Stephen O'Flynn (born 27 April 1982) is an Irish retired footballer who played as a striker.

Career

League of Ireland

O'Flynn was capped for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

at under-age levels. He also had spells at

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

and

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

when he was younger where he was very impressive at the latter. He then re signed for Cork City in 2004 and played alongside Kevin Doyle, however he was sidelined for most of the season through injury. Following the injury, Stephen signed for Stephen Kenny's Derry City in 2005. The move reignited his career and he weighed in with several goals for Derry City including a winner against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...

in the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

in August 2006. However, when

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland title ...

took over at Derry, he was released by the club on 14 December 2006 after 9 goals in 48 appearances. He was signed by

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

in preparation for their 2007 season. He was released by United in July 2008. In the same month, he returned to Limerick until the end of the 2009 season after having another injury hit season at Galway. There, O'Flynn made an impact on his return to League of Ireland football in the First Division scoring 14 goals in just 13 appearances. At the end of the 2009 season, O'Flynn made the Division One team of the year.

English football

When he was younger, he spent a period of time at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

before he moved to Irish football. In January 2010, he held talks with English League Two Side

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

, after an impressive two-week trial. On 5 January, O'Flynn signed a contract with the Cobblers until the end of the 2009–10 season. He was released by the club on 12 May 2010 along with five other players.

Return to the League of Ireland

O'Flynn returned to

in the mid-season transfer window on 21 June 2010. O'Flynn spoke of his delight on returning to the club he regards as home saying,

St Patrick's Athletic

O'Flynn announced on his Twitter account that he had signed for Premier Division side St.Patrick's Athletic, in January 2012. O'Flynn started off life at the

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchi ...

club, scoring on his first start away to

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

in a 2–0 win. O'Flynn again netted a crucial away goal against

Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja (, ), commonly known as ÍBV, is an Icelandic multi-sports district association from Vestmannaeyjar off the south coast of Iceland. It was founded in 1903 as Knattspyrnufélag Vestmannaeyja by Björgúlfur Ólafss ...

in the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Are ...

. On Monday 25 February 2013, O'Flynn announced his retirement.

Institute

On 3 January 2014, he made his return to football, signing for (then

NIFL Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championsh ...

1 club)

Institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on his debut in a 1–1 draw away to Coagh United on 11 January 2014. He won the Belfast Telegraph NIFL Championship 1 with the club in his first season, scoring 8 league goals in 10 games. He opened his

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

goalscoring account on the first day of the 2014/15 season; with both of his team's goals in a 2–2 draw away to

Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the I ...

Crusaders

In December 2014 it was announced he would join

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

in January 2015. He made his debut as a substitute on 3 January against

Ballinamallard United Ballinamallard United Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club, re-formed in 1975 after being dormant since the 1960s, hails from Ballinamallard, near Enniskillen, County Ferman ...

, before scoring his first goal in the next game, a 6-0

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

victory over Newington. O'Flynn was found frustrated by his lack of first team action in the 2015–2016 season and had a transfer request accepted in January.

Ballinamallard United

On Monday 25 January 2016 O'Flynn joined

in a loan deal until the end of the season.

Glentoran

O'Flynn joined

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

on a pre contract agreement ahead of the

2016–17 NIFL Premiership The 2016–17 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 116th season of Irish league football overall ...

season.

Donegal Celtic

Following his release by Glentoran at the end of the 2016–17 season, O'Flynn joined west Belfast club

Donegal Celtic Donegal Celtic Football & Social Club is an intermediate football and social club based in Belfast, Northern Ireland who currently play in the Ballymena & Provincial Football League. The club, founded in 1970, plays its home matches at Donegal ...

on a free transfer. On 1 January, O'Flynn rejoined former club

on loan until the end of the season.

Honours

;Institute * NIFL Championship 1 (1): 2013/14 ;Crusaders *

(1): 2014–15

References

External links

Stephen O'Flynn player profile
at ntfc.co.uk * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oflynn, Stephen 1982 births Living people Association footballers from County Cork Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers League of Ireland players Cork City F.C. players Limerick F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Galway United F.C. (1937–2011) players Northampton Town F.C. players English Football League players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Institute F.C. players Crusaders F.C. players Ballinamallard United F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Donegal Celtic F.C. players Sportspeople from Mallow, County Cork Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers 21st-century Irish sportsmen NIFL Premiership players NIFL Championship players