Luke O'Brien

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Luke O'Brien
O'Brien playing for Bradford City in 2009
Personal information
Full name Luke O'Brien[1]
Date of birth (1988-09-11) 11 September 1988 (age 35)[1]
Place of birth Halifax, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s)
Left-back
Youth career
2005–2007 Bradford City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2012 Bradford City 131 (2)
2012 Exeter City 3 (0)
2012–2013 Oxford United 15 (0)
2013–2014 Gateshead 9 (0)
2014
Thackley
5 (1)
2014
Bradford Park Avenue
3 (0)
2014–2016
Shaw Lane Aquaforce
59 (2)
2016
Goole AFC
8 (0)
2016–2017
Thackley
18 (1)
Total 251 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Luke O'Brien (born 11 September 1988) is an English retired professional footballer.

Career

Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire,[2] on 11 September 1988, O'Brien attended Holy Trinity Senior School in the town. His younger brother, Adam O'Brien, is a professional rugby league footballer with Huddersfield Giants .[3]

O'Brien grew up as a

Football League Trophy.[5] His first start came in a 3–0 FA Cup defeat to Tranmere Rovers at Valley Parade on 1 December 2007.[5][6] He made his league debut towards the end of the first season when he deputised for Paul Heckingbottom in a 2–2 with Brentford on 12 April 2008.[7] He was one of three junior players to be offered a new deal by manager Stuart McCall on 29 April 2008,[8] and was the first of the three to sign his new deal.[9]

He played his first game of the

2008–09 season as a second-half substitute against Luton Town, following fellow left-back Paul Heckingbottom's red card.[10] He kept his place in the side and went on to score his first senior goal when he opened the scoring in a 2–0 victory over Rotherham United at the Don Valley Stadium on 22 November 2008.[11] His form also helped him to win the PFA Fans' League Two player of the month in December.[12] O'Brien said: "It is great to win an award like this, especially so early in my career, and the fact that it is voted for by supporters makes it that little bit more special."[3] He followed it up with consecutive nominations in the following two months.[13]

Former Bradford City player John Hendrie said O'Brien should win the club's player of the season award because of his consistency to win a regular first-team place. Hendrie said: "He defends well and has also got the energy and desire to overlap going forward and get crosses in the box."[14] O'Brien was voted Bradford City Player of the Year, Supporters Club Player of the Year, Under 25's Player of the Year and the Alan Hannah Trophy (Players Player of the Year) for the 2008–09 season.

In May 2009 O'Brien's fine individual effort at Rotherham United was voted Goal of the Season 2008–09 by Bradford City supporters in a recent online poll. The left back's stunning strike back in November at the Don Valley Stadium beat off 7 other contenders to win the award and this adds to his growing list of honours collected for the 2008/2009 season.

O'Brien playing for Bradford City in 2009

O'Brien's contract was due to expire at the end of the 2008–09 season, he signed a 1-year deal in June 2009 to take his contract to the end of June 2010.

The second goal of his career came against

Barnet on 17 April 2010 at Valley Parade. He came on with 15 minutes remaining, scored within 4 minutes then set up Michael Flynn for the winner to give Bradford City
the 2–1 result. He said "It was so special to see it go in. Ive always wanted to score like that in front of the kop.".

O'Brien appeared in 49 of the club's 2009–10 season, starting 45 and coming off the bench 4 times. In June 2010, he signed a new two-year deal, the deal also includes the option for the football club to extend his contract into a third year if they wish.

O'Brien made the most appearances in the club's 2010–11 season with a total of 46, starting 41 and coming off the bench 5 times. He also had the club's most assists in all competitions with 6.

At the start of the 2011 season, Luke did not feature under

Sheffield Wednesday on 30 August 2011 coming on for the last 5 minutes of the game, replacing Jack Compton
.

O'Brien joined

Bradford City, he also scored 2 goals.[15] Luke made his league debut against Stevenage at St James Park
on 3 March 2012. The game finished 1–1, O'Brien played the full 90 minutes. O'Brien was released by Exeter City in May 2012.

On 14 September 2012, he signed for Oxford United.[16]

On 22 September 2012, O'Brien made his league debut against his former club

Bradford City losing 2–0 at the Kassam Stadium
, he played 62 minutes, his first competitive game since 10 March.

23 January 2013, O'Brien extended his current deal to the end of the 2012–13 season.

On 7 June 2013, O'Brien signed a 1-year deal with Gateshead.[17] He made his debut on 10 August against Kidderminster Harriers.[18] On 29 May 2014, Luke got released and would be looking for a new club for the 2014–2015 season.[19]

In August 2014, O'Brien signed for

Barton Town Old Boys
.

