Aiden O'Brien

Aiden Anthony O'Brien (born 4 October 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Sunderland. Born in England, he represents the Republic of Ireland national team internationally.

For the Irish race horse trainer, see Aidan O'Brien.

Aiden O'Brien
O'Brien with Millwall in October 2015
Personal information
Full name Aiden Anthony O'Brien[1]
Date of birth (1993-10-04) 4 October 1993[2]
Place of birth Islington, London, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Sunderland
Number 10
Youth career
2009–2010 Millwall
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2020 Millwall 188 (34)
2012 → Staines Town (loan) 2 (0)
2012 → Hayes & Yeading United (loan) 7 (0)
2013 → Crawley Town (loan) 9 (0)
2013–2014 → Aldershot Town (loan) 5 (3)
2014 → Torquay United (loan) 3 (0)
2020– Sunderland 12 (2)
National team‡
2009–2010 Republic of Ireland U17 5 (3)
2012 Republic of Ireland U19 2 (1)
2013–2014 Republic of Ireland U21 10 (5)
2018– Republic of Ireland 5 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:27, 20 January 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:54, 28 February 2019 (UTC)

Career

Born in Islington, London,[3] O'Brien started his career in the youth system at Millwall and signed his first professional contract in 2010 on his 17th birthday.[4] He made his debut for the club in the League Cup third round 5–0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers, coming on as a substitute for Dany N'Guessan.[5] On 1 January 2012, O'Brien signed for Conference South side Staines Town on a one-month loan.[6]

A month later, O'Brien signed for Conference Premier side Hayes and Yeading on a one-month loan and immediately found himself playing games.[7]

In May 2014 O'Brien agreed a new two-year deal with Millwall with the 20-year-old being highly regarded by Millwall boss Ian Holloway and is expected to feature more prominently in his first-team plans next season.[8]

O'Brien made his first appearance of the season coming on as a substitute for Richard Chaplow against Southampton in the League Cup. The game finished 2–0 to the Saints.[9] A month later he then made his first league appearance for Millwall in the 3–1 defeat to Birmingham City. O'Brien spoke of his delight of fulfilling a lifelong ambition when he made his league debut for Millwall and has dedicated the achievement to his father.[10][11]

At the end of the 2017–18 season, his contract was extended by Millwall after the club exercised an option.[12] He left Millwall at the end of 2019-2020 season, after his contract expired. [13]

On 30 July 2020, O’Brien signed for Sunderland, on a two-year deal. [14] On 8 September 2020 he scored his first goal for Sunderland in an EFL Trophy tie against Aston Villa U21s.[15]

International career

On 6 February 2013, O'Brien scored on his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21s against Netherlands in a 3–0 win at Tallaght Stadium.[16] O'Brien then scored his first competitive goal and his third goal for Ireland in 4–1 away win against the Faroe Islands.[17] On 15 November 2013, O'Brien bagged another international brace against Faroe Islands in a high scoring 5–2 win at The Showgrounds.[18]

O'Brien has scored five times for the 21s and is two off Robbie Brady's all time goal scoring record with seven.

In September 2017 he was called up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Wales.[19]

On 11 September 2018, O'Brien scored his first senior international goal for Ireland on his debut in a friendly against Poland in Wrocław which finished 1–1.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 29 February 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Millwall 2011–12[21] Championship 000010—10
2012–13[22] Championship 000000—00
2013–14[23] Championship 000000—00
2014–15[24] Championship 1920010—202
2015–16[25] League One 431021008[lower-alpha 1]25313
2016–17[26] League One 431361216[lower-alpha 2]05715
2017–18[27] Championship 3041210—326
2018–19[28] Championship 3524131—424
2019-20[29] Championship 18 3 1 0 2 1 — 21 4
Total 1883414510314222644
Staines Town (loan) 2011–12[30] Conference South 20——1[lower-alpha 3]030
Hates & Yeading United (loan) 2011–12[21] Conference Premier 70———70
Crawley Town (loan) 2012–13[22] League One 90———90
Aldershot Town (loan) 2013–14[23] Conference Premier 53——4[lower-alpha 3]497
Torquay United (loan) 2013–14[23] League Two 30———30
Career total 2143714510319625751
  1. Six appearances and two goals in Football League Trophy, two in League One play-offs
  2. Three appearances in EFL Trophy, three in League One play-offs
  3. Appearances in FA Trophy

International goals
Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goal tally first.[31]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.11 September 2018Stadion Miejski, Wrocław, Poland Poland1–01–1Friendly

Honours

Millwall

See also

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Sunderland" (PDF). English Football League. p. 68. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  2. "Aiden O'Brien". 11v11. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  3. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline. p. 497. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
  4. "Pro Contract for O'Brien". 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  5. "Night To Remember For Millwall's O'Brie". 23 September 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  6. "Young Lion Loaned to Staines". 30 December 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  7. "Hayes & Yeading sign Millwall striker Aiden O'Brien on loan". Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  8. "Millwall's Aiden O'Brien has agreed a new deal at the club". 2 May 2014.
  9. "Millwall 0–2 Southampton". 26 August 2014.
  10. "Millwall 1–3 Birmingham". 30 September 2014.
  11. "O'Brien glad father was there to see Millwall league debut". 2 October 2014.
  12. "Tim Cahill and Jimmy Abdou: Millwall release veteran Australian and midfielder". BBC Sport. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  13. "Aiden O'Brien: Millwall striker leaves after nine years with Championship club". BBC Sport. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  14. https://www.safc.com/news/team-news/2020/july/obrien-signs-for-sunderland
  15. "Sunderland 8-1 Aston Villa U21s player ratings - Josh Scowen the star of the show". chroniclelive.co.uk. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  16. "O'Brien double helps U21s beat Dutch". 6 February 2013. Archived from the original on 28 August 2014.
  17. "Faroe Islands-Republic of Ireland report". 14 August 2013.
  18. "Republic of Ireland-Faroe Islands report". 15 November 2013.
  19. "Scott Hogan: Aston Villa striker handed first Republic call-up with Walters out". BBC Sport. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  20. "Mixed feelings for Martin O'Neill as O'Brien's debut goal is cancelled out by late Polish strike". Irish Independent. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  21. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  22. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  23. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  24. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  25. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  26. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  27. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  28. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  29. "Games played by Aiden O'Brien in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  30. "Aiden O'Brien Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  31. "O'Brien, Aiden". National Football Teams. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  32. Hunt, Josh (20 May 2017). "Bradford City 0–1 Millwall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
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