Jack William O'Connell (born 29 March 1994) is an English 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

centre-back 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'Connell began his career at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and came to prominence after captaining

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

from League Two in the 2013–14 season. He joined Championship 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 ...

in February 2015, and remained there until July 2016 when signing for Sheffield United of League One. O'Connell was capped by England at under-18 and under-19 level, captaining the latter team.

Early and personal life

O'Connell was born 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 ...

, Merseyside, and was raised by his mother along with his three brothers. He moved to

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, Spain, with his family during his childhood, where he lived for four years before returning to England. He was a boyhood fan of

O'Connell is in a relationship with women's footballer Alex Greenwood, the two having met at Cardinal Heenan High School where O'Connell was attending sixth form.

Club career

Early years

O'Connell began his career with the youth team at Liverpool County Premier League Premier Division club REMYCA United at the age of 16. He made seven appearances in the first team before being named their Youth Player of the Year for the 2010–11 season.

Blackburn Rovers

After having trials with

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 Everton and

, O'Connell was signed by the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

of the latter on a two-year contract in the summer of 2011. A left-sided

and

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, he made 35 appearances and scored three goals for the academy and reserve teams during 2011–12 and was part of the academy team which reach the finals 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 ...

and the Premier Academy League. O'Connell signed a two-year professional contract with Rovers in May 2012. After impressing on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

away from

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

during the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons, O'Connell signed a new two-year contract in the summer of 2014. O'Connell received his maiden call into the first team squad on 12 August 2014, being named in the starting line-up for a League Cup first round match versus Scunthorpe United. He played the full 90 minutes of the 1–0 defeat. He was called into the squad for the club's next two

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 ...

matches, before departing on loan. After his return, O'Connell's final involvement with the first team came on 3 January 2015, when he remained an unused substitute for a 2–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

third round victory over

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 ...

. He departed Rovers on 2 February 2015, after making just one first team appearance in three and a half years at Ewood Park. He made 49 appearances and scored three goals for the club's reserve and academy teams.

Rotherham United (loan)

On 22 November 2012, O'Connell signed on loan for League Two club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

until 5 January 2013. O'Connell made the first senior appearance of his career on 24 November 2012, replacing Courtney Cameron in the 89th minute of a 1–0 away win against

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 ...

. He made five appearances for Rotherham before returning to Blackburn.

York City (loan)

O'Connell joined another League Two team,

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

, on a one-month loan on 24 January 2013. He made his debut two days later in a 1–1 draw away to Gillingham. The loan was extended until the end of 2012–13 on 25 February 2013. O'Connell made 18 appearances for York before returning to Blackburn after his loan expired.

Rochdale (loans)

O'Connell signed for League Two team

on 22 July 2013 on a six-month loan. Consistently good displays saw manager Keith Hill extend O'Connell's loan until the end of 2013–14 in December 2013. He was also named

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

by Hill. O'Connell made 45 appearances as Rochdale earned automatic promotion to League One after finishing third in League Two. On 1 September 2014, O'Connell rejoined Rochdale on a loan running until 3 January 2015. He scored the first senior goal of his career with a header in a 3–0 win over Yeovil Town on 25 October 2014. O'Connell returned to Blackburn Rovers after his loan expired, having made 19 appearances and scored three goals during his spell with Rochdale. Across his two spells at

Spotland Spotland ( ) is a district of Rochdale in Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseysi ...

, O'Connell made 64 appearances and scored three goals.

Brentford

On 2 February 2015, O'Connell signed for Championship club

on a three-and-a-half-year contract. After a spell away on loan, he was an unused substitute on four occasions before the end of 2014–15. O'Connell made his long-awaited debut with a start at left back in Brentford's second match of 2015–16, a 4–0 League Cup first round defeat to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

. A suspension to Harlee Dean in late November saw O'Connell come into the team and he headed his first Brentford goal to level the score at 2–2 in a

West London derby The West London derby is the name given to a football derby played between any two of Brentford, Chelsea, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, all of whom are situated within West London. This particular derby is less prominent than other such derb ...

with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 12 December. Despite the departure of first-choice centre-back James Tarkowski in January 2016, O'Connell remained as third-choice centre-back after being usurped by

Yoann Barbet Yoann Barbet (born 10 May 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for Al-Riyadh as a centre-back and left-back. A product of the Bordeaux youth system, he signed his first professional contract with Chamois Niortais ahead of the 2 ...

. He made sporadic appearances through to the end of the season and finished with eighteen appearances and one goal.

Return to Rochdale (loan)

On 10 February 2015, O'Connell returned to League One team Rochdale on loan until the end of 2014–15. He made his third debut for the club in a 2–1 defeat to Peterborough United four days later. He made 12 appearances and scored two goals before being recalled by Brentford on 28 March. Earlier in the day he had celebrated the 100th professional appearance of his career with the winner in a 2–1 victory over Yeovil Town. Over the course of his three spells with Rochdale, O'Connell made 76 appearances and scored five goals.

Sheffield United

O'Connell signed for then League One club Sheffield United on 8 July 2016 on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for Sheffield United in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

tie against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

on 9 November 2016. O'Connell made 50 appearances, scoring 6 goals, as Sheffield United were promoted to the Championship as League One champions. On 15 November 2017, O'Connell signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract with Sheffield United, keeping him at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

until June 2022. On 28 April 2019 he saw his second promotion in three seasons with United, this time to the Premier League. As part of manager Chris Wilder's system, O'Connell would play as an outside centre-back, overlapping the wing-back to get into a crossing position.

Retirement

On 21 July 2023, O'Connell announced via his social media accounts that he would be retiring from football at the age of 29. O'Connell cited his knee injuries as the main reason for his retirement, among other complex reasons and decisions, and stated that "Walking away from football will leave a void in my life – but I have made peace with it. And I am grateful for the games I have played, the moments I lived out on the pitch, and to my team-mates – many of whom will be friends for life. It was all a dream come true."

International career

O'Connell was capped once by the England under-18 team, playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–0 friendly victory over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on 7 March 2012. He made his debut for the under-19s in a 3–0 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification win over

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 26 September 2012. O'Connell won four further caps during the qualifying round, including three as captain. He won eight caps at under-19 level.

Career statistics

Honours

Sheffield United *

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

: 2016–17 *

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 ...

second-place promotion: 2018–19

References

External links

Profile
at the Sheffield United F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Jack 1994 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool Footballers from Málaga English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Litherland REMYCA F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players York City F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players 21st-century English sportsmen