James O'Brien (born 8 June 1990) is an Irish

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 Bluebell United. He made his debut in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

in August 2009. He has represented

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

at all levels up to under-19.

Early life

O'Brien was 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 ...

and raised in the

Ballyfermot Ballyfermot () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located west of the city centre, south of Phoenix Park. It is bordered by Chapelizod on the north, by Bluebell, Dublin, Bluebell on the south, by Inchicore on the east, ...

district. His younger brother

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and cousin

Cliff Byrne Clifford Byrne (born 26 April 1982) is an Irish former Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is currently assistant manager at side Doncaster Rovers F.C., Doncaster Rovers. Playing care ...

are also professional footballers.

Club career

O'Brien began his football career with Ballyfermot club Cherry Orchard. In the summer of 2006 he moved to England to take up a scholarship with

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 ...

. After only one year with the club, during which he was part of the

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

which reached the quarter-final 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 ...

, he signed a two-year professional contract. He played regularly for Birmingham'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 ...

and was an unused substitute as they won the

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a regional Association football, football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest County Football Association, count ...

in 2008. O'Brien joined

Conference 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 Leagues and step 2 o ...

side

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

on a month's

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 ...

in January 2009, but the loan was interrupted when the player sustained a pelvic injury a couple of weeks later. After his contract with Birmingham expired, O'Brien spent pre-season with League Two club

. He impressed during trials, scoring on his debut in a pre-season friendly against

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 ...

, and on 4 August 2009 signed a three-month contract. He made his professional debut for Bradford on 12 August as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 loss against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

in the League Cup. His debut in

came three days later as a late substitute in the goalless draw at home to

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 ...

. O'Brien scored his first goal for Bradford on 22 August, in a 5–4 victory away at

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, ...

. At the start of 2010, O'Brien had surgery on his nose to alleviate breathing issues, and therefore was restricted to substitute appearances. O'Brien signed a new 18-month contract with Bradford City on 29 October, but was released on 26 July 2010, 10 months early. He subsequently returned to his native Dublin where he signed for his boyhood club

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

. He signed for

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of I ...

in July 2011, and was released in July 2012. In July 2013 he was playing for

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

. He signed for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

ahead of the 2015 season, and in January 2016, he joined

Waterford United Waterford Football Club formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930. Originally the ...

, where he was reunited with manager

Roddy Collins Roderick Collins (born 7 August 1960) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. During a playing career of 18 years, Collins played for many sides across England, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. While towards the ...

for whom he had played at Athlone Town. O'Brien signed for Shelbourne on 31 January 2017. He signed for Bluebell United in July 2022.

International career

While a Cherry Orchard player, O'Brien captained Ireland's under-16 side. According to his manager Vincent Butler, he was "excellent for us this season and in most of our matches was the best player on the pitch", and his performances with that team earned him the

eircom Eircom Limited, trading as Eir ( ; stylised eir), is a large fixed, mobile and broadband telecommunications company in Ireland. The company, which is currently incorporated in Jersey, traces its origins to Ireland's former state-owned monopol ...

/ FAI Under-16 International Player of the Year award. He graduated to the under-17s, missing out on the elite qualifying round of the 2007 UEFA Under-17 championships through injury, under-18s, and, in the 2008–09 season, to the under-19s.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Jamie 1990 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football midfielders Cherry Orchard F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Solihull Moors F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players Athlone Town A.F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Bluebell United F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Leinster Senior League (association football) players Edenderry Town F.C. players 21st-century Irish sportsmen