Kevin O'Connor
Personal information
Full name Kevin Patrick O'Connor[1]
Date of birth (1995-05-07) 7 May 1995[2]
Place of birth Enniscorthy, Ireland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Left back
Midfielder
Youth career
St Patrick's Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Waterford 43 (3)
2015–2017 Cork City 69 (3)
2017–2020 Preston North End 8 (0)
2018 → Fleetwood Town (loan) 4 (0)
2018 → Crewe Alexandra (loan) 6 (0)
2019 → Cork City (loan) 18 (1)
2020 → Waterford (loan) 4 (1)
2020 Cork City 13 (0)
2021 Shelbourne 25 (1)
2022 Cork City 28 (2)
International career‡
2011–2012 Republic of Ireland U17 3 (0)
2016–2017 Republic of Ireland U21 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:26, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:14, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

Kevin Patrick O'Connor (born 7 May 1995) is an Irish footballer who plays as a full-back.

Club career

Republic of Ireland

Born in 1995, O'Connor began his career with Waterford United in 2013. In his second season with the club, he scored twice, once in a 3–1 victory against Wexford and another goal in a 1–1 draw against Galway. After trialling with English Championship club Bournemouth, he signed for League of Ireland club Cork City on 28 April 2015.[3] On 31 August 2015, he scored his debut goal for the club in a 3–1 victory over St Patrick's Athletic.[4] On 22 July 2016, he scored the lone goal in a 1–0 victory over Swedish club Häcken in the UEFA Europa League. He volleyed a free kick of Greg Bolger, which entered the goal following a deflection from Häcken defender Emil Wahlstrom.[5] On 6 December 2016, he renewed his contract with the club for the 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division season.[6]

England

On 30 June 2017, O'Connor signed for English Championship club Preston North End on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[7] On 8 August, he made his debut for the club, featuring in a 3–2 defeat against League Two club Accrington Stanley in the EFL Cup.[8] He made his league debut in a 2–0 defeat against Aston Villa in November.[9] He received praise of club manager Alex Neil for his performance.[10]

In 2018, O'Connor had a loan spell at Fleetwood Town, making five first team appearances. In August 2018, he was signed on loan by Crewe Alexandra until January 2019,[11] making his Crewe debut in a 3-0 home win over Macclesfield Town.[12]

Style of play

Cork City manager John Caulfield has described O'Connor as a "strong, quick, left-footed" player.[3] O'Connor has said that although he is a full back, he prefers playing as an attacking full-back.[13]

Personal

O'Connor won €1,000,000 in the Irish National Lottery's 2017 Christmas Millionaire Raffle, with a ticket bought as a Christmas present by his uncle.[14]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 21 October 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Waterford 2013[15] LOI First Division 2110010——221
2014[15] 2220010——231
Cork City 2015[15] LOI Premier Division 21130102[lower-alpha 1]0—271
2016[15] 28130206[lower-alpha 1]1—392
2017[15] 20100004[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 2]0251
Preston North End 2017–18[15] Championship 800010——90
Fleetwood Town (loan) 2017–18[15] League One 400000—1[lower-alpha 3]050
Crewe Alexandra (loan) 2018–19[16] League Two 601000—30100
Cork City (loan) 2019[15] LOI Premier Division 18110101[lower-alpha 1]02[lower-alpha 4]1232
Waterford (loan) 2020[15] LOI Premier Division 41————41
Waterford Total 4740020——494
Cork City 2020[15] LOI Premier Division 13020——00150
Shelbourne 2021[15] LOI First Division 25110———261
Cork City 2022[15] LOI First Division 28220——00302
Cork City Total 128610040131311588
Career total 21811120701317124013
  1. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ↑ Appearance in President of Ireland's Cup
  3. ↑ Appearances in EFL Cup
  4. ↑ 1 appearance, 1 goal in President of Ireland's Cup & 1 appearance in Munster Senior Cup

References

  1. ↑ "CLUB LIST OF REGISTERED PLAYERS AS AT 19th MAY 2018" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Kevin O'Connor". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 "O'Connor joins Premier outfit". Wexford People. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  4. ↑ "Cork overcome Pat's to increase pressure on Dundalk". The42.ie. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Here's the volley that sealed another famous European victory for Cork City". The42.ie. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "OFFICIAL: Kevin O'Connor signs new Cork City deal". Goal.com. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Preston North End Agree To Sign Cork City's Kevin O'Connor". Preston North End F.C. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "O'Connor makes Preston debut as he lines out alongside fellow Irishmen". The42.ie. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "O'Connor: 'It's Great To Get The Opportunity". Preston North End F.C. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "PNE boss offers praise to Irish pair Boyle and O'Connor". RTE. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Kevin O'Connor Joins On Loan". Crewe Alexandra F.C. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "Crewe Alexandra 3-0 Macclesfield Town". BBC Sport. BBC. Press Association. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "O'Connor Delighted With 'Massive Opportunity'". Preston North End F.C. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  14. ↑ "Kevin O'Connor claims €1m Lotto win". BreakingNews.ie. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.; "Preston North End's Kevin O'Connor wins Irish lottery". BBC Online. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Kevin O'Connor". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  16. ↑ "Games played by Kevin O'Connor in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
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