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Mark O'Connor (English footballer)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Red Director (talk | contribs) at 22:18, 31 January 2021 (Adding local short description: "English footballer", overriding Wikidata description "English football player (born 1963)" (Shortdesc helper)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other people with the same name, see Mark O'Connor (disambiguation).

Mark O'Connor
Personal information
Full name Mark Andrew O'Connor[1]
Date of birth (1963-03-10) 10 March 1963 (age 61)[1]
Place of birth Rochford, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 West Bromwich Albion (coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1983 Queens Park Rangers 3 (0)
1983–1984 → Exeter City (loan) 38 (1)
1984–1985 Bristol Rovers 80 (10)
1985–1990 Bournemouth 128 (12)
1990–1993 Gillingham 116 (8)
1993–1995 Bournemouth 58 (3)
1995–1998 Gillingham 40 (1)
Total 463 (35)
International career
1985 Republic of Ireland-U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mark Andrew O'Connor (born 10 March 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder in the Football League for Queens Park Rangers, Exeter City, Bristol Rovers, Bournemouth and Gillingham.[3]

Playing career

O'Connor was born in Rochford and began his career with Queens Park Rangers. He made only three appearances for Rangers in three seasons, and the 1983–84 campaign he spent out on loan at Exeter City. He joined Bristol Rovers in the summer of 1984. O'Connor earned one cap for the Republic of Ireland U21 side against England in 1985. He spent one and half years at Eastville Stadium making 99 appearances scoring 13 goals before leaving for Bournemouth in March 1986. O'Connor spent five seasons at Dean Court making 148 appearances and helped the Cherries win the Third Division title in 1986–87. He then went on to play for Gillingham and then made a return to Bournemouth before ending his career back at Gillingham helping the side gain promotion in 1995–96. He broke his leg against Fulham on 25 November 1996 in a tackle with Martin Thomas which resulted in his retirement from playing just over a year later.[4]

Coaching career

After ending his playing career in 1998 he moved into coaching with manager Tony Pulis at Gillingham whom he played with at Bournemouth. He moved with Pulis to Portsmouth in June 2000 and became their academy manager where he remained until 2005 when he linked up again with Pulis at Plymouth Argyle.[5] He spent a season at Plymouth before moving back to Stoke City with Pulis to become one of his first-team coaches alongside former teammate Adrian Pennock in June 2006.[6] He left Stoke at the end of the 2012–13 season.[7] On 22 July 2013 O'Connor joined Bristol City as their under-21 manager.[8]

In January 2015 O'Connor joined West Bromwich Albion to work again with Pulis and Kemp.[9]

Career statistics

Source:[10]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Queens Park Rangers 1981–82 Second Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1982–83 Second Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1983–84 First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Exeter City (loan) 1983–84 Third Division 38 1 2 1 0 0 3 1 43 2
Total 38 1 2 1 0 0 3 1 43 2
Bristol Rovers 1984–85 Third Division 46 8 3 1 4 0 2 0 55 9
1985–86 Third Division 34 2 4 0 4 1 2 1 44 4
Total 80 10 7 1 8 1 4 1 99 13
Bournemouth 1985–86 Third Division 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1
1986–87 Third Division 43 7 2 0 0 0 3 0 48 7
1987–88 Second Division 37 2 1 0 5 0 0 0 43 2
1988–89 Second Division 33 2 4 0 1 0 1 0 39 2
1989–90 Second Division 6 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 9 0
Total 128 12 7 0 8 0 5 0 148 12
Gillingham 1989–90 Fourth Division 15 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 16 1
1990–91 Fourth Division 41 3 1 0 2 0 2 0 46 3
1991–92 Fourth Division 39 3 2 0 2 0 2 0 45 3
1992–93 Third Division 21 1 5 0 4 0 2 1 32 2
Total 116 8 8 0 8 0 7 1 139 9
Bournemouth 1993–94 Second Division 45 3 4 0 4 0 1 0 54 3
1994–95 Second Division 13 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 17 0
Total 58 3 4 0 8 0 1 0 71 3
Gillingham 1995–96 Third Division 18 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 22 1
1996–97 Second Division 22 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 26 0
1997–98 Second Division 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 40 1 5 0 4 0 0 0 49 1
Career Total 463 35 33 2 36 1 20 3 552 41
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy and Full Members Cup.

Honours

Bournemouth
Gillingham

References

  1. ^ a b "Mark O'Connor". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  2. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. ^ Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 237. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
  4. ^ Blair, Olivia (2 May 1998). "Football: Last act and testament to a professional footballer's career". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Coach O'Connor departs Plymouth". BBC Sport. 8 July 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Stoke City's Mark O'Connor pleased with squad depth". BBC Sport. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  7. ^ "Dave Kevan heads list of departures from the Britannia". The Sentinel. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  8. ^ "O'Connor takes Under-21 role". Bristol City F.C. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Tony Pulis: West Brom have plenty of targets". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  10. ^ Mark O'Connor at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  • Mark O'Connor at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
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