Sean O'Connor (born 7 July 1981) 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 ...

, who played for Queen of the South,

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

, 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 ...

. After starting his career with local side

, O'Connor moved into the Scottish game with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

. From there he had a couple of loan spells, one with

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

and the other with Northern Irish side

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

. Upon leaving the Arabs he had a spell with Queen of the South before heading back to England with

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

. Since leaving Morecambe in 2006, O'Connor has spent his time in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

, with Queen of the South again as well as their near neighbours Annan Athletic.

Early career

O'Connor was born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, West Midlands. He started his career at non-league club

, working his way through the youth system before making his first team debut during the 1998–99 season. His form attracted the attention of a number of clubs, with

paying £30,000 for him in January 2000, despite O'Connor only playing in 14 matches for Hednesford. His chances at United were limited to only a handful of appearances and he was sent out on loan to gain first team experience elsewhere. After a short spell in Northern Ireland playing for

, he came back to Scotland to have a similar spell with

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

. Before these loan spells he scored his first and only goal for Dundee United in a 3–2 win over

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

Queen of the South (1st & 2nd spells)

In March 2002, O'Connor joined Queen of the South from Dundee United on a permanent contract. On 20 April 2002 he scored the third goal in the 3–0 victory that clinched the 2001–02 Scottish Second Division Championship at Station Park versus

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

. He was an instant hit with the Queens faithful as he ended his first full season in Dumfries as top goalscorer. Injuries took their toll during his second full season at the club and O'Connor reluctantly rejected the offer of a new contract from Queens due to family reasons, at the end of 2003–04. O'Connor returned to England at the start of the 2004–05 season and signed a two-year contract with

, where injuries again restricted his playing time. He scored three league goals in only 16 appearances for the club. In 2006, O'Connor returned to Queen of the South, joining on a short-term deal, originally to prove his fitness. He played in all six of Queens' games in their run to the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, including the third goal in the 4–3 semi-final victory over

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

that took the club to their first-ever Scottish Cup Final in their 89-year history."Club History" on the official Queen of the South website

Barry Nicholson Barry Nicholson (born 24 August 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder. He is currently in charge of Fleetwood Town's development squad and also served as caretaker manager of the first team squad. He star ...

of Aberdeen later said that he felt O'Connor was Queens best player on the day. In the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, as Queens trailed Rangers 2–0 at half time through goals by

Kris Boyd Kris Boyd (born 18 August 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Boyd grew up in the South Ayrshire village of Tarbolton and started his senior career with Kilmarnock. He transferred to Rangers in Januar ...

and

DaMarcus Beasley DaMarcus Lamont Beasley (; born May 24, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. A left-footed player, Beasley played both as a left winger and left wingback throughout his career. He retired from soccer after the 2019 MLS Season. ...

, O'Connor crossed the ball for

Steve Tosh Steven William Tosh (born 27 April 1973) is a Scottish former professional association footballer. A midfielder of many Scottish clubs, Tosh's last club was Cove Rangers F.C., Cove Rangers. Playing career Tosh, who was born in Kirkcaldy, play ...

to score Queen of the South's first goal of the match in 50 minutes. The Doonhamers equalised in 52 minutes through club captain Jim Thomson. Kris Boyd scored his 2nd goal of the final and Rangers 3rd in 71 minutes to secure the Scottish Cup for Rangers. O'Connor scored in the home leg of Queen of the South's UEFA Cup 2nd qualification round match against

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the town's two football club ...

after 28 minutes. This made O'Connor the first player to score for Queens in a UEFA Cup Competition.

Retirement and return to football

In April 2009 O'Connor announced he would retire the following month after a series of knee injuries, having initially been advised by medical staff to retire several months previously. After retiring from the game at the end of the 2008–09 season, O'Connor decided to visit his surgeon and got the green light to relaunch his football career. After training with Queen of the South during February 2010, O'Connor returned as a trialist for Annan Athletic versus

Elgin City Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray. Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...

on 6 March 2010. O'Connor played 81 minutes of the 3–3 draw at

Galabank Galabank is a football stadium in the town of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Annan Athletic, who have played there since 1953. The ground has been shared by non-Leagu ...

. On 13 March 2010, O'Connor had a second match as a trialist for Annan Athletic versus Forfar Athletic and scored the opening goal in the 5–1 victory at Station Park. O'Connor played 63 minutes of this match. O'Connor returned to the first team squad at Queen of the South on 18 March 2010. Manager at the time,

Gordon Chisholm Gordon William Chisholm (born 8 April 1960 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional football former player and manager. Chisholm played as a central defender for Sunderland, Hibernian, Dundee and Partick Thistle. After retiring as a player, Chis ...

said, "The 'big man' actually hung up his boots at the end of last season but came out of retirement a month ago and has turned out twice as a trialist for Annan Athletic. Sean's been training with us for the past month and we all know what an asset he can be. He'll be in the squad for Saturday as a trialist but we'll be taking it one match at a time." The first game of his return was at

Somerset Park Somerset Park is a football stadium located in Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It has been the home of Ayr United since they were founded in 1910. Prior to that, it was the home ground of Ayr, who merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United. H ...

for Queens on 20 March 2010 versus

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

in a 3–0 defeat. O'Connor came on as a second-half substitute after 73 minutes and was immediately handed the captain's armband. The second game of his return was at

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards ...

for Queens on 23 March 2010 versus

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

in a 1–1 draw. O'Connor came on as a second-half substitute after 67 minutes.

Queen of the South (3rd spell)

O'Connor signed for Queen of the South until the end of season 2009–10 on 25 March 2010 after impressing the new Queens caretaker manager

Kenny Brannigan Kenny Brannigan (born 8 June 1965) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Playing career Kenny Brannigan was a journeyman professional with a career spanning 21 seasons. A centre back, he played for 14 senior clubs in his career ...

. He signed a one-year contract with the club on 7 May 2010. However the club announced on 13 January 2011 that O'Connor had left Queens again.

Annan Athletic

O'Connor signed on a free transfer for the

club on 13 January 2011, immediately after leaving Queens. O'Connor was contracted to Annan Athletic for the 2011–12 season.

Return to Hednesford Town

In the 2012–13 pre-season, O'Connor got in contact with his first club with the aim of training with the squad and getting back to fitness. O'Connor impressed enough during training to be given a number of appearances in Hednesford's pre-season friendlies, with him scoring twice against Heath Hayes and once against Sutton Coldfield Town. On 6 August 2012, the club confirmed that they had received the international clearance required and O'Connor had signed a one-year contract for the Pitmen. O'Connor was loaned out to Stafford Rangers in March 2013 for four weeks.

References

External links

* (Queen of South "3rd spell", Annan "trialist" and incorrect Morton stats) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Sean 1981 births Footballers from Wolverhampton Living people English men's footballers Dundee United F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players National League (English football) players Men's association football forwards Scottish Premier League players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Scottish Football League players Portadown F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Annan Athletic F.C. players