Gary O'Reilly
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gary Mills O'Reilly[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 21 March 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Isleworth, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| ?–1980 | Grays Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1984 | Tottenham Hotspur | 45 | (0) |
| 1984–1987 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 79 | (3) |
| 1987–1991 | Crystal Palace | 70 | (2) |
| 1991 | → Birmingham City (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 1991–1992 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 28 | (3) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Gary Mills O'Reilly (born 21 March 1961) is an English former professional footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Birmingham City and Grays Athletic as a central defender and as an occasional goalkeeper.
Biography
O'Reilly was born in Isleworth, now part of Greater London. He turned professional with Tottenham Hotspur in 1979, and made his debut the following year. After 45 League games for the club, he joined Brighton & Hove Albion for a £45,000 fee. He stayed with Brighton for two-and-a-half seasons before moving on to Crystal Palace.[1][2] While at Crystal Palace, he scored the opening goal in the 1990 FA Cup Final against Manchester United, a game which ended in a 3–3 draw, with Palace losing the replay 1–0 five days later.[3] He also scored one of Palace's goals in the semi final as they beat Liverpool 4–3 after extra time.[4] After a brief spell on loan at Birmingham City, he rejoined Brighton & Hove Albion in January 1991.[1] Brighton finished that season sixth in the Second Division and reached the playoff final, where they were beaten by Notts County. Any hopes of another promotion challenge the following season - and of a place in the new FA Premier League - were quickly forgotten as Brighton found themselves fighting a battle against relegation which was eventually lost. O'Reilly then retired from playing.
Following his retirement from football, he made a career in sports broadcasting. He has appeared on BBC Five Live's Fighting Talk, as a pundit on pan-African broadcaster GTV's Saturday morning preview show and Sunday night review show, as a commentator for Trans World International and Sky Sports, and as both pundit and commentator on UEFA Champions League matches for ART Prime Sports, Dubai.
References
- 1 2 3 Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
- ↑ "Gary O'Reilly". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ↑ "Classic Cup Finals: 1990". The FA. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
- ↑ "FA Cup Semi Final 1990". Football England. Retrieved 28 October 2009.