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Michael O'Connor

Full Name: Michael O'Connor
Born: 6 October 1987, Belfast
Height: 6.01 ft / 1.85 m
Weight: 12.06 st
Position: Midfielder

Representative Honours: Nothern Ireland Career: 11 Full Caps (2008-2013), 1 B Cap (2009), 3 Under-21 Caps / 2 Goals (2007-2008), 10 Under-19 Caps, 13 Under-17 Games / 6 Goals, 1 Under-18 Schools Cap, 7 Under-15 Schools Cap; Republic of Ireland: Under-21 (2006-2007).
Club Honours: (with Rotherham) League Two Runner-Up 2012/13 (promoted); League One Play-off Winner 2013/14 (unused sub); (with Lincoln) League Two Champion 2018/19.

Club Career:
Clubs.........-Seasons- Signed -Fee- -League-- FA Cup FL Cup Others
Crewe Alex'ra 05/6-08/9 Jul-05 Youth 65(12)/ 3 3(0)/0 5(0)/0 4(0)/0
Lincoln City..08/9 .... Mar-09 .Loan .9 (1)/ 0
Scunthorpe U. 09/0-11/2 Jul-09 £250k 77(20)/12 3(0)/0 6(1)/1 1(0)/0 
Rotherham Utd 12/3-13/4 May-12 .Free 47(17)/ 8 4(1)/0 2(0)/0 1(2)/0
Port Vale ....14/5-15/6 Jul-14 .Free 69 (1)/10 4(0)/1 2(0)/1 
Notts County .16/7-17/8 Jun-16 .Free 31 (7)/ 2 2(0)/0 ...... 0(2)/0 
Lincoln City .18/9-19/0 Jun-18 .Free 45(11)/ 3 3(1)/0 2(2)/1 2(1)/0
Salford City .19/0 .... Jan-20 Undis .8 (0)/ 1
Glenavon .... 20/1-22/3 Aug-20 .Free 54(16)/11
Newry City .. 23/4-date May-23

Biography:
A regular captain for Northern Ireland at every Youth level up to Under-20, Michael O'Connor became involved in a tug-of-war between the IFA and the FAI and he actually turned out for the Republic of Ireland's Under-21 side. Because those appearances were not competitive he was able to change his mind and in November 2007 was included in Roy Millar's Under-21 panel for matches against Luxembourg and Moldova. In March 2008 Nigel Worthington then included O'Connor in the Full squad for a friendly match against Georgia.

A product of the highly successful Crewe Alexandra Academy, O'Connor helped Alex's youth side to the 2004 FA Youth Cup semi-final. Originally a more attacking player, he has developed into an effective defensive midfielder using his size to great effect. His League debut came is a late substitute in a 2-1 win over Brighton in February 2006 and he was a regular feature in the Crewe line-up from the 2006/07 season on.

On 6th March 2009, O'Connor joined Lincoln City on loan after falling out with Crewe manager Gudjon Thordarson. He was made available for transfer at the end of the campaign and after being linked with a permanent move to Lincoln and training with Hibernian he signed for Scunthorpe in a deal reported to be worth £250,000. With The Iron he teamed up with Northern Ireland teammate, Grant McCann.

Although impressing in the Championship on a regular basis, O'Connor has struggled to impress his international boss, Nigel Worthington. As such he has been only an occasional squad member, but despite news of his frustrations appearing in the press he has not been completely ignored.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53961044?at_custom2=twitter&at_custom4=33076D96-EA0E-11EA-913C-02D44744363C&at_campaign=64&at_custom1=link&at_medium=custom7&at_custom3=BBC+Sport+NI

Wikipedia
IrishFA

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
26-03-2008 Georgia....... H W 4-1 FR. sub
20-08-2008 Scotland...... A D 0-0 FR. sub
10-09-2008 Czech Republic H D 0-0 WCQ sub
15-10-2008 San Marino.... H W 4-0 WCQ
19-11-2008 Hungary....... H L 0-2 FR
06-06-2009 Italy......... A L 0-3 FR
14-10-2009 Czech Republic A D 0-0 WCQ sub
14-11-2009 Serbia........ H L 0-1 FR. sub
03-03-2010 Albania....... A L 0-1 FR
17-11-2010 Morocco....... H D 1-1 FR. sub

still active

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
16-11-2007 Luxembourg H W 5-0 ECQ 1 Goal
20-11-2007 Moldova... H W 3-0 ECQ 1 Goal
06-02-2008 Israel.... A L 1-2 ECQ


Summary: 3/2. Won 2, Drew 0, Lost 1.

Picture kindly supplied by Roy Cathcart.

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