On 15 September 2014 he signed for

Bradford Park Avenue on non-contract terms.[21]

On 10 October 2014 he signed for

Shaw Lane Aquaforce F.C.

On 26 August 2016 Luke signed for

Goole F.C.
on non-contract terms.

Just over 2+12 months later, on 9 November, O'Brien signed for one of his previous clubs,

Thackley F.C.
He played five games in his previous stint there and was happy to have signed again. He tweeted "Looking forward to the game today @ThackleyAFC ⚽, hoping to be involved at some stage in the game 👊 #dennyboys #3pointsjointtop"

Personal life

O'Brien became a father for the first time on 28 February 2011, when his partner gave birth to daughter Madison. Luke's partner then gave birth to son Grayson on 30 January 2013.[22]

Career statistics

As of 15 September 2017[23]
Club Division Season League[A] FA Cup
League Cup
Other[B] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bradford City
League Two
2007–08 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 0
2008–09 35 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 37 1
2009–10 43 1 1 0 1 0 4 0 49 1
2010–11 42 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 46 0
2011–12 9 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 13 0
Total 131 2 6 0 3 0 9 0 149 2
Exeter City
League One
2011–12 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Total 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Oxford United
League Two
2012–13 15 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 18 0
Total 15 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 18 0
Gateshead
Conference Premier
2013–14 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Total 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Thackley
NCEL Premier Division 2014–15 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 1
Total 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 1
Bradford Park Avenue
Conference North
2014–15 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Total 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Shaw Lane Aquaforce F.C.
NCEL Premier Division 2014–15 27 2 0 0 0 0 10 0 37 2
Northern Premier League Division One South
2015–16 32 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 37 0
Total 59 2 0 0 0 0 15 0 74 2
Goole F.C.
Northern Premier League Division One North
2016–17 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
Total 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
Thackley
NCEL Premier Division 2016–17 18 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 1
Total 18 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 1
Career totals 251 6 8 0 3 0 27 0 289 6
A. 
Football Conference
.
B. 
Football League Trophy, FA Trophy, FA Vase and NCEL League Cup

Honours

Shaw Lane Aquaforce

  • NCEL Premier Division: 2014–15

Individual

  • Bradford City Player of the Year:
    2008–09
  • Bradford City Players' Player of the Year: 2008–09
  • Bradford City Young Player of the Year: 2008–09
  • Bradford City Supporters' Club Player of the Year: 2008–09
  • Bradford City Goal of the Season: 2008–09

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ a b Wobschall, Leon (9 November 2008). "Bradford City: Rookie Luke can't afford to ease up". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  3. ^ a b Clarkson, Ian (20 January 2009). "Luke O'Brien – Bradford City: Exclusive PFA Interview". Professional Footballers' Association. Archived from the original on 21 January 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  4. ^ Parker, Simon (15 April 2008). "Hecky's helping hand for O'Brien". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  5. ^ a b Parker, Simon (29 November 2007). "McCall backs O'Brien to take it in his stride". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  6. ^ Parker, Simon (2 December 2007). "Rovers in a different league". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  7. ^ Parker, Simon (12 April 2008). "Brentford 2 City 2". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  8. ^ Parker, Simon (29 April 2008). "Johnson one of 13 axed by City". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 29 April 2008.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Bradford City duo sign new deals". BBC Sport. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  10. ^ "Bradford 1–1 Luton". BBC Sport. 4 October 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
  11. ^ Parker, Simon (22 November 2008). "Rotherham 0 City 2". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 23 November 2008. [dead link]
  12. ^ Parker, Simon (6 January 2009). "Law gets all clear for rest of season". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  13. ^ "Luke O'Brien nominated again for Player of Month Award". Bradford City A.F.C. 24 February 2009. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  14. ^ Hendrie, John (30 March 2009). "O'Brien gets my full backing". Telegraph & Argus. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  15. ^ "Exeter City sign Bradford City full-back Luke O'Brien". BBC. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  16. ^ "Oxford United sign Luke O'Brien after McGinty exit" BBC Sport. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  17. ^ "Gateshead In Left-Back Swoop". Gateshead FC. 7 June 2013. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  18. ^ "Kidderminster v Gateshead". BBC Sport. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  19. ^ "Eleven Not Offered New Deals". Gateshead FC. 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  20. ^ "O'Brien Signing is a Boost to Thackley's Long Term Plans". Thackley FC. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  21. ^ "Avenue Bring in Ex-Bantam". Football Conference. 15 September 2014. Archived from the original on 16 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  22. ^ "Luke's the daddy!". Bradford City A.F.C. official website. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  23. ^ Luke O'Brien at Soccerbase

External links