Michael Peter O'Keeffe (born 9 August 1990) is a New Zealand

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

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was an association football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most successful football c ...

and played for the New Zealand U23 national team. Since 2017 until its closure in July 2024, O’Keeffe has been a TV reporter and presenter for

Newshub ''Newshub'' (stylised as Newshub.) was a New Zealand news service that operated from 1989 to 2024 and served as the local news division of Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand until its closure. The division, known as ''3 News'' until 2016, had ...

. He is the younger brother of rugby union referee,

Ben O'Keeffe Benjamin Dennis O'Keeffe (born 3 January 1989) is a rugby union referee from New Zealand. He currently referees at Mitre 10 Cup, domestic, Super Rugby and Test match (rugby union), test match level and holds the record for most first-class gam ...

Career

O'Keeffe grew up in Blenheim, New Zealand and was schooled at

Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough Boys' College is a state single-sex secondary school in Blenheim, New Zealand. The school was established as Marlborough High School in 1899 (renamed Marlborough College in 1919). The school in its current form was established in 1963 ...

and

Christchurch Boys' High School Christchurch Boys' High School, often referred to as CBHS, is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a site between the suburbs of Riccarton, New Zealand, Riccarton and Fendalton, to the west of ce ...

. He then moved to Fairfield, Connecticut where he began his university studies whilst also on a full soccer scholarship. O'Keeffe graduated from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2023, the university had about 5,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,200 gra ...

with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A), Television New Media. Michael moved to

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand, where he honed his goal keeping skills as a member of Blenheim All Stars indoor handball team. In June 2012 O'Keeffe received a late call-up to the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team () represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), which is currently a memb ...

as an injury replacement for

Mark Paston Mark Nelson Paston (born 13 December 1976) is a New Zealand former professional football goalkeeper. He played for the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League from 2007 to 2013 before he retired from professional football. Paston represented New Ze ...

in the

2012 OFC Nations Cup The 2012 OFC Nations Cup was the ninth edition of the OFC Nations Cup organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The group stage of the tournament also doubled as the second round of the OFC qualification tournament for the 2014 FIFA ...

. O'Keeffe was selected for the New Zealand U23 national team, participating in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2013 O'Keeffe joined

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

team Ocean City Nor'easters. In 2014, he returned to New Zealand to play for

in the 2014–15

ASB Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship () was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a myriad of short-lived football leagues in ...

. Since 2017, he has been a TV reporter and presenter for

References

External links

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NZ Football profileFairfield Stag's profile2012 London Olympics profileOlé Football Academy profile
1990 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Olympic association footballers for New Zealand Association footballers from Christchurch Canterbury United Dragons players Fairfield Stags men's soccer players Ocean City Nor'easters players USL League Two players 2012 OFC Nations Cup players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics People educated at Marlborough Boys' College People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-footy-bio-stub