Brian O'Neil (born 6 September 1972) is a Scottish 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 lea ...

, who played as a defensive midfielder for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

and the Scotland national team. O'Neil was forced to retire from playing in October 2006 due to long standing injury problems.

Club career

Celtic

O'Neil started his career at

, where he played 155 competitive games in almost every outfield position and scored 10 times. Highlights of his time at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

include scoring an injury time winner in October 1993 against Old Firm rivals

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

at Ibrox and an extra time winner against

in October 1994 in the semi-final of the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

Nottingham Forest loan

In 1997, O'Neil was loaned out to

but returned to Celtic after the end of the loan period after Nottingham Forest failed in bids to buy him at the end of the season.

Aberdeen

In 1997, Aberdeen agreed a fee of £850,000 for O'Neil. He played for them in 29 league games, scoring once, in a game against

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

Wolfsburg

O'Neil joined German club

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

for £350,000 and spent two and a half successful seasons in the Bundesliga, during which time they qualified for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

for the first time in their history (they were eliminated by

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

in the fifth round). O'Neil enjoyed cult status in Wolfsburg during his period there and remains a popular figure in the club's history.

Derby County

In November 2000, O'Neil returned to England to sign for Premiership club

, but six operations in two seasons limited him to 17 appearances. In November 2003, after a dispute with the club's chief executive, he was released from his contract.

Preston North End

Following his release from Derby, O'Neil joined Preston North End. He enjoyed relative success with the Deepdale club, scoring 5 times in 110 games and becoming well-regarded by Preston supporters for his calm play and fine passing in the centre of the pitch. During his time at the club he helped Preston to the play-off final in 2005 only to lose to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. His final game for Preston was another play-off defeat, this time in the 2006 semi-final to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. O'Neil was subsequently injured and forced to retire the following season in October 2006.

International career

O'Neil played for the Scotland U16 team in the 1989 FIFA Under 16 World Cup which was hosted by Scotland. In front of a crowd of 28,555 at Tynecastle, in the semi-final against a

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

team comprising future stars such as

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-t ...

and

Abel Xavier Abel Luís da Silva Costa Xavier (; born 30 November 1972) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Xavier played for clubs in Portugal, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, England, Turkey and G ...

, O'Neil scored the only goal to take Scotland into the final. Scotland drew 2–2 with

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

after extra time in the final, and lost 5–4 on penalties. O'Neil missed a penalty late on in the second half and then a penalty in the shoot-out. O'Neil played for his country seven times at senior level, making his debut in March 1996 in a 1–0 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at Hampden. He won a recall to the squad after five years away for

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing career consiste ...

's Scotland squads in the early part of 2005. He won what proved to be his last cap in August 2005, in a 2–2 draw against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Post-playing career

In 2010, it was announced that O'Neil had signed up for Preston North End's team in the Masters Football Tournament in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He played along with

Sean Gregan Sean Matthew Gregan (born 29 March 1974) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or centre back. He played in the Premier League for West Bromwich Albion, and in the Football League with Preston North End F.C., P ...

Lee Cartwright Lee Cartwright (born 19 September 1972) is a retired footballer who made over 400 league appearances for Preston North End. Early years Born in Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire, Cartwright was signed from school as a trainee in 1989 by No ...

and Andy Fensome.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneil, Brian Living people 1972 births Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Scottish people of Irish descent Scottish expatriate men's footballers Celtic F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players VfL Wolfsburg players Derby County F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Premier League players Bundesliga players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany People educated at Park Mains High School Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Preston North End F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire