Aiden Anthony O'Brien (born 4 October 1993) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team. O'Brien began his career with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

, who loaned him out to five different clubs. After making 188 league appearances for Millwall, he moved to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, before moving on to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

and finally Shrewsbury, where he had two further loan spells.

Career

Millwall

Born in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, London, O'Brien started his career in the youth system at

and signed his first professional contract in 2010 on his 17th birthday. He made his debut for the club in the League Cup third round 5–0 defeat to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Dany N'Guessan Djombo Dany-Gael N'Guessan (born 11 August 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left winger or forward A graduate of the Auxerre Academy, he left France for Scotland when he signed with Rangers in July 2005. He ...

. On 1 January 2012, O'Brien signed for

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

side Staines Town on a one-month loan. A month later, O'Brien signed for

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

side Hayes and Yeading on a one-month loan and immediately found himself playing games. In May 2014, O'Brien agreed a new two-year deal with Millwall with the 20-year-old being highly regarded by Millwall manager

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who is the manager of club Swindon Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League with ...

. O'Brien made his first appearance of the 2014–15 season coming on as a substitute for

Richard Chaplow Richard David Chaplow (born 2 February 1985) is an English retired professional footballer and coach who was most recently the head coach of USL Championship side Orange County SC. He is a former England under-21 international. Club career Bu ...

against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the League Cup. The game finished 2–0 to Southampton. A month later, in September 2014, he made his first league appearance for Millwall in a 3–1 defeat to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. O'Brien spoke of his delight of fulfilling a lifelong ambition when he made his league debut for Millwall and has dedicated the achievement to his father. At the end of the 2017–18 season, his contract was extended by Millwall after the club exercised an option. He left Millwall at the end of 2019–2020 season, after his contract expired.

Sunderland

On 30 July 2020, O'Brien signed for

, on a two-year deal. On 8 September 2020 he scored his first goal for Sunderland in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

tie against Aston Villa U21s. On 24 August 2021, O'Brien scored a hat-trick against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in the second round of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. His third goal came in the first minute of stoppage time to secure a dramatic 3–2 victory, earning him the "Player of the Round" award.

Portsmouth

On 31 January 2022, O'Brien joined

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

side

on a free transfer. He scored his first goal for the club against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

on 12 February 2022.

Shrewsbury Town

Despite being offered a new contract by Portsmouth, O'Brien opted to sign a two-year deal with fellow

side Shrewsbury Town. On the last day of the January 2023 transfer window O'Brien signed for

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side Gillingham on loan for the remainder of the 2022–23 season. On 1 August 2023, O'Brien signed for League Two club

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

on loan until January 2024. He was released by Shrewsbury at the end of the 2023–24 season.

Shelbourne

On 12 August 2024, O'Brien signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club Shelbourne on a multi-year contract. On 31 December 2024, it was announced that O'Brien had departed the club.

Woking

On 4 January 2025, O'Brien joined

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

on a short-term contract until the end of the season.

International career

On 6 February 2013, O'Brien scored on his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21s against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in a 3–0 win at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

. O'Brien then scored his first competitive goal and his third goal for Ireland in 4–1 away win against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

. On 15 November 2013, O'Brien scored another two goals against the

in a 5–2 win at The Showgrounds. O'Brien scored five times for the U21s, placing him two goals off

Robbie Brady Robert Brady (born 14 January 1992) is an Irish professional association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, left-back or left wing-back for club Preston North End F.C., Preston North End and the Republic of Ireland national footba ...

's all time goal scoring record of seven. In September 2017, O'Brien was called up to the senior

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

squad for

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

qualifiers against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. On 11 September 2018, O'Brien scored his first senior international goal for Ireland on his debut in a friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

which finished 1–1. The goal would later be named as the 2018 FAI International Goal of the Year.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each O'Brien goal.''

Honours

Millwall *

EFL League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Sunderland *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Individual *

EFL League One Player of the Month The EFL League One Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League One, the third tier of English football. Originally named the Football League One Play ...

: October 2015 * FAI International Goal of the Year: 2018 Shelbourne *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Aiden 1993 births Living people English people of Irish descent Footballers from the London Borough of Islington People from Islington (district) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Millwall F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Woking F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players League of Ireland players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen