Steve O'Connor played 290 games in the

Australian 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 ...

(NSL) and represented Australia in the national team with 44

Socceroo The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated wi ...

appearances.

Background

Stephen (Steve) joine
Revesby Rovers
as a 7-year-old and played representative soccer for Bankstown at 8 years old and in consecutive years up until the age of 15. Steve was then chosen in the New South Wales team at 16 and also played 1st grade for Bankstown the same year. During this time Steve also played representative basketball and had to make a decision on which sport to concentrate on, choosing soccer. He then joined the Hakoah Club making his 1st grade appearance as a 17-year-old in a team with such players as

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, Alan Marnoch and Jimmy McKay. O'Connor played 290 games in the Australian National Soccer League (NSL) He played with Sydney City (Hakoah) for 15 years in which time the Club won 4 national titles. When Sydney City folded in 1987 Steve was signed by St George and went on to win another National Championship.

International Playing Career

O'Connor represented Australia in the national team with 44 Socceroo appearances.

Coaching career

Australian Institute of Sport In 1990 Steve was appointed Assistant Coach at the

AIS AIS may refer to: Medicine * Abbreviated Injury Scale, an anatomical-based coding system to classify and describe the severity of injuries * Acute ischemic stroke, the thromboembolic type of stroke * Androgen insensitivity syndrome, an intersex ...

Men's Football Program where he coached the likes of

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, Josip Simunic,

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, Clint Bolten to name a few. During this time he completed the Level 3 Coaching Accreditation and the AIS High Performance Coaching Diploma. Technical Director - New South Wales Soccer Federation From 1994 to '96 Steve became TD of NSW and started the NTC Development Program and Zone Program concept of which he was Head Coach and included a young

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and

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. Head Coach, Australian Institute of Sport 1996-2008 Steve was Head Coach of the AIS Men's Football Program for 12 years. During that time he was assistant coach with the U/17, U/20 and U/23 National Teams at various times and also the U/20 National Coach Between 1996 and 2008 Steve brought into the AIS and further developed

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, Josh Kennedy, Brett Emerton,

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, Evan Burger,

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Ryan Grant, Nikita Rukavytja,

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, Tando Velapi, Jimmy Downey, Mitchel Langerac to name a few. During this time Steve got his Community Accreditation Senior Licence and Advanced Accreditation A Licence. Australia National Under 20 Association Football Team - Young Socceroos 2007 - 2008 Steve took the team to the first round of Asian qualifiers for the Youth World Cup Technical Director & Youth Coach at Sydney FC In 2008 Steve resigned from the

to join

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

as Technical Director and Youth Coach. The youth team won the inaugural National Youth League title and Grand Final, on top of this, five players from the youth team progressed to the U/20 National Team and received senior A League contracts. "I love helping serious young footballers not only improve their performance but understand what commitment it takes to make it as a professional footballer." The one thing that stands out about all the players mentioned above is not only were they talented but they always wanted to improve and work on their game. Once they understood how, they would constantly evaluate their performance for improvement. The whole process of developing them became very cooperative between the coaching staff and the player. They would set the standards. Hong Kong Football Association On 17 April 2012, the

Hong Kong Football Association The Hong Kong Football Association Limited (), often abbreviated to the HKFA, is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong. Its current chairman is Pui Kwan Kay and its Chief Executive Officer is Joaquin Tam. History The HKFA was ...

announced that Steve O'Connor will join as Technical Director. He will take up his new post in early May. Steve will be tasked with improving the standards of local coaching, referee development, community and youth football activities and women's football. He will also oversee the implementation of elite player development pathways from grassroots football to senior international level.Aussie O'Connor happy to sign on as HKFA technical director
''The Standard''. Wednesday, 18 April 2012.

Australian Football Hall of Fame

In 2003, Steve O'Connor was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

, which was established in 1999 to pay tribute to Australia's football greats and to recognise exceptional achievements of players, coaches, referees, administrators, and media representatives.

References

Australian Football Hall of Fame

External links

International Football Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Steve Living people Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Men's association football defenders Australian Institute of Sport coaches Year of birth missing (living people) Soccer players from Sydney