Eamon O'Keefe

Football player infobox2
playername = Eamon O'Keefe


fullname = Eamon Gerard O'Keefe
nickname =
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1953|10|13|df=yes
cityofbirth = Manchester
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = height|ft=5|in=7
currentclub =
position = Forward (retired)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = -1973
1973-1975
1975
1975-1976
1976-1979
1979-1981
1981-1983
1983-1985
1985-1987
1986-1987
1987-1988
1989-1990
1990-19??
clubs = Stalybridge Celtic
Plymouth Argyle
Hyde United
Al-Hilal
Mossley
Everton
Wigan Athletic
Port Vale
Blackpool
Cork City
St Patrick's Athletic
Chester City
Bangor City
Career
caps(goals) = 00? 0(?)
000 0(0)
00? 0(?)
00? 0(?)
00? 0(?)
040 0(6)
058 (25)
059 (17)
036 (23)
00? 0(?)
00? 0(?)
017 0(4)
00? 0(?)
210 (75)
manageryears = 1987-1988
managerclubs = Cork City (player-manager)
nationalyears =

nationalteam = Republic of Ireland
nationalcaps(goals) = 005 0(1)

Eamon Gerard O'Keefe (also referred to as Eamonn O'Keefe) (born 13 October 1953 in Manchester) is an English-born Irish former professional footballer. He played as a forward, but in later years was moved into a midfield role.

Career

Domestic career

O'Keefe had a varied career that saw him come from non-League football to play forty top-flight games for Everton before a move into the lower divisions.

O'Keefe joined Sam Ellis's Blackpool from Port Vale in 1985. He made his debut for "the Seasiders" towards the end of the 1984–85 campaign, in a 4–2 victory over Peterborough United at Bloomfield Road on March 30, 1985, scoring Blackpool's fourth goal. He went on to score five more goals in eleven games before the end of the campaign, at which point Blackpool won promotion to Division Three.

The following season, 1985–86, O'Keefe scored seventeen goals in nineteen league starts (including a hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over Doncaster Rovers on October 1, 1985). He finished the season as the club's top scorer.

After only two games in 1986–87, O'Keefe announced his retirement from professional football due to injury. His final game for Blackpool occurred on September 6, 1986, in a 2–1 home defeat by Carlisle United.

He was awarded a testimonial match as the summer wound down, with Division One champions Everton visiting Bloomfield Road.

O'Keefe went on to enjoy a two-year spell playing and managing in Ireland with Cork City, and in March 1989 he came out of professional retirement to sign for Chester City, under the guidance of his former Wigan Athletic manager Harry McNally. The signing was delayed due to lengthy negotiations with the Football League over his insurance payout from two years earlier. [cite book | author=Chas Sumner | title=On the Borderline: The Official History of Chester City 1885-1997 | year=1997| pages= p.106 |id=ISBN 1-874427-52-6] His Chester debut came at his former club, Blackpool, on March 18 1989, coming off the bench to score in a 1–1 draw, denying Blackpool two points in their battle against relegation. Although he appeared in every game until the end of the season and became the club's penalty taker, O'Keefe, who also worked as commercial manager at the club, only featured in three more matches in 1989–90 and drifted out of professional football circles.

International career

O'Keefe win five caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring one goal.

External links

* [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/eamonno'keefe.htm O'Keefe's profile at Neil Brown's statistics site]

Notes

References

*cite book | first=Roy | last=Calley| coauthors= | title=Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992 | publisher=Breedon Books Sport | location= | year=1992 | editor= | id=ISBN 1-873626-07-X