Martin O'Connor (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin John O'Connor[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 10 December 1967 | ||
| Place of birth | Walsall, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1992 | Bromsgrove Rovers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1994 | Crystal Palace | 2 | (0) |
| 1993 | → Walsall (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 1994–1996 | Walsall | 94 | (21) |
| 1996 | Peterborough United | 18 | (3) |
| 1996–2002 | Birmingham City[1] | 187 | (16) |
| 2002–2003 | Walsall | 48 | (2) |
| 2003–2005 | Shrewsbury Town | 56 | (2) |
| 2005–2006 | Kidderminster Harriers | 12 | (0) |
| Total | 427 | (45) | |
| National team | |||
| 2000 | Cayman Islands | 2 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2009–2011 | Walsall (assistant manager) | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Martin John O'Connor (born 10 December 1967) is a football coach and former professional player. Born in England, he represented Cayman Islands at international level.
Club career
O'Connor started his career at Bromsgrove Rovers in the early 1990s before moving to Crystal Palace. He then spent the first of three spells at Walsall, joining on loan in March 1993 before signing permanently the following year. His most prominent role at the Saddlers was winning promotion to Division Two in 1995.
He then joined Peterborough United, followed by Birmingham City, whom O'Connor represented in the 2001 Football League Cup Final against Liverpool, which Birmingham lost in a penalty shootout.
O'Connor re-joined Walsall in 2002, but his contract was not renewed at the end of the 2002–03 season.[2] He then signed for Shrewsbury Town in July 2003,[3] before ending his playing career with Kidderminster Harriers.
On 20 January 2009, he was named assistant manager to Chris Hutchings at Walsall, but the pair were sacked on 3 January 2011 after a series of poor results left Walsall bottom of Football League One.
International career
O'Connor was called up to the Cayman Islands national football team in 2000,[4] but FIFA soon ruled that he could not play for them.[5] The Cayman Islands had been attempting to exploit their status as a British Overseas Territory by picking British passport holders who would not ordinarily be eligible to play for them.
Honours
- with Walsall
- Football League Third Division runner-up: 1994–95
References
- 1 2 "Martin O'Connor". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ↑ "Walsall let pair leave". BBC Sport. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- ↑ "O'Connor signs for Shrews". BBC Sport. 24 July 2003. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- ↑ "Soccer: Sunshine ahead for O'Connor". Sunday Telegraph. 6 February 2000. Retrieved 2 April 2011 – via HighBeam Research.
- ↑ Hickman, Leon (6 March 2000). "O'Connor booster for Blues; Cayman Islands trip was a waste of time". Birmingham Evening Mail. Retrieved 2 April 2011 – via HighBeam Research.
External links
- Martin O'Connor, Neil Brown
- Martin O'Connor career statistics at Soccerbase
