Thomas O'Ware (born 20 March 1993) is a Scottish 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 ...

, who plays for

Kelty Hearts Kelty Hearts Football Club is a football club based in the village of Kelty in Fife, Scotland. Formed in 1975 and nicknamed ''the Hearts'', ''the Maroon Machine'' and ''the Jambos'', they play their home games at New Central Park. Their home ...

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was e ...

as a defender. O'Ware has previously played for

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 Partick Thistle. He is also the Head Coach with the Troon F.C. Development Team, who compete in the Lowland Development League (West).

Early life

Born in Irvine, North Ayrshire,

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O ope ...

resident O'Ware attended

Queen Margaret Academy Queen Margaret Academy ( gd, àrd-sgoil/Acadamh banrigh Maighread) is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the south of Ayr in southwest Scotland. Queen Margaret is state-run by South Ayrshire Council and takes children aged 11 to 18 from the wh ...

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

Playing career

Youth

After beginning his career with hometown team Troon Thistle boys club, O'Ware spent five years in the Rangers youth system at Murray Park, then a further two at Kilmarnock. He then signed for youth side Bonnyton Thistle, where he was part of the team that won the Under-19 Scottish Cup final.

Morton

O'Ware joined

in 2011. He made his début at left back in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Deveronvale Deveronvale Football Club are a senior association football club currently playing the Highland Football League in Scotland. They were founded in 1938 and play their football at the Princess Royal Park in the town of Banff, (formerly Banffs ...

on 19 November 2011. O'Ware also had a trial at EFL Championship side

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 broke into the Morton team at left back due to an injury to Ross Forsyth. In January 2012, O'Ware suffered a stress fracture to his tibia making him miss at least a month of Morton's season. O'Ware agreed one-year extensions with Morton in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In April 2016, O'Ware's good form resulted in him being awarded a two-year contract extension with the club. He won the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

Player of the Month award for October 2016 and was twice named in the Scottish Championship Team of the Year in successive seasons. He also finished season 2016/17 as Europe’s top scoring defender with 11 goals. This form brought him to the attention of a host of

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

clubs, and he was linked with a move to his boyhood heroes Celtic in the summer of 2017, as

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed ...

looked to solidify his back line. After the sacking of manager Jim Duffy in May 2018, O'Ware left the club seeking "a new challenge". Thomas featured at full-back, centre-back, centre midfield, and occasionally as a striker during his seven seasons at Cappielow.

Partick Thistle

O'Ware signed a two-year contract with Partick Thistle in June 2018. He scored his first goal for the Jags on 14 August 2018, opening the scoring in a 5–0 win at Stranraer in the Scottish Challenge Cup. On 25 August 2018, O'Ware was substituted four minutes into the game against Dundee United due to a knee injury, and it was later revealed that he would miss the remainder of the season as a result. O'Ware scored his first league goal for Thistle in the final game of the decade, scoring the winner against his former side Greenock Morton in a 2–1 away win. O'Ware signed a two-year contract extension with Thistle in January 2020.

Kelty Hearts

After leaving Partick Thistle on 29 July 2021, O'Ware joined newly-promoted

side

on 30 July 2021 ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

International

O'Ware represented Scotland at schoolboy level in 2011.

Coaching

During his playing career, O'Ware has already begun his coaching career and has experience working in the Greenock Morton academy working mainly with the Under 14s, U15s and U16s. He has also been studying for his UEFA 'B' Licence. After rupturing his ACL at Partick Thistle, O’Ware helped out with the coaching staff under then manager

Gary Caldwell Gary Caldwell (born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach who is the current manager of Exeter City. Caldwell played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City, Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan Ath ...

, and spent matchdays in the dugout as part of the non-playing staff.

Troon F.C. Development Team

O'Ware was appointed as Head Coach for the Troon F.C. Development Team in August 2020, who will be competing in the Lowland Development League (West) in season 2020–21.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Bonnyton Thistle * Under-19 Scottish Cup: 2010–11 Greenock Morton *

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

: 2014–15

Individual

* Scottish Championship Player of the Month (1): October 2016 *2016–17 Championship Team of the Year

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oware, Thomas 1993 births Living people Footballers from Irvine, North Ayrshire Greenock Morton F.C. players Association football defenders Scottish footballers Rangers F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Association football midfielders Scotland youth international footballers People educated at Queen Margaret Academy People from Troon Partick Thistle F.C. players Footballers from South Ayrshire Kelty Hearts F.C. players