Connor David O'Brien (born 12 July 2004) is an Irish 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 defender for club

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

Club career

O'Brien first joined the youth set-up at

at the age of eight, and went on to captain the under-18s to the fourth round of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 2021–22. He signed his first one-year professional contract in June 2022. On 3 December 2022, he joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division club Radcliffe on a one-month loan. He scored on his debut later that day, in a 2–2 draw at

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was esta ...

. He played a total of seven games for Radcliffe. He made his first-team debut in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with Accrington after coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for Rosaire Longelo in a 1–1 draw at

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

on 7 February 2023. On 13 February 2023, Radcliffe extended his loan by a further 2 months. On 10 May 2024, O'Brien extended his contract at Accrington Stanley by two years.

International career

O'Brien qualifies for the Republic of Ireland through his father, who hails from

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

. He made his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21 side on 7 June 2024, in a 3–2 win away to Croatia U21 in a friendly.https://www.fai.ie/latest/report-u21-croatia-u21-2-3-ireland-u21/

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Connor 2004 births Living people Footballers from Accrington English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Accrington Stanley F.C. players Radcliffe F.C. players Farsley Celtic F.C. players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen