Dara Joseph O'Shea (born 4 March 1999) 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

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Club career

West Bromwich Albion

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, O'Shea began his career at St. Kevin's Boys before moving to English club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. He spent the 2017–18 season on loan at

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

. O'Shea was part of the Hereford side that won the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and e ...

, winning promotion to the

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

. He moved on loan to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in August 2018. In March 2019, he was praised by Exeter manager Matt Taylor. On 21 December 2019, O'Shea made his first team debut for West Brom in a 1–1 home draw against

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 ...

. O'Shea signed a new three-year contract with West Brom on 24 January 2020. He scored his first league goal on 9 February 2020, in Albion's 2–0 away victory over

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 ...

. On 20 August 2022, O'Shea captained the team for the first time in a 5–2 home victory over

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, scoring a goal in the game. On 10 February 2023, O'Shea made his 100th appearance for the club in a 2–0 away defeat at

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 ...

Burnley

In June 2023 he was linked with a transfer to newly promoted Premier League club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. He completed the transfer on 23 June 2023 for a transfer fee of £7 million, signing a four-year contract with the club. He scored his first goal for ''The Clarets'' on 10 February 2024 in a 3–1 loss at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

Ipswich Town

On 25 August 2024, O'Shea signed for newly promoted Premier League club

on a five-year contract. He made his debut in a League Cup loss at

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

on 28 August and played his first Premier League for Ipswich on 14 September in a 0–0 draw at

Brighton and Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gro ...

. On 24 June 2025, the club announced he had signed a new five-year contract.

International career

O'Shea has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-19 and under-21 youth levels. He was first called up to the under-19's in September 2016 for the friendly double-header 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 ...

which was Tom Mohan's first game charge, following promotion from the under-17's. He was an unused substitute for the first game but made his debut in the second match, playing the full 90 in a 3–1 win. He then made one appearance for the side in the

2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2017) was the 16th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (66th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footba ...

qualifying round, as Ireland qualified for the Elite stage, however, he didn't make any appearances in this round. He played in every game in the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifiers as Ireland just missed out on the final tournament in the Elite round, finishing second to Portugal. He was called up to manager, Stephen Kenny's, first under-21 squad for the friendly against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in March 2009 and made his debut in the 3–0 win. On 14 October 2020, he made his debut for the senior Republic of Ireland national team in a 1–0 away defeat against

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, ...

in the

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. ...

. On 1 September 2021, he was named FAI Young Player of the Year for 2020. On 1 September 2021, O'Shea suffered an ankle fracture in a 2–1 away defeat at

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 ...

in the

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

, resulting in a long-term absence until February 2022.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

West Bromwich Albion *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

runner-up: 2019–20 Individual * FAI Young Player of the Year: 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OShea, Dara 1999 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders St. Kevin's Boys F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Premier League players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century Irish sportsmen