John Thomas O'Neil (born 7 June 1971 in

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

) is a Scottish former professional association

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 ...

. He represented

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

once, and played for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

and

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

in the top division.

Career

O'Neil, a right-sided midfielder, began his career at

, where he progressed through the youth ranks. O'Neil scored for United after coming on as a substitute in their 1991

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

, with his header reducing Motherwell's lead to 3–2. At the start of the 1994–95 season, he was signed by ex-United colleague

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He w ...

for United's

Tayside Tayside () was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 16 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named after the River Tay. History Tayside region was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act ...

rivals

. During his six years at

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an All-seat ...

, O'Neil became a regular. He played in nearly 200 league matches, over double his tally over the same length of time with United. In June 2000, O'Neil moved to

. It was during his spell with the

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

club that O'Neil gained his only cap for

, a start in a 1–1 draw against

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 ...

in an away friendly on 25 April 2001. Ten years earlier, he won his sole under-21 cap. After three years with Hibs, O'Neil joined

in 2003 and won a second

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

title in 2005 before joining Gretna in January 2006. O'Neil won a

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title and a third First Division title with ''The Borderers'' the following season, also collecting a third Scottish Cup runners-up medal in the defeat on penalties to Hearts. He left Gretna to join

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

at the start of the 2007–08 season, signed by former Dundee United teammate

Brian Welsh Brian Welsh (born 23 February 1969) is a Scottish football coach and former player, who is currently owner and head coach of American club Northern Virginia United. He began his playing career with Dundee United, where he made 140 league appea ...

. He scored his first and only goal for Cowdenbeath in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

loss at former club Gretna. O'Neil was released by Cowdenbeath in January 2009 and then signed for

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins can b ...

.Shire sign up veteran O'Neil for play-off push
''

Press and Journal ''The Press and Journal'' is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and Highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper, and one of the longest-running newspape ...

'', 20 January 2009.

Honours

;Dundee United *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

;St Johnstone *

winner: 1996–97 ;Hibernian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

;Falkirk *

winner: 2004–05, *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2004–05 ;Gretna *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

winner: 2006–07 *

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SF ...

winner: 2005–06

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneil, John 1971 births Living people Footballers from Bellshill Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Dundee United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Gretna F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers