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Mark O'Brien (footballer, born 1992)

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Mark O'Brien
Personal information
Full name Mark Leo O'Brien[1]
Date of birth (1992-11-20) 20 November 1992 (age 32)[1]
Place of birth Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland[2]
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
2000–2008 Cherry Orchard
2008–2010 Derby County
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2015 Derby County 32 (0)
2014–2015 → Motherwell (loan) 19 (0)
2015–2017 Luton Town 6 (0)
2016 → Southport (loan) 7 (1)
2016 → Southport (loan) 5 (0)
2017–2020 Newport County 103 (4)
Total 172 (5)
International career
Republic of Ireland U17
2010–2011 Republic of Ireland U19 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mark Leo O'Brien (born 20 November 1992) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played in the English Football League for Derby County, Luton Town and Newport County and in the Scottish Premiership for Motherwell.

Club career

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Derby County

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O'Brien started his career at Cherry Orchard, before he was spotted by Derby County scouts in the Dublin & District Schoolboy League.[4]

After signing for Derby, O'Brien became a regular in the club's under-18 team in 2008–09,[4] before making his professional debut as a 64th-minute substitute for Lewin Nyatanga in a 3–1 defeat away to Watford on 3 May 2009.[5] He was earlier named Derby County Academy Player of the Year at a club awards ceremony.[4] He also won the 2009 Republic of Ireland Under-16 Player of the Year award.[4]

In November 2009, it was announced by Derby County that O'Brien had successfully undergone heart surgery to correct a valve problem, and that he would be able to resume his career following a three to four-month recovery period. The problem had been discovered during a routine medical scan for academy players.[6] The operation was carried out at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital.[4] Following a successful recovery, he was an unused substitute in Derby's final first-team game of 2009–10 as they ran out 2–0 winners against Cardiff City at Pride Park.[7]

In 2010–11, O'Brien returned to being a regular in the club's under-18 team[4] and reserve team, and was also part of The Central League Central Division title winning team.[8] O'Brien appeared twice for the first-team, both as late substitutes in league games against Barnsley and Ipswich Town in October and November 2010 respectively.[9]

On 6 August 2011, O'Brien made an appearance in the first game of 2011–12 season in a 2–1 win at home to Birmingham City, replacing the injured Russell Anderson in the 35th minute.[10] O'Brien continued to start in subsequent league games against Watford, Blackpool and Doncaster Rovers,[11] as Derby won their opening four league games for the first time since 1905.[12] However, this run was ended against Burnley, as an O'Brien defensive error contributed to a 2–1 defeat.[13] On 13 September, O'Brien signed a new four-year contract, extending his stay at Pride Park until the summer of 2015.[14] He made 21 appearances for the club until he was ruled out for the season in December, after damaging his cruciate ligaments in training.[15] O'Brien won the Contribution to the Community Award at Derby County's 2012 awards night.[4]

On 3 July 2012, O'Brien visited a specialist to see if he would be given the all clear to take part in Derby County's 2012–13 pre-season training.[4] O'Brien was given clearance to take part in pre-season training by the specialist[16] and after the sale of Jason Shackell, Derby manager Nigel Clough stated his faith in O'Brien's ability at Championship level.[17] He returned to full training after Derby arrived back from their summer break at Moor Farm on 12 July.[18] O'Brien made his return in a 1–0 pre-season victory over Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium, replacing captain Richard Keogh in the 77th minute.[18] Despite playing in several pre-season friendlies including a start at Northampton Town; O'Brien was unable to feature at the start of season due to swelling on his knee.[19] Nigel Clough said he would be cautious over O'Brien's return to action, initially with the new under-21 team.[19] O'Brien made his return on 1 October, playing 60 minutes for the under-21s against Crewe Alexandra.[20] He made his return to first-team action 10 months after his last appearance on 27 October as a 72nd-minute substitute in a 3–0 defeat away to Peterborough United.[21] O'Brien made his return to the starting lineup for the first time in 13 months in Derby's 2–0 win over Bristol City on 15 December.[22] His "unbelievable character" during the match was praised by manager Nigel Clough as he played 87 minutes in the game and was a key factor in Derby's first clean sheet in seven games.[22] Clough said that "He was tremendous. He was struggling at half-time, so we said 'just get back out for 10 or 15 minutes.' He was then struggling at the 70-minute mark but we told him 'you're going to have to stay on.' He then succumbed to cramp in the end but he showed unbelievable character to play for so long because 13 months since a start is a long, long time at this level."[22] O'Brien kept his place in the team until he picked up an injury in the warm-up in Derby's game at Sheffield Wednesday on 9 February 2013.[23] O'Brien was removed from the starting lineup and was later ruled out for a month due to knee joint injury.[24] In late March, O'Brien was ruled out for a further six months after undergoing knee surgery.[25] O'Brien, as expected, missed the 2013–14 pre-season training due to his injury, but was on course to return in the autumn.[26]

On 15 August 2014, O'Brien signed for Scottish Premiership club Motherwell on loan until January 2015.[27] He made his debut on 30 August in Motherwell's 1–0 defeat to St Johnstone.[28] On 5 January 2015, O'Brien's loan was extended until the end of the season.[29] He played a total of 21 games for Motherwell over the course of 2014–15.[30]

In May 2015, Derby announced that O'Brien's contract would not be renewed.[31]

Luton Town

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O'Brien signed for League Two club Luton Town on 9 July 2015 on a two-year contract.[32] He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 win at home to newly promoted Championship club Bristol City in the League Cup first round on 11 August.[33] O'Brien made eight further appearances for Luton,[34] before joining Southport of the National League on 4 March 2016 on a one-month loan.[35] He made his debut the following day in a 1–0 home defeat to F.C. Halifax Town.[36] O'Brien scored his first goal for Southport a week later, scoring their third goal in a 3–3 home draw with Welling United.[36] He made the last appearance of his loan spell on 2 April in a 2–2 draw at home to Woking.[36] The following day, O'Brien returned to Luton after his loan expired.[37] He was transfer-listed by Luton at the end of the season.[38] O'Brien returned to Southport on 9 September 2016 on a three-month loan.[39] He made his second debut for the club a day later in a 1–1 away draw with Eastleigh.[40] However, his loan spell was cut short due to a knee injury and he returned to Luton for treatment.[41]

Newport County

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On 6 January 2017, O'Brien signed for League Two club Newport County on a contract until the end of the 2016–17 season, after his Luton contract was terminated by mutual consent earlier that day.[42] He was named in the starting lineup a day later away to Stevenage, making his debut in a 3–1 defeat.[43] His first goal was an 89th-minute winner in a 2–1 victory at home to Notts County, which ensured Newport's survival in League Two on the final day of the season.[44][45] O'Brien finished the season with 20 appearances for Newport,[44] and signed a new two-year contract with the club in May 2017.[46] He started in the 2019 League Two play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 25 May 2019, being sent off on 89 minutes, as Newport lost 1–0 to Tranmere Rovers.[47] O'Brien signed a further two-year contract extension with Newport five days later.[48]

O'Brien retired from playing on 15 June 2020, due to requiring further heart valve surgery, stating "It's just got to the stage where I have pushed this valve as far as it can go".[49]

International career

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O'Brien has been capped at youth level for his native Ireland, at under-19 level.[50] O'Brien was called up as standby at under-21 level for a game against Liechtenstein in November 2011.[50] In January 2013, he was called up to the under-21 squad for the first time for a friendly game against the Netherlands on 6 February.[50]

Career statistics

[edit]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Derby County 2008–09[5] Championship 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
2009–10[51] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2010–11[9] Championship 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
2011–12[11] Championship 20 0 0 0 1 0 — 21 0
2012–13[52] Championship 9 0 2 0 0 0 — 11 0
2013–14[53] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014–15[30] Championship 0 0 — 0 0 — 0 0
Total 32 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 35 0
Motherwell (loan) 2014–15[30] Scottish Premiership 19 0 1 0 1 0 — 21 0
Luton Town 2015–16[34] League Two 6 0 0 0 2 0 1[a] 0 9 0
2016–17[44] League Two 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 6 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 9 0
Southport (loan) 2015–16[36] National League 7 1 — — — 7 1
2016–17[36] National League 5 0 0 0 — 0 0 5 0
Total 12 1 0 0 — 0 0 12 1
Newport County 2016–17[44] League Two 20 1 — — — 20 1
2017–18[54] League Two 28 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 33 0
2018–19[55] League Two 34 2 6 0 0 0 6[b] 0 46 2
2019–20[56] League Two 21 1 4 0 2 0 1[c] 0 28 1
Total 103 4 14 0 3 0 7 0 127 4
Career total 172 5 17 0 7 0 8 0 204 5
  1. ^ Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Three appearances in EFL Trophy, three in League Two play-offs
  3. ^ Appearance in EFL Trophy

