John Joseph O'Toole (born 30 September 1988) is a 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

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 ...

. He is a former Republic of Ireland under-21 international.

Club career

Watford

Born in

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

, Greater London, O'Toole spent the end of the 2006–07 season on loan at

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

in the

Southern Football League 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 a ...

Premier Division where he made nine appearances and scored three goals. His Watford debut was against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

in the League Cup as a 71st-minute substitute on 28 August 2007. He made his League debut four days later as an 88th-minute substitute against

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 ...

. In September 2007 he signed his first professional contract, a one-year deal. O'Toole scored his first goal for Watford at home against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

on 1 December 2007. Coming on as substitute in the 82nd minute, he headed a goal three minutes later to make the score 1–1, although Watford went on to lose 1–2. In the next game he started in place of captain Gavin Mahon and scored again, another header, in a 2–3 win away to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

. His third goal for the club came on 26 January 2008 in a 4–1 home defeat against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

in the

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 ...

fourth round. His performance the next weekend, once again at home to Wolves, won him a place in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

team of the week.

Loans

O'Toole signed a three-month loan deal for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

in February 2009 making his debut a couple of weeks later in a 2–1 away victory over

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. O'Toole went on to make nine appearances for The Blades that season, scoring one goal in a local derby against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

at the start of April. He picked up a training-ground injury in the final week of the season and so was unable to appear with Sheffield United in the play-off final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. With Sheffield United failing to win promotion, O'Toole returned to Watford at the end of his loan period. On 2 September 2009, O'Toole joined Colchester United on a three-month loan deal until January 2010. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw away at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, and scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Colchester United

O'Toole made the loan spell permanent on 1 January 2010, signing a deal to keep him at Colchester until 2012. He made his debut on 23 January against Gillingham in a 0–0 draw. O'Toole scored his first goal as a full-time Colchester player in a 3–2 defeat against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

. O'Toole suffered a serious knee injury against Charlton which left him out for 9 months, after rupturing a cruciate ligament. Groin problems had restricted him to just 16 appearances in the 2011–12 season, but on 7 June 2012, O'Toole signed a new two-year deal, keeping the midfielder at the club until 2014.

Bristol Rovers

On 31 December 2012, O'Toole signed for League Two team Bristol Rovers, initially on a one-month deal. The move saw him link up with former Colchester manager John Ward, who had recently joined Rovers. He made his debut the following day in a 2–1 win over

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in a convincing 3–0 away win over

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

on 12 January 2013 with an 18-yard strike to seal the win. He also scored in another 3–0 emphatic victory over

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

on 2 March 2013, scoring from close-range. In his final game of his loan spell, he scored the opening goal in a 4–2 away victory over

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 ...

. O'Toole made 18 appearances alongside scoring his three goals for the club in a loan that was eventually extended until 1 April 2013. Manager Ward expressed interest in signing him permanently over the summer, with O'Toole still having one year to run on his Colchester contract. After a long protracted transfer saga, O'Toole signed a three-year contract with Bristol Rovers, joining for an undisclosed fee on 24 July 2013. The season proved to be bittersweet for O'Toole. He ended the season as Rovers' top scorer with 15 goals and was included in the

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

for League Two but Rovers' suffered relegation out of the Football League for the first time since their admission in 1920. This was followed by O'Toole activating his release clause with Rovers leaving him free to join a new club on 30 May 2014.

Northampton Town

O'Toole signed for

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

on a three-year contract on 30 June 2014. He became a cult figure at the club, with fans wearing wigs similar to his long dark hair.

Burton Albion

O'Toole signed for League One club

on 21 May 2019 on a two-year contract after rejecting the offer of a new contract with Northampton. He scored his first goal for Burton in a 4–3 defeat to

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 ...

on 29 December 2020. On 12 May 2021 it was announced that he would be one of 12 players leaving Burton at the end of the season.

Mansfield Town

On 23 October 2021, O'Toole signed for League Two side

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

on a contract until January 2022.

AFC Wimbledon

On 1 February 2024, O'Toole joined League Two side

on loan until the end of the 2023–24 season. On 18 June 2024, O'Toole agreed to return to AFC Wimbledon on a permanent basis upon the expiration of his contract with Mansfield Town.

International career

O'Toole qualifies for 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. ...

through his grandparents, who were born in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

. He made his under-21 debut in a 1–0 away loss to

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

on 23 November 2007. Four days later he came on as an 83rd-minute substitute against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and scored with a header in the 93rd minute, securing a 1–0 win. His third appearance came against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 5 February 2008, a 3–0 defeat in which he played the entire game.

Career statistics

Honours

Northampton Town *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

: 2015–16 Individual *

EFL League One Player of the Month The EFL League One Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League One, the third tier of English football. Originally named the Football League One Play ...

: January 2018 *Northampton Town Player of the Year: 2015–16 *

: 2013–14 League Two, 2015–16 League Two

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OToole, John-Joe 1988 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Harrow People from Harrow, London English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Watford F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Southern Football League players English Football League players English people of Irish descent 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen