Martin John O'Connor (born 10 December 1967) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former professional player. Born in England, he represented the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

at international level.

Club career

O'Connor was a late entrant to senior football. He joined

Southern League Premier Division 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 and e ...

club Bromsgrove Rovers in his early 20s, and played his part in their winning the 1991–92 title. He signed for Crystal Palace for a £25,000 fee ahead of the inaugural Premier League season, but never appeared in that league. Instead, he made his

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 ...

debut at the age of 25 during the first of three spells at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, joining on loan in March 1993 before signing permanently the following year. He played a key role in the Saddlers winning promotion to Division Two in 1994–95. He then joined

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 ...

, followed by

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, whom O'Connor represented in the 2001 Football League Cup Final 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 ...

, which Birmingham lost in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. O'Connor re-joined Walsall in 2002, but his contract was not renewed at the end of the 2002–03 season. He then signed for

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

in July 2003, before ending his playing career with

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. He was

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

of Halesowen Town from November 2006 until October 2007. On 20 January 2009, he was named assistant manager to

Chris Hutchings Christopher Hutchings (born 5 July 1957) is an English former footballer and manager. He played for a number of clubs, including Chelsea and played more than 100 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town. He has managed in the Pre ...

, but the pair were sacked on 3 January 2011 after a series of poor results left Walsall bottom of

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

. After Dean Keates was sacked as Walsall manager in April 2019 with the team in the relegation places, O'Connor was appointed for the remaining five matches of the season. Despite overseeing a stunning 3–0 victory against

on 27 April 2019 taking the fight for survival to the last game of the season, O'Connor ultimately could not stop the Saddlers' relegation to League Two. O'Connor was succeeded as Walsall manager by

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...

who signed a three-year contract on 10 May 2019.

International career

O'Connor was called up to the Cayman Islands national team in 2000; his father was born in that country. He played twice before

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

ruled that neither he nor many others who had been invited were eligible. The Cayman Islands had been attempting to exploit their status as a

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

by picking British passport holders who would not ordinarily be eligible to play for them.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Walsall *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

runner-up: 1994–95 Birmingham City *

Football League 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 ...

runner-up: 2000–01 Individual *

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 ...

: 1994–95 Third Division, 1995–96 Second Division

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Martin 1967 births Living people Footballers from Walsall English men's footballers Caymanian men's footballers Cayman Islands men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Halesowen Town F.C. managers Walsall F.C. managers