142 total appearances). Following O'Brien's strong performance and evident leadership in 2008, the San Jose Earthquakes stunned their fans by failing to pick up his contract option for the 2009 season. Instead, Earthquakes' GM John Doyle was hoping that he would accept a substantial pay cut. In January 2009, O'Brien made it known that he would not be returning to the

. Without O'Brien's leadership and strong play, the Earthquakes struggled early in 2009. Despite a favourable schedule in which San Jose played five of their seven games at home, the Quakes managed just one win, leading many San Jose fans to call for O'Brien's return.

International career

O'Brien achieved success with the Republic of Ireland national youth sides, including winning the 1998 Under-16 European Championship alongside

John O'Shea John Francis O'Shea (; born 30 April 1981) is an Irish professional football coach and former player. He was known for his versatility in playing several positions on either side of the pitch or the centre. Born in Waterford, O'Shea joined Man ...

. Despite having played multiple times for the Irish underage sides, O'Brien only received one call-up to the senior side.

Steve Staunton Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969) is an Irish football manager, scout and former professional footballer. He played as a defender (association football), defender with two separate spells each with Premier League sides Aston Villa F.C., A ...

contacted Toronto FC about his availability for a short tour of the US in June 2007. However, O'Brien turned down the chance to play for his country again, as he had just returned from injury, while adding he was happy playing club football.

Coaching career

He is now a coach of FC Dallas' youth teams.

Personal life

O'Brien keeps an off-season residence in Dallas and is an avid

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

fan.

''Time'' magazine stunt

In August 1999, e-mails circulated urging Irish people to vote for Ronnie O'Brien in ''Time'''s Person of the Century Internet poll, causing O'Brien to lead the poll, above those such as

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

and

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

After the poll crashed due to attracting too much traffic, ''Time'' removed O'Brien from the running, restating the rule that "whimsical candidates will not be counted."

Career statistics

*1.Includes MLS Cup playoffs.

Honours

Juventus *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Republic of Ireland U16 *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

: 1998 Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a tr ...

: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 *

: 2004, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Ronnie 1979 births Living people FC Lugano players FC Dallas players Dundee United F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Expatriate soccer players in the United States Juventus F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players People from Bray, County Wicklow Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Expatriate soccer players in Canada Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States San Jose Earthquakes players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Scottish Premier League players Association footballers from County Wicklow Toronto FC players F.C. Crotone players Calcio Lecco 1912 players Association football midfielders