Garreth O'Connor

Football player infobox
playername = Garreth O'Connor


fullname = Garreth O'Connor
nickname = Gaz
height = height|ft=5|in=10
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|11|10|df=y
cityofbirth = Dublin
countryofbirth = Ireland
currentclub = Luton Town
clubnumber = 7
position = Attacking Midfielder
years = 1998–1999
1999–2000
2000–2005
2005–2008
2007
2008–
clubs = Shamrock Rovers
Bohemians
Bournemouth
Burnley
→ Bournemouth (loan)
Luton Town
caps(goals) = 008 0(0)
022 0(4)
168 (24)
038 0(7)
006 0(0)
000 0(0)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 26/01/2008

Garreth O'Connor (born 10 November 1978 in Dublin) is a Irish footballer, who plays in midfield for League Two club Luton Town.

He started out playing for Bannow Celtic in Dublin where he soon caught the attention of Belvedere Boys, a well known schoolboy club. He started his senior career in the Bohemians "B" team but with a breakthrough to the first team proving elusive, he moved to Shamrock Rovers making his debut on 14 March 1999 against Derry City. He then returned to Bohemians where he played for just one season (1999-20), gaining an FAI Cup Runners up medal before being snapped up on a free transfer by English Football League One club AFC Bournemouth, where he played 204 games and scored 28 goals.

In May 2005 he moved on a Bosman transfer to play in the Football League Championship with Burnley where he played regularly during the 2005-06 season, mainly scoring his goals from set-pieces. One of his most memorable goals was a 25 yard free-kick against Wolverhampton Wanderers, in a match which Burnley won 1-0. However, his appearances became less regular during the second half of the season and he spent the 2006-07 season as a little used substitute and squad player. He did though score Burnley's second goal in the 3-2 defeat at Reading after coming on as a substitute. He was placed on the transfer list at the end of that season. On 12 June 2007 O'Connor returned to Bournemouth on trial with the possibility of a season long loan. However, this did not happen and he returned to Burnley. There he found himself frozen out of the first-team squad by Steve Cotterill and not even given a squad number. One of new manager Owen Coyle's first actions in regards his first-team squad was to give O'Connor a first team squad number for the remainder of the 2007-08 season. Nevertheless, O'Connor was released at the end of the season.

On 6th October 2008 O'Connor signed for League Two side Luton Town after a three week trial. Luton boss Mick Harford had been impressed by O'Connor's performances in reserve games, scoring three goals in two games. He was therefore given a short-term deal, running out only two months later in January - it remains to be seen whether O'Connor's performances will warrant a new deal at that time.

External links

*soccerbase|id=20787|name=Garreth O'Connor