Aaron O'Connor

Aaron Derek O'Connor (born 9 August 1983) is an English footballer who currently plays for Eastwood, where he plays as a forward.

Aaron O'Connor
O'Connor in October 2020
Personal information
Full name Aaron Derek O'Connor[1]
Date of birth (1983-08-09) 9 August 1983
Place of birth Nottingham, England
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Eastwood
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002 Ilkeston Town
2002–2003 Scunthorpe United 3 (0)
2003 Nuneaton Borough
2003–2004 Ilkeston Town
2004–2007 Gresley Rovers 99 (73)
2007–2008 Grays Athletic 63 (8)
2008–2009 Mansfield Town 39 (8)
2009–2011 Rushden & Diamonds 75 (24)
2011–2012 Luton Town 34 (5)
2012–2015 Newport County 82 (29)
2015–2016 Forest Green Rovers 20 (9)
2016 → Stevenage (loan) 3 (0)
2016 Stevenage 10 (1)
2016–2020 Kettering Town 116 (59)
2020–2021 Tamworth 4 (0)
2021–2022 Basford United 15 (4)
2022–2023 Carlton Town 35 (14)
2023– Eastwood 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:50, 4 June 2023 (UTC)

Playing career

Scunthorpe United

Born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, O'Connor started his career at Ilkeston Town before moving to Third Division side Scunthorpe United on 12 December 2002. However, O'Connor featured in just three games as a substitute. Manager Brian Laws released the 19-year-old in February 2003, claiming he did not have the right attitude for the professional club.[2]

Nuneaton Borough and Ilkeston Town

O'Connor had a brief spell at Nuneaton Borough at the start of the 2003–04 season, before moving back to Ilkeston Town.

Gresley Rovers

He then moved onto Gresley Rovers in July 2004.[3] He spent two and a half seasons at Gresley, winning the Player's Player of The Year, Manager's Player of The Year and Supporter's Player of The Year awards in both seasons. O'Connor had a very impressive record of scoring 80 goals in 127 appearances for the club in all competitions.[4] He had a two-week trial with Rushden & Diamonds in June 2006.[5]

Grays Athletic

Grays Athletic announced the signing of O'Connor on 5 January 2007,[6] and he made his debut the following day against Southport in the Conference National. Despite being offered a new contract for the 2008–09 season, he did not sign and subsequently was released.[7]

Mansfield Town

He was signed by Mansfield Town on 8 August 2008,[8] where he made 39 appearances in the Conference Premier, scoring eight goals. He was released at the end of the 2008–09 season.[9]

Rushden & Diamonds

On 17 June 2009, O'Connor signed for Rushden & Diamonds on a one-year contract.[10] He signed a one-year contract extension in May 2010.[11] Over the course of two seasons, in which he was appointed Rushden's club captain, O'Connor scored 27 goals in 78 games.

Luton Town
O'Connor playing for Luton Town in 2011

O'Connor left Rushden & Diamonds and joined Luton Town on a free transfer on 6 June 2011.[12]

Newport County

In July 2012, O'Connor was reunited with former Rushden & Diamonds manager Justin Edinburgh when he signed for Newport County.[13] In August 2012 O'Connor was selected as Conference Player of the Month after Newport County won all five of their opening matches of the 2012–13 season with O'Connor scoring six goals.[14] He was part of the Newport team that finished third in the league, reaching the Conference Premier play-offs. Newport won the 2013 Conference Premier play-off final versus Wrexham at Wembley Stadium 2–0 to return to the Football League after a 25-year absence with promotion to League Two. O'Connor scored the second goal.[15] He was released by Newport in May 2015 at the end of his contract.[16]

Forest Green Rovers

On 12 June 2015, he joined National League club Forest Green Rovers on a one-year deal.[17] He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2015–16 season in a 1–0 away win against Altrincham.[18] His first goal followed in his second appearance, as his first half strike against Welling United at The New Lawn proved to be enough to secure a 1–0 victory.[19]

Stevenage

He joined League Two side Stevenage on a one-month loan on 15 January 2016.[20] He made his Stevenage debut the following day on 16 January 2016, playing 81 minutes in a 3–2 away loss against Plymouth Argyle.[21] On 1 February 2016, he secured a permanent move to Stevenage after he had his contract cancelled by Forest Green by mutual consent.[22] He was released by Stevenage in May 2016.[23]

Kettering Town

O'Connor joined Kettering Town on 3 September 2016,[24] and was voted the Fans' and Overall Player of the Year for the season 2017–18.[25]

