Mark Ryan O'Hara (born 12 December 1995) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club St Mirren. He has previously played for

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 ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, Lincoln City and

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 ...

Club career

Kilmarnock

A member of

's under-20 squad O'Hara made his first team debut on 28 August 2012, coming on as a 13th-minute substitute 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 ...

match against

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...

, replacing the injured

Jeroen Tesselaar Jeroen Tesselaar (born 16 January 1989) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a left back for Tweede Divisie club Quick Boys. He has previously played for AZ Alkmaar, Telstar, Kilmarnock, St Mirren and De Graafschap. Career AZ Tesselaar started h ...

in a 2–1 defeat. Aged just 16 on his debut, O'Hara became the fifth youngest person to play competitively for Kilmarnock and only the second youngest in that competition. On 27 October 2012, he made his first start and league debut in a 2–0 win over

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

, Kilmarnock's first win at the venue since 1955.

Dundee

O'Hara signed for

in June 2016. Upon signing for Dundee, he was moved into an attacking midfield position by manager

Paul Hartley Paul Hartley (born 19 October 1976) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Scottish League One side Cove Rangers. As a player, Hartley won trophies with both Hearts and C ...

, who said he didn't know why O'Hara had previously been playing as a defender. On 13 August 2016, he scored his first career goal, in Dundee's 2–1 defeat against

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. He then scored again in the following match, getting the equaliser in a 1–1 draw against

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

. On the 19th of February 2017, he scored the opening goal as Dundee won 2–1 against Rangers, the first time since 1992 that Dundee had beaten them at home in the league. Following Paul Hartley's departure from Dundee, O'Hara scored in new manager

Neil McCann Neil Doherty McCann (born 11 August 1974) is a Scottish Association football, football pundit, former professional Association football, player and former Manager (association football), manager. He has recently worked as a pundit for BBC Scotla ...

's first match in charge, a 3–2 win against Motherwell. O'Hara scored an equalising goal in a 1–1 draw in the

Dundee derby The Dundee derby is a football match between Dundee and Dundee United. The clubs are based yards apart in the city of Dundee, the fourth-largest city in Scotland. History Dundee is the older of the two, having been founded in 1893, compared t ...

against

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 ...

in the Scottish league cup group stage. He scored again against Rangers, getting both goals in a 2–1 home win on 24 November 2017, this was O'Hara's fourth goal against Rangers in his third home game against them.

Peterborough United

O'Hara moved to

in May 2018 under freedom of contract, with Dundee receiving a compensation fee. He started his career at London Road in goalscoring form, netting three goals in his first two games in League One 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 ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. Fourteen starts and eight sub appearances followed in the first half of the 2018–19 season, but the end of manager Steve Evans' tenure at the club coincided with a loan move to League Two side Lincoln City. His aggressive and tenacious midfield style saw him make an instant impact with the Imps, making 17 appearances as

Danny Cowley Danny Cowley (born 22 October 1978) is an English professional football coach who is currently head coach of Colchester United. As a player he played at semi-professional level as a midfielder, although he was in the academy at Premier League ...

's side won the league title by six points over Bury and

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

. He was transfer-listed by Peterborough United at the end of the 2018–19 season. On 2 September 2019, O'Hara joined

on loan for the remainder of the 2019–20 season.

Motherwell

On 24 June 2020,

announced the signing of O'Hara on a permanent deal from

for a nominal fee, signing a two-year contract.

St Mirren

In May 2022 following the expiry of his Motherwell contract, O'Hara signed for fellow

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side St Mirren on a two-year deal, having previously signed a pre-contract agreement with the ''Buddies'' in March. In March 2023, O'Hara extended his contract until the summer of 2026 after establishing himself as a regular in the Saints team.

International career

O'Hara represented Scotland at the under-19 and under-21 levels.

Career statistics

Honours

Lincoln City *

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

: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OHara, Mark 1995 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Kilmarnock F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Peterborough United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players People educated at St Luke's High School Footballers from Barrhead English Football League players Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Scottish sportsmen