Joseph Martin O'Brien (born 17 February 1986) is an Irish retired 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 full-back and

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

. He was capped five times by 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 level between 2006 and 2012. In the year 2016, O'Brien was among 13 people to be named as a victim of fraud and he testified in court for the trial. In 2021 he became the assistant manager of Shelbourne.

Playing career

Bolton Wanderers

O'Brien started his career with

in 2004 after starting out his first year scholarships in 2002. To gain further experience, O'Brien was loaned out to League One team

for the most part of the 2004–05 season, making 15 appearances and scoring two goals, including one on his debut. After extending his loan spell at the club twice times, O'Brien was named as captain for the last game of his loan spell in honour of his contribution. Upon returning to Bolton Wanderers from a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday, O'Brien made his Premier League debut on 15 May 2005 against Everton when coming on as a late substitute in place of

Fernando Hierro Fernando Ruiz Hierro (; born 23 March 1968) is a Spanish football executive and former player who played as a centre-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder. He won five La Liga and three Champions League trophies with Real Madrid in 14 years ...

. He was given his first start in Bolton's colours in their away

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

1st Round tie with

PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

in September 2005. In the 2005–06 season, O'Brien was called up by the first team following a defensive crisis of injuries and that moment on, he became a first team regular, making thirty-three appearances in all competition. Initially playing as a centre-midfielder, O'Brien changed to a right-back role and made an impression, leading to Manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

described him as a "dominant force at right back in the Premiership". O'Brien missed most of the 2006–07 season due to a knee injury. By October, O'Brien was expected to return from a pitch in a months time, with a help from an American doctor Dr Frank Jarrell, a pioneer in the field of spinal reflex analysis. However, his recovery was delayed for another 3–4 months, causing him to miss the rest of the season. Having regained his fitness, it wasn't until on 23 September 2007 when he made his return for Bolton, making his first start and playing the whole game, in a 1-0 win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Since making his return from injury, he played most of the 2007–08 season in his natural midfield role as opposed to the right back position which he had been in two years previous. Despite further injury concerns, O'Brien went on to make 26 appearances in all competition. In July 2008 he was given the number 8 shirt previously worn by

Iván Campo Iván Campo Ramos (born 21 February 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer. Originally a centre-back, he featured in a defensive midfield role in the later years of his career. He played for Real Madrid and four other teams in his ...

and started well when he provided two assists against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and

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 ...

. However, injuries restricted his appearances throughout the 2008–09 season. O'Brien finished the season, making eight appearances in all competitions. In the 2009-10 season, O'Brien appeared as an unused substitute three times to the first ten league matches to the season. However, he suffered a knee injury that required an operation for the second time in twelve months and made no appearances this season. Despite this, he signed a one-year extension to his contract keeping him at Bolton Wanderers until the summer of 2011. After making a recovery, O'Brien made his return in a pre-season friendly match against

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

and after the match, O'Brien stated when he returned to the first team, he determined to make up the lost time. However, this never happened and it has been reported that O'Brien may need to be loaned out to gain first team football. On 24 March 2011, O'Brien joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan for a second time until the end of the season, and made his debut two days later in a 1–1 draw at

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

. After making four appearances for the club, O'Brien made four appearances for the club on his second return. At the end of the season, he was released by Bolton Wanderers, ending his six years association with the club.

West Ham United

In July 2011, O'Brien was handed a trial by

. He featured in pre-season friendlies against

BSC Young Boys Berner Sport Club Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation, ) is a Swiss professional sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 17 Swiss league championships and eight Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss footbal ...

and

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

before being signed on 30 July on a free transfer, after penning a two-year contract. O'Brien made his competitive debut on 7 August 2011 in 1–0 home defeat to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. He scored his first goal for West Ham in a 4–0 away win against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on 16 August 2011, his first goal since January 2005. He was sent off for the first time in his career in the away match against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on 10 December 2011. Having suffered from injuries during the season, O'Brien went on to make 33 appearances in all competition and the club was promoted back to the Premier League. O'Brien suffered a hamstring injury on 5 October 2012. He returned to the squad for a match against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

three weeks later. He set up the only goal for

Kevin Nolan Kevin Anthony Jance Nolan (born 24 June 1982) is an English former professional footballer and coach, who manages Northampton Town. He has represented England at under-21 level. After growing up in Toxteth, Liverpool, Nolan signed for Bolton ...

in the game two weeks after making his return, in a 1–0 win over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. This was followed by scoring his first ever Premier League goal on 19 November 2012, which also earned his team a point against

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

. He then scored the winning goal in the New Year's Day fixture against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. However, O'Brien suffered a hamstring injury. While on sidelined, O'Brien signed a new contract with West Ham United on 13 January 2013, keeping him until 2013. Soon after signing the contract, he made his first appearance since returning from injury on 19 January 2013, in a 1–1 draw against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. O'Brien finished the 2012–13 season with 34 appearances in all competitions. In the 2013–14 season, O'Brien's was restricted to 17 appearances. After missing out two matches between 11 January 2014 and 18 January 2014 due to injury O'Brien made his return on 29 January 2014, making his first start and playing the whole game, in a 0–0 draw against Chelsea. In the same match he suffered a dislocated shoulder after he ''"fell awkwardly following an off-the-ball push from Chelsea defender

Gary Cahill Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...

"'' and was sidelined for three months. After returning from injury in late April, O'Brien made his return in the last game of the season, playing as a right-back, in a 2–0 loss against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. In the 2014–15 season, O'Brien appeared in the first three matches to the start of the season until he suffered a knee injury during an international break. After making his return from injury as an unused substitute 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 ...

on 18 October 2014, he struggled to regain his first team place and spent most of the season on the substitute bench, due to good performance from

Carl Jenkinson Carl Daniel Jenkinson (born 8 February 1992) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a right-back for side Bromley F.C., Bromley. Jenkinson began his career with Charlton Athletic F.C., Charlton Athletic before ...

. Ahead of the 2015–16 season, O'Brien was expected to fight for his first team place under the new management of

Slaven Bilić Slaven Bilić (; born 11 September 1968) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player. Bilić, who played as a defender, began his career in 1988 with his hometown club Hajduk Split, later having successful spells with Karls ...

following the departure of Allardyce. After appearing five times in the Europa League matches for West Ham United campaign, he suffered a calf injury at the start of the season. After returning from injury in late-October, O'Brien made his first appearance on 30 January 2016, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, in a 0–0 against

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 ...

. He then made another appearance in the fourth round of the FA Cup replay against Liverpool, which saw West Ham United win 2–1. Following a game with a win over Liverpool O'Brien once again suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out for weeks and even after making his return, he never made an appearance throughout the 2015–16 season. He was released by West Ham at the end of his contract in June 2016. In August 2017, he was back in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, training with

fitness coach Nick Allamby in order to keep fit.

Shamrock Rovers

On 27 January 2018, O'Brien signed for

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

team and boyhood club

after spending 18 months without a club.

International career

In 2003, O'Brien was called by Republic of Ireland U17 and was involved in the tournament, resulting being awarded Player of the Tournament, due to his performance. Two years later, O'Brien was called up by Republic of Ireland U21 and appeared in the squad six times. Later in the year, he won FAI Under 19 International Player of the Year. In February 2006, O'Brien was called up to the

squad for the first time and made his debut for his country on 1 March 2006, against

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 ...

during

Steve Staunton Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969) is an Irish football manager, scout and former professional footballer. He played as a defender with two separate spells each with Premier League sides Aston Villa and Liverpool. He also played in the F ...

's first game in charge. Following a new appointment of

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

, O'Brien expressed frustration of being omitted by him that he was considered early retirement from international football. On 3 August 2012, O'Brien was called up to the

squad for 15 August friendly against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, as a replacement for the injured

Sean St Ledger Sean Patrick St Ledger-Hall (born 28 December 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in England, he played international football for the Republic of Ireland. He was part of the team that lost controversially ...

. This was O'Brien's first call up in over four years, after overcoming a succession of long-term injuries.

Coaching career

In November 2021, it was announced that O'Brien had joined Shelbourne as assistant manager under newly appointed manager

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C., Shelbourne. He began his pro ...

, a former

teammate of O'Brien's. On 22 June 2025, it was announced that O'Brien would take interim charge of the team after Duff had stepped down as manager.

Personal life

In May 2014, O'Brien married Joanne Martin, an Irish model, at St Augustine's Church on

Thomas Street, Dublin Thomas Street () is a street in The Liberties in central Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. History The street is named after the canon regular, Augustinian Abbey of St. Thomas, founded in 1175, near the later St. Catherine's Church, Dublin ...

. In February 2016, O'Brien was among thirteen people to be named as a victim of fraud, committed by Stephen Ackerman. A month after leaving

, O'Brien testified in court in Ackerman's trial.

Career statistics

Honours

West Ham United *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

: 2011–12 Shamrock Rovers *

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

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 ...

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

*
Profile Page
at Shamrock Rovers

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Joey 1986 births Association footballers from County Dublin Living people Men's association football defenders Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Stella Maris F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Shelbourne F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century Irish sportsmen