Max Edward O'Leary (born 10 October 1996) is an Irish 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

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 ...

and 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. ...

National Team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

Early life

Born in

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

, O'Leary attended

Beechen Cliff School Beechen Cliff School is a boys' secondary school in Bath, Somerset, England, with about 1,150 pupils. Its earliest predecessor school was founded in 1896. There are around 930 boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form of 402 pupil ...

alongside fellow

academy graduate Zak Vyner.

Club career

He began his career with

and was first included in a matchday squad on 22 October 2013, remaining an unused substitute in a 2–1 home loss to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. On 9 January 2016, O'Leary was on the bench in a Bristol City squad with only six substitutes due to squad depletion. He came on at half time in the 2–2 draw away to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

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 ...

third round, replacing the injured Frank Fielding. O'Leary joined

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

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 ...

on 18 March 2016, on loan until the end of the season. He was recalled a month later when Fielding was ruled out with injury for the rest of the season. On 26 August 2016, O'Leary joined

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

side Bath City on loan until 31 January 2017. His spell at his hometown club was extended to the end of the season. O'Leary joined

side

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional association football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the Na ...

on loan on 24 November 2017, until the following 6 January, but was recalled on 1 January 2018 due to Fielding being suspended. O'Leary eventually rejoined Solihull on loan until the end of the season, once Fielding had returned from his suspension. In July 2018, O'Leary signed a new three-year deal with the option of a fourth at Bristol City. On 17 October, manager Lee Johnson announced O'Leary would make his full league debut in the following weekend fixture away at

. He kept a clean sheet in the 1–0 win at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

on 20 October. On 5 July 2019, O'Leary signed for League One side

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 ...

on a one-year loan. In 2023, O' Leary further committed his future at Bristol City by signing a three-year deal. Also in 2023, Max O' Leary was rewarded with the Number 1 shirt at his boyhood club. Since then Max O' Leary has gone on to further develop becoming one of the clubs most consistent and reliable players known for his calming presence.

International career

On 25 May 2019, O'Leary was called up to the Republic of Ireland national team for the first time to replace the injured Mark Travers, ahead of

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, intended to be playe ...

matches against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, qualifying through a Kerry-born grandfather. On 24 March 2022, he was called into the squad for their friendly matches against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

following injuries to Gavin Bazunu and Mark Travers and again in June because of injuries to Gavin Bazunu and James Talbot. On 10 June 2025, O'Leary made his international debut, in a friendly away to

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, 6 years after his first call up.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OLeary, Max 1996 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from Bath, Somerset Men's association football goalkeepers Bristol City F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Solihull Moors F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players English people of Irish descent 21st-century English sportsmen People educated at Beechen Cliff School Republic of Ireland men's international footballers