Sean O’Connor

Name:Sean O’Connor

Born:Jul 7, 1981

Position:Striker

Joined the club:July 2012

Previous Club(s): Dundee United, Queen of the South, Morecambe, Annan Athletic

Sean O’Connor is unsponsored:

A product of Hednesford Town’s youth system, Sean returns to the club for this season after spending the majority of his career across the border in Scottish football.

O’Connor started his career with the Pitmen, working his way through the youth system at Keys Park before making his first team debut during the 1998-99 season. His close control and ability on the ball immediately endeared him to the Hednesford fans, culminating in O’Connor scoring a fine individual goal against Southport towards the end of that season. His form attracted the attention of a number of clubs, with Dundee United paying £30,000 for him in January 2000, despite O’Connor only playing in 14 matches for the Pitmen.
His chances at Tannadice were limited to only a handful of appearances and he was sent out on loan to gain first team experience elsewhere. After a short spell in Ireland playing for Portadown, he went back to Scotland to have a similar spell with Morton.

In March 2002, O’Connor joined Queen of the South. On 20 April 2002 he scored the third goal in the 3-0 victory that clinched the 2001-02 Scottish Second Division Championship at Station Park versus Forfar Athletic. He was an instant hit with the Queens faithful as he ended his first full season in Dumfries as top goalscorer. Injuries took their toll during his second full season at the club and O’Connor reluctantly rejected the offer of a new contract from Queens due to family reasons, at the end of 2003-04 season.

O’Connor decided to return to England at the start of the 2004-05 season and signed a two year contract with Morecambe at Christie Park, where injuries again restricted his time on the playing field. O’Connor scored three league goals in only 16 appearances.

In 2006, he made a surprise return to Queen of the South, joining on a short-term deal, originally to prove his fitness. O’Connor played in all six of Queen of the South’s games in their run to the 2008 Scottish Cup Final. O’Connor scored the third Queens goal in the 2007-08 Scottish Cup 4-3 semi final victory over Aberdeen at Hampden Park to take Queens to their first ever Scottish Cup Final in their 89-year history.
O’Connor scored in the home leg of Queen of the South’s UEFA Cup 2nd qualification round match against FC Nordsjaelland after 28 minutes. This made O’Connor the first player to score for Queens in a UEFA Cup Competition.

In April 2009 O’Connor announced he would retire the following month after a series of knee injuries, having initially been advised by medical staff to retire several months previously. After retiring from the game at the end of the 2008-09 season, O’Connor decided to visit his surgeon and got the green light to relaunch his football career. After training with Queen of the South during February 2010, O’Connor returned as a trialist for Annan Athletic versus Elgin City on 6 March 2010. O’Connor played 81 minutes of the 3-3 draw at Galabank.

O’Connor signed for Queen of the South until the end of season 2009-10 on 25 March 2010 after impressing the new Queens caretaker manager Kenny Brannigan. He signed a one year contract with the club on 7 May 2010, but left the club at the turn of the year- signing for Annan on 13th January 2011.