Michael O'Connor (footballer born 1987)
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| Michael O'Connor | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael O'Connor | |
| Date of birth | October 6, 1987 | |
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | |
| Playing position | Midfield | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Crewe Alexandra | |
| Number | 8 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2005- | Crewe Alexandra | 54 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 200x-200x 200x-200x 2007-2008 2008 |
 Northern Ireland U-17s Northern Ireland U-19s Northern Ireland U-21s Northern Ireland |
3 (2) 1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Michael O'Connor (born October 6, 1987, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Crewe Alexandra and Northern Ireland.
Contents |
[edit] Club Career
[edit] Crewe Alexandra
O'Connor was spotted by Crewe Alexandra scouts as a young teenager playing youth football in Northern Ireland. In 2004, shortly after he turned 16, he signed scholarship terms. He was a prominent member of the Alexandra youth team that reached the semi-final of the 2004 FA Youth Cup and he later captained the side. In July 2005 he signed a three year professional contract. On February 25 2006, aged 18, he made his English League Championship debut when he came on as a late substitute for Gareth Taylor in a 2-1 win against Brighton. He made his second senior appearance for Alexandra in the club's final game of the 2005-06 season against Millwall on April 30 2006. O'Connor replaced Lee Bell at half time and instantly made an impact, setting up two goals and hitting the post with his one shot [1][2]
[edit] Irish international
O'Connor, together with Tony Kane, Marc Wilson and Darron Gibson, is one of several Northern Irish footballers, involved in an on going dispute between the (Northern) Irish Football Association and the Football Association of (the Republic of) Ireland concerning international eligibility. The dispute emerged after the Good Friday Agreement allowed people born in Northern Ireland to claim either Republic of Ireland and/or United Kingdom nationality. As a result O'Connor has been selected to represent both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland at international level [3][4].
[edit] Northern Ireland
O'Connor was a regular captain for Northern Ireland at every youth level up to under-20 and even scored six goals at under-17 level [5]. However he initially chose to represent the Republic of Ireland at under-21 level [6] before switching his allegiance back to Northern Ireland [7]. On November 16 2007 he made his debut for the Northern Ireland U-21s, scoring in a 5-0 win against Luxembourg [8]. On November 20 he scored again for the U-21s in a 3-0 win against Moldova [9]. On February 6 2008 he also played against Israel[10]. All three of these games were qualifiers for the 2009 European Under-21 Championship. On March 26 2008 O'Connor made his senior international debut for Northern Ireland in a 4-1 win against Georgia. During the friendly at Windsor Park, he came on as half-time substitute for Damien Johnson [11]
[edit] Republic of Ireland
In October 2006 O'Connor was called up to play for the Republic of Ireland U-21s for a friendly against Luxembourg [12]. However he subsequently had to withdraw from the squad [13]. In February 2007 he was also selected for the Republic U-21 squad to play in the Madeira Cup [14], but he did not play in any of the three games involved.
[edit] Statistics
| Club | Season | Domestic League |
FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Crewe Alexandra | 2007-08 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| 2006-07 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 1 | |
| 2005-06 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 06-Present | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 56 | 1 |
| Career Totals | 00-Present | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 56 | 1 |
[edit] References
- ^ Michael O'Connor career stats at Soccerbase
- ^ Crewe Alexandra bio
- ^ FAI responds over NI defections
- ^ www.independent.ie
- ^ www.uefa.com
- ^ Northern Ireland’s Footballing Greats
- ^ www.irishfa.com
- ^ Northern Ireland U-21s v Luxembourg
- ^ Northern Ireland U-21s v Moldova U-21s
- ^ Northern Ireland U-21 v Israel
- ^ Northern Ireland senior debut
- ^ Republic U-21 squad v Luxembourg
- ^ www.fai.ie
- ^ Madeira Cup squads
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