Daniel Michael O'Shaughnessy (born 14 September 1994) is a Finnish 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 for

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

club HJK and the Finland national team as a defender. O'Shaughnessy began his career in the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

s at Honka, HJK and

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

and also played in England for Braintree Town and

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

. After rising to prominence and winning three Veikkausliiga championships during his second spell with HJK, he transferred to German club

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

in 2022. Following a -year spell interrupted by career-threatening hip injuries, O'Shaughnessy returned to HJK in 2024.

Early life

O'Shaughnessy was born in

Riihimäki Riihimäki (; ) is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to Helsinki, Tampere and La ...

on 14 September 1994, the son of a Finnish mother and an Irish father (Robert, a painter from

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

). He holds dual Finnish-Irish citizenship. His older brother

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

is a former professional footballer.

Youth career

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, O'Shaughnessy began his career in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

alongside his brother Patrick at Honka and was part of the youth team which made an impressive showing at the 2008 Nike Premier Cup. Both brothers joined

club HJK in early 2009. O'Shaughnessy broke into the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

the following year and made 23 appearances, scoring two goals, during the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. Until the end of 2023, ''Kakkonen'' was the third-highest level in Finland, but after the creation of new second-t ...

season. The club missed out on promotion to the

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for 'Number One'; , previously I divisioona) is the third highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga and Ykkösliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. Until ...

, after a playoff semi-final defeat to BK-46.

Club career

Metz B

After trials at

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

clubs

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 ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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 ...

and

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

club

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 ...

, O'Shaughnessy moved to French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

club

on a -year contract in early January 2012. He made 40 appearances and scored one goal for the club's reserve team and helped the team to the 2013–14

Championnat de France amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

Group C title. O'Shaughnessy departed Metz at the end of the 2013–14 season, having failed to receive a call into the first team squad.

Brentford

O'Shaughnessy joined newly promoted

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

on trial in July 2014 and made a 30-minute cameo in a 4–0

pre-season friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

defeat to

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

on 29 July. On 1 August, it was announced that O'Shaughnessy had signed a two-year professional contract. He was an unused substitute during Brentford's two League Cup ties in August 2014, but instead spent the 2014–15 season in the Development Squad, for which he made 23 appearances and scored one goal. O'Shaughnessy began the 2015–16 season in the Development Squad and 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 Braintree Town on a one-month loan on 22 September 2015. His only appearance for the club came later that day as a half time substitute for Sam Habergham during a 2–1 win over

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 ...

. Following another spell back with the Brentford Development Squad, O'Shaughnessy joined

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season in late January 2016. He made one appearance, when he replaced Kian Hansen after 59 minutes of a 4–1 victory over Nordsjælland on the final day of the season. O'Shaughnessy was released by Brentford in May 2016, after failing to make a first team appearance during his two seasons at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

Cheltenham Town

On 12 July 2016, O'Shaughnessy signed a one-year contract with League Two newcomers

. During a 2016–17 season in which the Robins narrowly avoided being relegated straight back into

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

, he made 36 appearances and scored four goals. O'Shaughnessy signed a new one-year contract in June 2017, but he was down the defensive pecking order during the first half of the 2017–18 season and he departed the club on 2 January 2018. O'Shaughnessy made 49 appearances and scored four goals during 18 months at

Whaddon Road Whaddon Road, known as the EV Charger Points Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Cheltenham, England. It is the home ground of Cheltenham Town F.C. It has a total capacity of 7,066, with a mixture of seating and terracing ...

