Thomas Paul O'Sullivan (born 18 January 1995) is a Welsh 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 ...

who plays as a

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for club Brackley Town. A

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

youth international, O'Sullivan began his professional career with

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

in 2012, making his debut in the League Cup in August 2012. He made his

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

at Port Vale in February 2015. After two loan spells at Newport County during the 2015–16 season, he signed for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in January 2017. He joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season in January 2018. Having been released by Colchester, he signed with Hereford in October 2018. He spent under two years with

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

before moving to Gloucester City in August 2020. After three seasons with Gloucester, he moved on to Brackley Town. He won the

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

title with the club at the end of the 2024–25 season.

Club career

Cardiff City

Born in

Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf Mountain Ash () is a town and former Community (Wales), community in the Cynon Valley, within the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 11,230 at the 2011 Census, estimated in 2019 at 11,339. It includes the districts ...

, O'Sullivan progressed through the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

to sign his first professional

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

in 2012. He made his professional debut when he came on as a substitute for

Stephen McPhail Stephen John Paul McPhail (born 9 December 1979) is an Irish former professional footballer and the sporting director of Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland Premier Division. A play-making central midfielder, McPhail started his career at ...

19 minutes into a 2–1 League Cup defeat to

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 ...

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on 14 August 2012. He also went on to make an

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appearance on 5 January 2013, as City lost 2–1 to

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

side Macclesfield Town. O'Sullivan joined League One side Port Vale on a one-month

on 2 February 2015;

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Rob Page signed O'Sullivan to replace injured creative midfielder Louis Dodds, having been familiar with him from his time as a coach with the Welsh youth teams. He returned to Cardiff on 2 March after only one substitute appearance at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

. Ten days later he was re-signed by Page on another one-month loan, after the departure of Chris Lines created a midfield vacancy in Vale's first-team picture. The loan deal was later extended to cover the rest of the 2014–15 season. He made five appearances for the Valiants. On 5 October 2015, O'Sullivan was named as Welsh Young Player of the Year by the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

. Eight days later he joined Newport County on an initial one-month loan, subsequently extended until 7 January 2016. He made his debut on 17 October in 1–0 home defeat by

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, and on 24 October, he scored his first professional goal in Newport's 4–1 win at Bristol Rovers. In total he made 13 appearances for the club during the loan spell, which was not extended despite Cardiff manager Russell Slade being encouraged by O'Sullivan's progress. On 10 March 2016, O'Sullivan returned to Newport County on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. He made a further nine appearances for County during his second spell.

Colchester United

After failing to make an impact on the Cardiff first-team during the 2016–17 season, O'Sullivan joined

on trial in January 2017, completing a transfer to the club for an undisclosed fee on 20 January 2017. He made his debut as a substitute for Drey Wright after 78-minutes of Colchester's 4–0 League Two win at home to

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

on 8 April. He made three first-team appearances in 2016–17. On 4 January 2018, O'Sullivan signed for

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut two days later in a 4–0 defeat at

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. He played a total of seven games for Gary Owers's "Gulls", who ended the season being

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

into the

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

. Upon his return to the

Colchester Community Stadium Colchester Community Stadium, known as the JobServe Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Myland, England. It is the home of Colchester United Football Club. It has a capacity of 10,105 and opened in August 2008 ...

at the end of the 2017–18 season he was released by manager John McGreal.

Hereford

On 25 October 2018, O'Sullivan signed with

side

after a successful trial period at

Edgar Street Edgar Street, currently known as MandM Edgar Street Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Hereford and was the home of Hereford United Football Club from the club's formation in 1924 until December 2014, when the club was w ...

. He featured 31 times for the "Bulls" throughout the 2018–19 season. He was reunited with former Cardiff manager Russell Slade in September 2019 following Marc Richards' departure from the club. O'Sullivan's 96th-minute winner against

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

on 17 September secured Slade's first victory at

. He scored two goals in 22 appearances in the 2019–20 season, which was permanently suspended on 26 March due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...

, with Hereford in 15th-place.

Gloucester City

On 7 August 2020, O'Sullivan joined Hereford's National League North rivals Gloucester City, becoming manager James Rowe's fifth summer signing. He made 21 appearances before the 2020–21 season was curtailed due to the ongoing pandemic. He featured 36 times under

Lee Mansell Lee Richard Samuel Mansell (born 23 September 1982) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played for Luton Town F.C., Luton Town, Nuneaton Town F.C., Nuneaton Borough, Oxford United F.C., Oxford United, Torquay U ...

in the 2021–22 season, in what O'Sullivan called "a transitional time" at Meadow Park. He made 32 appearances in the 2022–23 campaign, including in the play-off quarter-final defeat at Brackley Town.

Brackley Town

On 26 June 2023, O'Sullivan signed with Brackley Town upon the expiry of his contract with Gloucester. He played 38 league games in the 2023–24 season to help Brackley to secure a play-off place with a third-place finish. He played in the play-off final defeat to Boston United. He scored two goals in 37 matches throughout the 2024–25 season as Brackley secured promotion as champions of the National League North; manager Gavin Cowan said the team had accomplished "something extraordinary" in reaching the National League for the first time in the club's history.

International career

O'Sullivan has represented

at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. He made his competitive debut for the under-17s starting in a 3–2 defeat to

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

on 17 October 2011. He made five appearances for the under-17 side. On 13 November 2013, he had a goalscoring debut for the under-19 team, featuring as a substitute in Wales' 5–1 defeat to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He scored six goals in six appearances for the under-19 team. Prior to his under-19 debut, O'Sullivan had already made his under-21 debut, starting in their 4–0 victory over

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

on 15 October 2013. For his first goals at under-21 level, he scored a brace against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

during a 3–1 win on 31 March 2015. He scored three goals in 15 competitive under-21 games between 2013 and 2016.

Style of play

O'Sullivan is a creative box-to-box

with a good touch, awareness and technique.

Coaching career

In 2022, he was coaching in the academy at Cardiff City.

Personal life

Tommy's elder brother, Sam O'Sullivan, played 152 times for Newport County before leaving the club in 2008.

Career statistics

Honours

Brackley Town: *

: 2024–25 Individual *

Young Player of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Tommy 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Mountain Ash, Wales Welsh men's footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Cardiff City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Brackley Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century Welsh sportsmen