Ray O'Brien (born 21 May 1951) is an Irish former 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 ...
.
Early life
O'Brien was born in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
.
Career
O'Brien began his career with
Shelbourne before transferring to Manchester United.
He was then transferred to
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
in 1974
for £45,000 without making the first team at Old Trafford.
At Meadow Lane he created a club record in 1979–80 when he became the first full back to finish as leading scorer. He spent ten years at County making over 300 Football League appearances.
He also won five caps for 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. ...
, making his debut on 24 March 1976 in a 3–0 home win over Norway in a friendly game.
He later managed non-League clubs including
Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system.
The club is known as 'the ...
and
Arnold Town.
Arnold Town FC: A club history
Arnold Town F.C.
His brother Fran O'Brien also played for his country.
References
;Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Ray
1951 births
Living people
Association footballers from County Dublin
Republic of Ireland men's association footballers
Republic of Ireland men's international footballers
Republic of Ireland men's under-23 international footballers
League of Ireland players
Shelbourne F.C. players
Manchester United F.C. players
Notts County F.C. players
Republic of Ireland association football managers
Boston United F.C. managers
Arnold Town F.C. managers
Men's association football defenders
English Football League players
20th-century Irish sportsmen