Richard Mark O'Donnell (born 12 September 1988) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting ...

for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

. Having started his career with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

, O'Donnell progressed to the first team where he was largely used as an understudy goalkeeper. He played 20 times for Wednesday between 2006 and 2012, earning a significant amount of first-team appearances elsewhere as he spent time on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

with

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

and

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and ...

. He was released in the summer of 2012 and joined Chesterfield. In 2013, following limited first-team appearances, he signed a one-year contract at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

Career

Sheffield Wednesday

Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, South Yorkshire, O'Donnell started his career with

. He was called up to first team at the start of the 2006–07 season and was an unused substitute for the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

as back-up for

Chris Adamson Christopher Adamson (born 4 November 1978) is an English former football goalkeeper who played for 13 clubs in a 13-year career. Adamson is currently goalkeeping coach at Mansfield Town, as well as a coach at non-league side Bustleholme. Care ...

. O'Donnell joined

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

club

on 2 March 2007 on a work experience arrangement. He was recalled by Wednesday later that month, to provide cover injuries. O'Donnell signed his first professional contract with Wednesday in June 2007. He joined

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division ...

Premier Division in December 2007 on a one-month

, where he made two appearances. He joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

on 8 January 2008 on a three-month loan, as back-up for

Andy Warrington Andrew Clifford Warrington (born 10 June 1976) is an English former professional footballer and the current first team goalkeeping coach at Derby County. He played as a goalkeeper for York City, Doncaster Rovers, Bury, Rotherham United, Buxton ...

, but was recalled before the end of the deal as back-up to Wednesday's two first choice goalkeepers. O'Donnell was then loaned to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

on 14 March 2008 on an emergency seven-day loan. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut the following day at the age of 19 in a match against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...

. He joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

on 31 August 2010 on a one-month loan. He made his debut on 4 September 2010 against Luton, Grimsby winning 2–0 at home. On 4 February 2011, he joined

on a one-month loan. He made his debut for Wednesday in a 2–0 defeat away to

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

on 19 March 2011. On 15 May 2012, O'Donnell was amongst the six first-team players to be released by Wednesday.

Chesterfield

Days after his release, O'Donnell signed for Chesterfield on 16 May 2012 on a one-year contract. After appearing as an unused substitute in the first five matches, he made his debut on 4 September 2012 as an 89th-minute substitute for

Tommy Lee Thomas Lee Bass (born October 3, 1962) is an American musician and founding member of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. As well as being the band's long-term drummer, Lee founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical ...

in a 2–1 home win over Oldham. O'Donnell made his first start four days later, in a 2–2 away draw against York on 8 September 2012. He appeared in the following 14 matches, mainly due to the absence of first-choice goalkeeper Tommy Lee, who was out for eight weeks. After Lee recovered and returned to the first team, O'Donnell was once again the club's back-up goalkeeper. On 14 January 2013, O'Donnell joined Conference Premier club

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

on a one-month loan. O'Donnell had his loan spell extended with the club until 16 April 2013. While at Stockport, he made 20 appearances and established himself as first choice goalkeeper, but the club was relegated to the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sys ...

. In the last match of the season, O'Donnell made his first Chesterfield appearance in over six months, a 4–0 home victory over

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. He was released at the end of that one-year contract in April 2013 following limited first-team opportunities.

Walsall

Following his release from Chesterfield, O'Donnell signed a one-year contract with League One club

on 18 July 2013. He was voted as their Player of the Year in 2014–15.

Wigan Athletic

On 22 May 2015, O'Donnell signed a three-year contract with League One club

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

Bristol City

After losing his place to

Jussi Jääskeläinen Jussi Albert Jääskeläinen (; born 19 April 1975) is a Finnish football coach and retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During his career, Jääskeläinen most notably represented Bolton Wanderers from 1997 until 2012, making 530 app ...

in the Wigan team, he joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

on 12 January 2016 on loan until the end of 2015–16 as cover for the injured

Frank Fielding Francis David Fielding (born 4 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Stoke City. He began his career at Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League. He spent time on loan at Wycombe Wanderers, Northampton ...

. He went straight into the team against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

on the same day, in a 2–1 home defeat. After impressing head coach

Lee Johnson Lee Johnson may refer to: Sportspeople *Lee Johnson (wide receiver) (born 1944), American football wide receiver *Lee Johnson (punter) (born 1961), American football punter *Lee Johnson (basketball) (born 1957), American basketball player *Lee John ...

, he signed permanently on 1 February 2016 for an undisclosed fee on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

Rotherham United

He re-signed for Championship club Rotherham United on 19 January 2017 on a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

Northampton Town

O'Donnell signed for League One club

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland L ...

on 8 January 2018 on a two-and-a-half-year contract on a for an undisclosed fee.

Bradford City

O'Donnell signed for League One club

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

on 27 June 2018 on a two-year contract, having been able to leave Northampton on a free transfer because of a relegation clause in his contract. He was offered a new contract by Bradford City in July 2020, following the expiry of his existing contract, signing a new two-year contract later that month. O'Donnell was appointed as Bradford City

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 4 September 2020. O'Donnell was released by the club at the end of the 2021–22 season having not featured for the club since 30 November 2021.

Rochdale

On 18 May 2022, O'Donnell signed a two-year contract with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

which will come into effect on 1 July once his contract expires at Bradford City. At the end of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, O'Donnell was awarded with the Supporters' Player of the Year trophy.

Blackpool

O'Donnell joined Blackpool on 27 June 2023.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Player of the Year: 2014–15 *

Supporters' Player of the Year:

References

External links

Profile
at the Bradford City A.F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Richard 1988 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players York City F.C. players Buxton F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Northern Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players