Brian E. "Pat" O'Connell (born 13 September 1937) is an English former

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 played as a half back or winger. He started his career as a junior at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, for whom he made his professional debut in 1958. He spent eight years at Fulham, playing 156 league matches and scoring 26 goals. He moved to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in 1966, where he played for a single season, making 21 appearances in the league and scoring 2 goals. In 1968, he moved to Canada to play for

Vancouver Royals The Vancouver Royals were a Canadian professional association football, soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1967 as the Vancouver Royal Canadians, they were a charter member of the United Soccer Association, Un ...

. After his playing career he went on to manage Epsom & Ewell from 1973 until 1982. During his time there he went on to win the

Surrey Senior League The Surrey Senior League was an English regional football league for teams based in Surrey although teams from outside the county were often admitted as well. The league existed from 1922 until 1978, when it was rebranded as the Home Counties Leag ...

, division two of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

and took the club to the first final of the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

References

External links

O'Connell at holmesdale.netWhere are they now (O'Connell profile at fulhamfc.com)
1937 births Footballers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Kensington Men's association football wingers Crystal Palace F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Vancouver Royals players Living people Brentwood Town F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English men's footballers English Football League players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English football managers Epsom & Ewell F.C. managers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada {{England-footy-midfielder-1930s-stub