Kieran Michael O'Hara (born 22 April 1996) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

. Born in England, he plays for the Republic of Ireland national team at international level.

Club career

Urmston Town

Born in Manchester, O'Hara began his career with local club Urmston Town, while attending Ashton-on-Mersey School and Sixth Form.

Manchester United

He then joined

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on 1 July 2012, having represented the club at the

Future Cup The Future Cup (officially known as the ABN AMRO Future Cup, and previously known as the AEGON Future Cup) is an annual friendly international youth tournament which is organized by the Dutch football club AFC Ajax. The tournament is created for ...

earlier in the year. Reaching the final before losing to

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

on penalties, the goalkeeper signed on to become an Under-17 Academy student, working with Under-18 coach

Paul McGuinness Paul McGuinness (born 16 June 1951) is an Irish talent manager. He was the founder of Principle Management Limited, a popular music act management company based in Dublin, Ireland. He was the manager of the rock band U2 from 1978 to 2013. Ea ...

Loan moves

His chances were limited in his first season with the youth team, and he was soon given a work-experience loan with

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sa ...

throughout the 2013–14 season. Upon his return, and having faced his first taste of senior football, O'Hara was promoted to the Under-21 squad. Despite his continued difficulty in breaking into the starting XI, with

Joel Castro Pereira Joel Dinis Castro Pereira (; born 28 June 1996) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for EFL League One club Reading F.C., Reading. Pereira joined Manchester United F.C ...

the preferred goalkeeper, O'Hara signed a professional deal with the Reds in the summer of 2014. Making a single appearance for the Under-21s, he soon faced further loan spells in a bid to impress the coaching staff at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. After a one-month loan with

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 ...

title-contenders

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

, O'Hara was given his first opportunity for United in the final game of the

Under-21 Premier League The Professional Development League is a system of English youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Pe ...

season. Following 15 games as an unused substitute, he completed 90 minutes in a 3–1 defeat to

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 ...

, with his side already crowned league champions. O'Hara opted for senior football once more during the 2015–16 season, and completed a deadline day move to League Two club

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

on a one-month loan in the summer. He later faced a one-month loan spell with

National League 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 League (English footb ...

club

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

in November, before returning to

for the remainder of the season on 12 January. Having failed to make a competitive appearance in his first spell with the Shrimps, O'Hara made his professional debut in a 3–1 defeat to league leaders

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 23 January 2016. On 15 August 2018, O'Hara joined League Two side

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

on loan for the 2018–19 season. O'Hara was Macclesfield's first-choice goalkeeper for the 2018–19 season, making 37 appearances in the league, as well as a further five in cup competitions, including Macclesfield's 8–0 loss to

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 ...

in the third round of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. A draw with

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

saw Macclesfield remain in the Football League, helped greatly by O'Hara's performances in goal; his form over the course of the season saw him named as Macclesfield's Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year. For the 2019–20 season, O'Hara joined League One side

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 loan. Upon his return to Manchester United, he was released by the club on 30 June 2020.

Burton Albion

On 11 September 2020, O'Hara signed with

for a two-year deal. On 20 November 2021, O'Hara joined League Two side

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

on an emergency seven-day loan deal following an injury to first-team goalkeeper

Rory Watson Rory Watson (born 5 February 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as goalkeeper for Scunthorpe United on loan from club York City. Watson played youth football with Leeds United and Hull City, signing a professional contract w ...

. On 26 November 2021, the loan was extended by a further seven days.

Fleetwood Town

On 1 February 2022, O'Hara joined fellow League One side

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 ...

after leaving Burton Albion by mutual consent. O'Hara was released by the club at the end of the season.

Colchester United

After leaving

, O'Hara signed a one-year deal with League Two side

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 ...

Kilmarnock

After one season at Colchester United, O'Hara moved to Scotland by joining

, signing a one-year deal. O'Hara was the club's second choice goalkeeper behind

Will Dennis William Jonathon Dennis (born 10 July 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club AFC Bournemouth. Career Dennis started his career in the academy of Luton Town before moving to join the Watford academy, where ...

until Dennis suffered an injury in the 44th minutes against Hibernian on 16 September 2023, prompting O'Hara to make his Kilmarnock debut, in a 2-2 draw.

Career statistics

Club

International

International career

O'Hara qualifies to play for the Republic of Ireland through his paternal grandparents, who are from Galway. He was called up by the Irish senior national team in March 2019. He made his senior international debut on 10 September 2019, coming on for another debutant

Mark Travers Mark Travers (born 18 May 1999) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club AFC Bournemouth. He has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth international level up until under-21 level as well as the Republic of ...

in a 3–1 win over

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 ...

at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

. He made his full debut against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

starting in a friendly on 14 November 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohara, Kieran 1996 births Living people Footballers from Urmston Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers English men's footballers English people of Irish descent Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Trafford F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players AFC Fylde players Stockport County F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Kilmarnock F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen