Shane O'Connor (footballer)

Shane O'Connor
Personal information
Full name Shane O'Connor
Date of birth (1990-04-14) 14 April 1990[1]
Place of birth Cork, Ireland[1]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Playing position Winger
Left back
Youth career
Wilton United
Rockmount
2006–2009 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Ipswich Town 17 (0)
2011–2012Port Vale (loan) 0 (0)
2012 Cork City 5 (0)
2012 Shamrock Rovers 3 (0)
2013 Portadown
2014 Limerick 11 (0)
2015–2016 Cobh Ramblers 50 (9)
National team
Republic of Ireland U17
Republic of Ireland U19
2011 Republic of Ireland U21 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Shane O'Connor (born 14 April 1990) is an Irish footballer winger who last played for League of Ireland First Division club Cobh Ramblers.

A graduate of the Liverpool F.C. Academy, he signed professionally with Ipswich Town in July 2009. He joined Port Vale on a six-week loan spell in November 2011, though did not make a first team appearance. He left Ipswich in January 2012, and subsequently signed with his hometown club Cork City. He left Cork City in July 2012 and signed for Shamrock Rovers. He later played for Portadown, Limerick, and Cobh Ramblers. He has represented Ireland at U17, U19, and U21 levels.

Playing career

O'Connor played for Wilton United and Rockmount before joining the Liverpool Academy as a sixteen-year-old. [2][3][4] He started playing regularly for the under-18 side in the early 2008–09 Premier Academy League season. In July 2009, after a short trial O'Connor signed a one-year deal with Championship side Ipswich Town, who were managed by his boyhood hero, Roy Keane.[5][6] O'Connor made his debut for Ipswich in the League Cup away against Shrewsbury Town, replacing Jack Ainsley as a substitute at half-time; the "Tractor Boys" went on to win the match on penalties following a 3–3 draw.[7] He made his first league start for Ipswich on 20 February, in a 1–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. He played a further eleven league games for Ipswich in 2009–10; he impressed in midfield against Cardiff City,[8] though gave away a penalty in a draw at home to Doncaster Rovers.[9] At the end of the campaign he was handed a new two-year deal, which he eventually signed.[10] However experienced player Mark Kennedy was also signed for a £75,000 fee, and was expected to battle O'Connor for the left-back spot.[11]

He appeared in five of the club's first six games of 2010–11, but was then dropped from the first team after suffering from a torn hamstring on international duty,[12][13] and did not play again until a three game spell in December. He set up Jason Scotland for Ipswich's third in a 3–0 win over Leicester City at Portman Road on 18 December.[14] However he ruptured and dislocated his shoulder joint,[15] and so did not appear again until 25 January, in a 3–0 League Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.[16] This was his last contribution to the campaign, and he was not selected again under Paul Jewell's stewardship.

At the start of the 2011–12 season, he rejected a six-month loan deal at Crawley Town.[17] However he did not feature for Ipswich, and so in November 2011, he joined Crawley's League Two rivals Port Vale on loan.[18] He saw the loan as an opportunity to win a permanent contract away from Portman Road.[19] He played a number of reserve games,[20] but never made a matchday squad at Vale Park before his loan spell ended in January. He then had a trial with Southend United, also of League Two,[21] before leaving Ipswich Town by mutual consent on 20 January.[22]

He was linked with a move into Irish football, as both Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers expressed an interest in acquiring his services.[23] He was revealed as a Cork City player on 2 February 2012.[24] He made only five league appearances for the "Leesiders". He went on trial at Crawley Town in July 2012.[25] O'Connor signed for Shamrock Rovers on 31 July.[26] He made his competitive debut for Rovers in the final of the 2012 Leinster Senior Cup, which ended in a 1–0 win over St Patrick's CY.[27] He made his League of Ireland debut against Bohemian the following week, and made a total of five appearances for the "Hoops".[28]

O'Connor signed with Portadown in October 2013.[29] He spent the 2014 season with Limerick, playing 11 League of Ireland Premier Division games. He dropped into the League of Ireland First Division to play for Cobh Ramblers in January 2015.[30] He was voted the club's Player of the Year for the 2015 season.[31] He went on to score nine goals in 26 league appearances during the 2016 campaign.