Honours

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Derby County

Individual

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Mark O'Brien". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  2. ^ Walker, Michael (27 August 2011). "I had to get back up straight after having my chest opened". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Mark O'Brien". Newport County A.F.C. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Derby County player Mark O'Brien: Player profile". Derby Telegraph. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2016.[dead link‍]
  5. ^ a b "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Rams Academy ace O'Brien has heart surgery". Derby Telegraph. 4 November 2009. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Derby 2–0 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 2 May 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Player profiles: Mark O'Brien". Derby County F.C. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Derby 2–1 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  12. ^ "The history of Derby County". Derby County F.C. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  13. ^ Rae, Richard (27 August 2011). "Charlie Austin at the double as Burnley beat Derby to claim first win". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Derby County defender Mark O'Brien signs new contract". BBC Sport. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Derby County defender Mark O'Brien ruled out for the season". BBC Sport. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  16. ^ "Nigel Clough: Young squad raring to go for new Derby County campaign". Derby Telegraph. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
  17. ^ "Derby County have sold Jason Shackell to Championship rivals Burnley and are close to new signing". Derby Telegraph. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015.
  18. ^ a b "O'Brien injury boost". Derby County F.C. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  19. ^ a b "Setback for Derby County defender Mark O'Brien on road to fitness". Derby Telegraph. 28 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Derby County U21 4–2 Crewe Alex U21". Derby County F.C. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Peterborough 3–0 Derby". BBC Sport. 27 October 2012. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012.
  22. ^ a b c Nicholson, Steve (17 December 2012). "Mark O'Brien digs deep to play key role in Derby County's victory over Bristol City". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
  23. ^ Nicholson, Steve (22 March 2013). "Derby County are sweating on Mark O'Brien's knee injury". Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 9 September 2016.[dead link‍]
  24. ^ "Break for O'Brien". Derby County F.C. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  25. ^ "O'Brien undergoes knee surgery". Derby County F.C. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  26. ^ "Defender Mark O'Brien on track for autumn return". Derby Telegraph. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2016.[dead link‍]
  27. ^ "'Well take Derby's O'Brien on loan". Motherwell F.C. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  28. ^ McGhee, Phil (30 August 2014). "Motherwell 0–1 St Johnstone". Motherwell F.C. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  29. ^ "Mark O'Brien extends his loan". Motherwell F.C. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  30. ^ a b c "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  31. ^ "Derby County confirm end of season retained list". Derby County F.C. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  32. ^ "Mark O'Brien: Luton Town sign ex-Derby defender". BBC Sport. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  33. ^ "Report: Luton Town 3–1 Bristol City". Luton Town F.C. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  34. ^ a b "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  35. ^ "Mark O'Brien: Southport bring in Luton defender on loan". BBC Sport. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  36. ^ a b c d e "M. O'Brien: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  37. ^ "Mark O'Brien's loan spell concluded with return to Luton Town". Southport F.C. 3 April 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016.
  38. ^ "Luton Town: Jake Howells and Alex Lawless among nine released". BBC Sport. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  39. ^ Simmonds, Mike (9 September 2016). "Hatters defender heads to Southport on loan". Luton Today. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  40. ^ "Gray shades it as Southport FC secure first point on the road". Southport Visiter. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  41. ^ Sanders, Emma (27 October 2016). "Southport assistant manager Briggs: 'Players buying into what we want to achieve'". Southport Visiter. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  42. ^ Penman, Andrew (6 January 2017). "Luton Town defender joins Newport County". South Wales Argus. Newport. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  43. ^ Penman, Andrew (7 January 2017). "Stevenage 3 Newport County 1". South Wales Argus. Newport. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  44. ^ a b c d "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  45. ^ "Newport County 2–1 Notts County". BBC Sport. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  46. ^ Pearlman, Michael (18 May 2017). "Newport County re-sign David Pipe and Robbie Willmott". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  47. ^ Pearlman, Michael (25 May 2019). "League Two play-off final: Newport County 0–1 Tranmere Rovers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  48. ^ "Newport County duo sign new two-year contracts". BBC Sport. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  49. ^ "Mark O'Brien: Heart condition forces Newport County defender to retire". BBC Sport. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  50. ^ a b c Broome, David (22 January 2013). "Republic of Ireland call-up for Derby County youngster O'Brien". Burton Mail. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014.
  51. ^ "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  52. ^ "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  53. ^ "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  54. ^ "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  55. ^ "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  56. ^ "Games played by Mark O'Brien in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
[edit]
  • Profile at the Football Association of Ireland website
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