HJK

On 2 January 2018, O'Shaughnessy returned to Finland to re-join reigning Veikkausliiga champions HJK on a two-year contract, with the option of a further year. Despite missing the final three months of the 2018 season with a knee injury, O'Shaughnessy made 24 appearances, scored three goals and in his absence, HJK were crowned Veikkausliiga champions. O'Shaughnessy was a near ever-present during the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

and finished the campaign with 31 appearances and three goals. During a period while he was conducting his national service, O'Shaughnessy signed a new two-year contract in October 2019 and made 28 appearances during HJK's double-winning 2020 season. O'Shaughnessy made 35 appearances and scored one goal during the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, in which he captained the team to the Veikkausliiga championship. 2021 was O'Shaughnessy's final season at the

Bolt Arena Bolt or bolts may refer to: Implements and technology ''Etymology: "to strike", see for example Thunderbolt'' * Bolt (fastener), a threaded shaft, used to clamp two components together * Bolt (climbing), an anchor point used in rock climbing * ...

and he ended what would be his first spell with the club on 118 appearances and 9 goals. In each of his final two seasons with the club, O'Shaughnessy was voted the Veikkausliiga Defender of the Year and into the Veikkausliiga Team of the Year.

Karlsruher SC

On 30 August 2021, it was announced that O'Shaughnessy would transfer to 2. Bundesliga club

on 1 December 2021 and sign a contract running until June 2024. He finished a mid-table 2021–22 season with 15 appearances and one goal, before suffering a fractured

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

on international duty in June 2022. O'Shaughnessy returned to fitness in mid-November 2022, but he failed to make an appearance prior to undergoing season-ending surgery on a hip problem in March 2023. O'Shaughnessy undertook his rehabilitation in Finland and returned to continue it with the club in October 2023. On 14 March 2024, it was reported that O'Shaughnessy's professional career was in jeopardy due to consecutive injuries and two hip surgeries, but one month later it was reported that he had returned to training. O'Shaughnessy failed to win a call into a matchday squad before the end of the 2023–24 season and was released when his contract expired.

Return to HJK

On 1 July 2024, O'Shaughnessy returned to his former club HJK and signed a contract until the end of the 2025 season on a free transfer. O'Shaughnessy suffered a collarbone injury in training in July, but eventually on 18 August, he made his first competitive club appearance in over two years, as a starter for HJK in a 3–0 away win over

Ekenäs IF Ekenäs Idrottsförening (abbreviated EIF or Ekenäs IF) is a sports club from Ekenäs, Raseborg in Finland. EIF was formed in 1905 and they are one of the oldest clubs in the south-west of Finland. The men's football first team currently play ...

(EIF). During the next pre-season, on 15 January 2025, his contract was extended until the end of 2026. O'Shaughnessy assumed the HJK captaincy for the 2025 season, having acted in the same role previously in 2021.

International career

O'Shaughnessy represented

at all age-groups from U15 up to U21 level. He won his maiden call into the senior team for a friendly versus

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

on 9 June 2015, but remained an unused substitute during the 2–0 defeat. O'Shaughnessy made his full international debut as a late substitute for

Ville Jalasto Ville Jalasto (born 19 April 1986) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He made seven appearances for the Finland national team during 2010–2016. Club career Jalasto was born in Espoo, Finland. He made his ...

in a 3–0 friendly defeat to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

on 10 January 2016. He made his first start three days later versus

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and played the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 defeat. Two years after his maiden call-up to the senior team, O'Shaughnessy won his third cap as a half time substitute in a 2–1 friendly win over

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

on 11 January 2018. He won his first competitive cap with a start in a 1–0

2020–21 UEFA Nations League B The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B was the second division of the 2020–21 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the second season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. ...

defeat to

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 3 September 2020. O'Shaughnessy was named in the Finland squad for Euro 2020 and was the only domestic-based player in the selection. He started in each of the Finns' three group stage matches, prior to the team's elimination. He scored his first goal for Finland in a 3–1 2022 World Cup qualifying win over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

on 13 November 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each O'Shaughnessy goal.''

Honours

Klubi 04 *

Group A:

Metz B *

Championnat de France Amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

Group C: 2013–14 HJK *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League ...

Individual *Veikkausliiga Defender of the Year:

*Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2020, 2021

References

External links

Finnish Football Federation profile
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:OShaughnessy, Daniel 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Riihimäki Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Finland men's international footballers Finnish people of Irish descent FC Honka players Klubi 04 players FC Metz players Brentford F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players FC Midtjylland players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Veikkausliiga players Kakkonen players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players English Football League players National League (English football) players Danish Superliga players UEFA Euro 2020 players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Karlsruher SC players Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 2. Bundesliga players