International career

He made his debut appearance for the Republic of Ireland national under-21 team on 26 March 2011, in what ended as a 2–1 defeat to Portugal at the Estádio Municipal de Águeda; he was replaced by Ipswich teammate Conor Hourihane at half-time.[32] He previously appeared for the under-17 and under-19 side.[1]

Statistics

As of 4 November 2016.
Club Season Division League National Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Port Vale (loan)2011–12[33]League Two0000000000
Ipswich Town2009–10[34]Championship120001000130
2010–11[35]Championship5000400090
2011–12[33]Championship0000000000
Total 170005000220
Cork City2012[36]LOI Premier Division5000200070
Shamrock Rovers2012[36]LOI Premier Division3010000040
Limerick2014[36]LOI Premier Division110000000110
Cobh Ramblers2015[36]LOI First Division240002000260
2016[36]LOI First Division269101000289
Total 509103000549
Career total 8692010000929

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Profile". itfc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  2. "Shane O'Connor". Green Scene. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  3. "Shane O'Connor signs for Ramblers". cobhramblers.ie. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  4. Shaw, Steve (3 December 2011). "O'Connor is Keane to pass on credit for his career". The Sentinel. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  5. "Shane to sign deal". itfc.co.uk. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  6. "Ipswich complete O'Connor signing". BBC Sport. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  7. "Shrewsbury 3–3 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  8. "Ipswich 2 - 0 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  9. "Ipswich 1 - 1 Doncaster". BBC Sport. 17 April 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  10. "Defender Shane O'Connor signs new Ipswich Town deal". BBC Sport. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  11. "Ipswich close on Cardiff City defender Mark Kennedy". BBC Sport. 24 July 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  12. "Ipswich Town trio handed fitness boost". BBC Sport. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  13. "Ipswich boss Roy Keane lining up Premier League loan". BBC Sport. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  14. "Ipswich 3 - 0 Leicester". BBC Sport. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  15. "Ipswich Town dealt Brian Murphy and Shane O'Connor blow". BBC Sport. 24 December 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  16. "Arsenal 3 - 0 Ipswich (agg 3 - 1)". BBC Sport. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  17. "Paul Jewell has 'fierce' Ipswich Town drive". BBC Sport. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  18. "Port Vale sign three players on loan ahead of deadline". BBC Sport. 24 November 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  19. "Port Vale: O'Connor out to impress potential suitors". The Sentinel. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  20. Questier, Joe (13 December 2011). "Reserves Host Burton". port-vale.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  21. "Ipswich Town's Shane O'Connor joins Southend United on trial". BBC Sport. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  22. "Ipswich Town cancel Shane O'Connor contract". BBC Sport. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  23. "Dundalk step up their pursuit of Shane O'Connor". thescore.ie. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  24. Buckley, Eanna (2 February 2012). "Shane O'Connor Signs for City, Sullivan & Murphy Re-sign". corkcityfc.net. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  25. "Crawley eyeing former Ipswich defender". talksport.co.uk. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  26. "Rovers add defender Shane O'Connor to their squad". rte.ie. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  27. "Rovers 1:0 St Patricks CY". shamrockrovers.ie. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  28. "Rovers 0:1 Bohemians". www.shamrockrovers.ie. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  29. "Former Ipswich ace signs on with Ports". Portadown Times. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  30. "Shane O'Connor signs for Ramblers – Cobh Ramblers Football Club". cobhramblers.ie. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  31. "Noel Spillane chats with Shane O'Connor – Cobh Ramblers Football Club". cobhramblers.ie. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  32. "Late goals shade it for Portugal U21s". The Football Association of Ireland. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  33. 1 2 "Games played by Shane O'Connor in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  34. "Games played by Shane O'Connor in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  35. "Games played by Shane O'Connor in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 Shane O'Connor profile at Soccerway
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