Brendan O'Callaghan

Brendan Richard O'Callaghan is a former professional football player.

Born in Bradford on 23 July 1955, he began his career with Doncaster Rovers F.C. making his full league debut on 1 September 1973 against Bradford City. He went on to play almost five full seasons with Rovers scoring 65 goals in his 187 appearances

In March 1978 O'Callaghan was sold to Stoke City for a fee of £50,000 and while there he played over 250 League games, appeared in the top flight and won six caps for the Republic of Ireland.

In his Stoke City debut as a 75th minute substitute in the home match against Hull City on 8 March 1978, Stoke were waiting to take a corner when he came on and he went straight to the penalty area and headed home the cross into the back of the net. In actual game time he had not been on the pitch for more than five seconds and this must therefore be one of the quickest debut goals ever scored.

In February 1985 he signed for Oldham Athletic, but shortly after his career was ended by a serious knee injury. Brendan now lives in Staffordshire and works as an area fund-raising manager for the Save The Children charity.

External links

* [http://www.doncasterrovers.co.uk/players/NtoR/O'Callaghan,Brendan.htm Profile from Doncaster Rovers site]