Sean Patrick Connelly (born 26 June 1970) is an English 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 ...

, currently working as the lead physio at the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, Welsh national foo ...

Career

Connelly qualified as a Chartered Physiotherapist in 1993 and began his football career at his local side Hallam before Stockport County manager

Danny Bergara Daniel Alberto Bergara de Medina (24 July 1942 – 25 July 2007) was a Uruguayan footballer and manager. Playing career Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Bergara began his playing career at the age of 16, playing for Racing Club in the Uruguayan F ...

offered him a professional contract at the club, one that he accepted on finishing his degree in physiotherapy. He helped Stockport to the semi finals of the 1996-97 League Cup, beating

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 ...

teams Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United and

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 ...

en route. In the semi finals they faced another Premier League team in

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 ...

. Boro won the first leg 2–0 at Edgeley Park. In the second leg at the

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

, Connelly gave Stockport an early lead. However they were unable to score again and lost 2–1 in aggregate. His impressive form even generated rumours of a possible move to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, although this failed to materialise. The defender played under four different managers during his nine-year stay at Stockport – Bergara, Dave Jones,

Gary Megson Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager. He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and ...

and

Andy Kilner Andrew William Kilner (born 11 October 1966) is an English former professional footballer and manager. He began his career with Burnley, progressing through the club's youth system and making his professional debut in 1986 before being released ...

. He eventually left in 2001 after former manager Jones persuaded him to join him at

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

. In 2002, he was inducted into the Stockport County hall of fame. He signed permanently for

after an initial loan spell in Spring 2001. However, he struggled to hold down a regular first team place during the following season at Molineux and was allowed to join Tranmere Rovers in October 2002. He quickly established himself at Tranmere and was a regular for two years before manager

Brian Little Brian Little (born 25 November 1953) is an English football manager and former player. As a player, Little was a striker who spent his entire career for Aston Villa in a career that spanned from 1971 to 1980. He made 247 league appearances, ...

decided against offering him a new contract, whereupon he moved to Rushden & Diamonds, where he finished his playing career. After leaving Rushden & Diamonds he linked up with Dave Jones again, this time as physio at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

,"First Team Management"
Cardiffcityfc.co.uk Retrieved on 1 December 2013 turning down offers to continue playing in order to take the job. In 2014 he left Cardiff City to become Head of Performance at Servette FC, Geneva, Switzerland. This was short lived and he quickly returned to the English Premiership as Lead Physiotherapist for Crystal Palace FC. In 2017 he left Palace to take up a full time roll with the Football Association of Wales.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connelly, Sean 1970 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English footballers Association football defenders English Football League players Hallam F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff