Brendan O'Connell (footballer)

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Brendan O'Connell
Personal information
Full name Brendan John O'Connell
Date of birth (1966-11-12) 12 November 1966 (age 58)
Place of birth Lambeth, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1985–1986 Portsmouth 0 (0)
1986–1988 Exeter City 81 (19)
1988–1990 Burnley 64 (17)
1990 → Huddersfield Town (loan) 11 (1)
1990–1996 Barnsley 240 (35)
1996–1997 Charlton Athletic 38 (2)
1997–1998 Wigan Athletic 17 (5)
2001–200x Rossendale United
2003–200x Northwich Victoria
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Brendan John O'Connell (born 12 November 1966) is a former professional footballer who made 451 appearances and scored 79 goals in the Football League playing as a midfielder for Portsmouth, Exeter City, Burnley, Huddersfield Town, Barnsley, Charlton Athletic and Wigan Athletic. [2]

Contents

Playing career

During his professional career, O'Connell made the majority of his appearances at Barnsley, where he played over 250 games and scored 40 goals in six seasons at the club. [3] He won the club's Player of the Year award for the 1990–91 season. [4]

In August 1997, O'Connell notably scored a hat-trick on his debut for Wigan Athletic in a 5–2 win against Wycombe Wanderers. [5]

Retirement

Forced to retire from playing because of a blood clot in his leg, O'Connell went on to coach Wigan Athletic's youth and reserve teams, played briefly for Rossendale United in the North West Counties League, [6] and in 2003 became player/assistant manager of Northwich Victoria. [7]

O'Connell later became a head soccer coach for the University of Calgary Dinos until 2023. [8]

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 166. ISBN   978-0-356-14354-5.
  2. ↑ "Brendan O'Connell". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  3. ↑ "Interview | Brendan O'Connell". Barnsley FC. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  4. ↑ "Looking back at previous Players of the Season". Barnsley Chronicle. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  5. ↑ "Which players have scored hat-tricks on their international debuts?". The Guardian. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
  6. ↑ Ramsdale, Bernard. "Latics A-Z : Brendan O'Connell to Ian Purdie". Ye Olde Tree and Crown. Retrieved 2 September 2009.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ Oliver, Pete (16 June 2003). "Davis relishing Vics challenge". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  8. ↑ University of Calgary (2024). "Dinos University of Calgary". Godinos.com.
  9. ↑ "Barnsley Player of the Season". Barnsley FC. Retrieved 2 January 2024.


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