Tamworth

It was confirmed on 15 July 2020, that O'Connor had signed for Southern League Premier Division Central side Tamworth.[26] He made his debut for Tamworth on 29 September 2020 in a 2–1 home victory over Barwell, coming on as a 78th minute substitute for Gerry McDonagh.[27]

Basford United

O'Connor signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division side Basford United on 6 August 2021.[28]

Eastwood

On 3 June 2023, O'Connor signed for Eastwood.[29]

Career statistics

Club
As of end of 2022–23 season
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Ilkeston Town 2001–02 Southern Football League Premier Division —————
2002–03 —————
Scunthorpe United 2002–03[30] Third Division 3000000030
Nuneaton Borough 2003–04 Southern Football League Premier Division —————
Ilkeston Town Southern Football League Western Division —————
Gresley Rovers 2004–05 Northern Premier League Division One —————
2005–06 —————
2006–07 —————
Grays Athletic 2006–07 Football Conference 15400—00154
2007–08 46400—00464
Grays Athletic 618000000618
Mansfield Town 2008–09 Conference National 29800—00298
Rushden & Diamonds 2009–10 381000—003810
2010–11 361400—003614
Rushden & Diamonds 74280000007428
Luton Town 2011–12 Conference National 34500—00345
Newport County 2012–13 391800—003918
2013–14 League Two 4100000041
2014–15 39100000003910
Newport County 82290000008229
Forest Green Rovers 2015–16 Conference National 20900—00209
Stevenage (loan) 2015–16 League Two 3000000030
Stevenage 101000000101
Kettering Town 2016–17[31] Southern League Premier Division 311530—003415
2017–18[31] 413243—004535
2018–19[31] Southern League Premier Division Central 271010—002810
2019–20 National League North 17200—00172
Kettering Town 1165983000012462
Tamworth 2020–21 Southern League Premier Division Central 4020001[lower-alpha 1]070
Basford United 2021–22 Northern Premier League Premier Division 154300022206
Carlton Town 2021–22 Northern Premier League Division One Midlands 1590000111610
2022–23[32] Northern Premier League Division One East 20500—20225
Total 35140000313815
Career total 4861671130063505171
  1. One appearance in FA Trophy

Honours

Club

Kettering Town

References
  1. "The Football League Retained List". The Football League. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  2. "Laws advice for O'Connor". BBC Sport. 11 February 2003. Retrieved 18 July 2007.
  3. "Rovers get their man". Non-League Daily. 15 July 2004. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  4. "Player Database – Aaron O'Connor". Gresley Rovers. 1 January 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  5. "Hart will look at Gresley striker". BBC Sport. 2 June 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  6. "Grays complete deal for O'Connor". BBC Sport. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  7. "Player News". Grays Athletic F.C. 3 July 2007. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009.
  8. "Stags boosted by late signings". Mansfield Town F.C. 8 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008.
  9. John Lomas (11 May 2009). "Trio signed, but other Stags free to go". Mansfield Chad. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  10. "Diamonds tie up O'Connor signing". BBC Sport. 17 June 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  11. "Aaron O'Connor agrees deal at Rushden & Diamonds". BBC Sport. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  12. "Luton Town swoop for striker Aaron O'Connor". BBC Sport. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  13. O'Connor joins Newport
  14. Conference Player of the Month
  15. Hughes, Dewi (5 May 2013). "Wrexham 0–2 Newport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  16. Newport players released
  17. "Forest Green sign former Newport County striker". BBC Sport. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  18. "Altrincham 0-1 Forest Green". BBC Sport. 8 August 2015.
  19. "Forest Green 1-0 Welling United". BBC Sport. 11 August 2015.
  20. "Aaron O'Connor: Forest Green Rovers striker joins Stevenage". BBC Sport. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  21. "Plymouth Argyle 3-2 Stevenage". BBC Sport. 16 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  22. "Stevenage bring in Aaron O'Connor, Pat Hoban and Ryan Hedges". BBC Sport. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  23. O'Connor released by Stevenage
  24. Kettering Town F.C. Player Profile
  25. Kettering Town F.C. 2017-18 Presentation – Winners
  26. "Experienced Striker Signs On". TheLambs.co.uk. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  27. "Tamworth 2-1 Barwell". TheLambs.co.uk. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  28. "AARON ARRIVES!". BasfordUnited.com. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  29. "OC Joins Eastwood CFC". eastwoodcfc.co.uk. 3 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  30. "Games played by Aaron O'Connor in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  31. "Player profiles: Aaron O'Connor". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  32. "Carlton Town – Appearances – Aaron O'Connor". footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  33. "Match report – Northampton Town". Kettering Town F.C. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  34. "Match report – Brackley Town". Kettering Town F.C. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
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