Patrick O'Brien (June 1873 – 1950) was a Scottish footballer. O'Brien started his career playing junior football in the Glasgow, playing for

Elm Park Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London and part of the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority f ...

and Glasgow Northern, before making the move south to join London side Woolwich Arsenal in 1894. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, he made his debut against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

on 10 September 1894 and went on to score 11 goals in 27 games for Woolwich Arsenal in his first season ( 1894–95), as Woolwich Arsenal finished 8th in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. An injury at the start of the 1895–96 season ruled O'Brien out for four months, hampering his goal tally. However, he came back the next season, 1896–97, scoring 14 goals in 26 league appearances, making him the club's top scorer that season. However, despite this, he was sold to

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 ...

in the summer of 1897, linking up with former Arsenal boss

Sam Hollis Sam Hollis (1866 – 17 April 1942) was an English football trainer and manager. Born in Nottingham as Samuel Woodroffe Moore, he had comparatively little football experience, having previously worked in the local registry and as a landlord in ...

, who had also just moved there. In total he played 67 times for Arsenal, scoring 29 goals. He spent five years with Bristol City before seeing out his career with

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, making a single appearance for the Robins in 1902–03. He died in 1950.

References

1875 births 1951 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Arsenal F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players 19th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-forward-1870s-stub