Elaine O'Connor (born 20 February 1982) is an Irish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. O'Connor played for clubs including

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and Long Island Lady Riders and represented the

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. ...

at senior international level.

Club career

O'Connor took up football aged seven and played for five years at Killinarden Community School. She came to prominence at

Dublin Women's Soccer League The Dublin Women's Soccer League was a women's association football league featuring teams from the Republic of Ireland. While the majority of the participating clubs were based in the Greater Dublin Area, the DWSL had regularly included teams f ...

club Lourdes Celtic, winning the Dublin Cup at Under-14, 16 and 18 level. Spells at other Dublin clubs Shelbourne and St Catherine's followed for O'Connor. In 1999 an American soccer coach named JoAnne Wagner spotted O'Connor and signed her to

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

. O'Connor remained for five seasons,

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

ing in 2002, and majoring in Physical Education. She also featured in the W-League for Long Island Lady Riders. In 2004 O'Connor signed for

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women' ...

, making her debut in an

FA Women's Community Shield The Women's FA Community Shield was an association football competition in England. It was a national super cup, and the equivalent of the FA Community Shield in male football. It was the first competitive match of the football season. The match ...

defeat by

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

. By 2005 O'Connor was back in America playing for Long Island Lady Riders. The following season she switched to

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

(WPSL) outfit Long Island Fury. After her playing career O'Connor remained in the United States and worked as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

International career

O'Connor represented

at youth level, then played for the senior team in the qualifying campaigns for the 2003 and 2007 FIFA Women's World Cups. She also played in the Euro 2009 qualifiers. O'Connor was named Women's Senior International Player of the Year at the 2004

FAI International Football Awards The FAI International Football Awards is an awards evening held to honour the best Republic of Ireland international footballers of the year. Senior International awards Senior International Player of the Year Senior Women's International Pl ...

. She won 54

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for Ireland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Elaine 1982 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland women's association footballers Arsenal W.F.C. players Republic of Ireland women's international footballers FA Women's National League players Expatriate women's footballers in England Shelbourne F.C. (women) players St Catherine's L.F.C. players Dublin Women's Soccer League players Hofstra Pride women's soccer players Women's association football midfielders Republic of Ireland women's youth international footballers Long Island Rough Riders (USL W League) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Women's Premier Soccer League players People from Tallaght Sportspeople from South Dublin (county) 21st-century Irish sportswomen