Brendan O'Callaghan

Brendan O'Callaghan

Personal information
Full name	Brendan Richard O'Callaghan[1]
Date of birth	23 July 1955[1]
Place of birth	Bradford, England[1]
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Playing position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1973–1977	Doncaster Rovers	187	(65)
1977–1984	Stoke City	265	(44)
1984–1986	Oldham Athletic	10	(0)
Total		462	(109)
National team
1979–1982	Republic of Ireland[2]	6	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Brendan Richard O'Callaghan (born 23 July 1955) is a former footballer who played in the Football League for Doncaster Rovers and Stoke City and Oldham Athletic.^[1][3]

Career

Born in Bradford to Irish parents, O'Callaghan was spotted by Doncaster Rovers playing for Bradford Boys and Yorkshire schools.^[3] But the offer to become a professional footballer was a tough decision to make for O'Callaghan as he had been accepted into Loughborough College to undertake a physical education teaching diploma. He signed the contract, deferring college for a year in cause the football did not work out.^[3] After six months in Donny's reserves he was promoted to the first team and he developed a fine partnership with Peter Kitchen and he top scored in 1975–76 with 28 goals. By the time his goal tally had reached 77 for Doncaster he had attracted the attentions of bigger clubs and on 1 March 1978 Alan Durban signed him for £40,000.^[3]

The following Wednesday O'Callaghan was on the bench as Stoke struggled to break down a resolute Hull City and with time running out and Stoke winning a corner Durban decided to bring O'Callaghan on for his début.^[3] From the resulting corner he headed past Eddie Blackburn to make him an instant hero (fastest debut goal).^[3] He ended the 1977–78 season with six goals and was top-scorer in 1978–79 with 16 as Stoke won promotion to the First Division.^[3] With Stoke making a slow start in 1980–81 Durban moved O'Callaghan, who had lost his place to the younger Lee Chapman, to centre back filling in for the injured Denis Smith.^[3] He adapted well and his partnership with Mike Doyle saw Stoke in to a final mid-table position of 11th.^[3] He began the 1981–82 season in defence before reverting to forward in January 1982 where he scored five goals and he again scored five in 1982–83.^[3] He struggled under Richie Barker's long ball tactics in 1983–84 and he handed in a transfer request but Barker was sacked and replaced by Bill Asprey and so O'Callaghan stayed at Stoke.^[3] Under Asprey Stoke staged a relegation survival but in 1984–85 Stoke were awful and well on their way to an embarrassing relegation so O'Callaghan moved on to Oldham Athletic for £30,000 after making 294 appearances for Stoke scoring 47 goals. In the first match of the 1985–86 he suffered an adductor muscle strain which caused him to retire on the advice of doctors.^[3]

Post-retirement

After leaving Oldham O'Callaghan took a degree in business administration at the University of Dublin. Having been Stoke's Professional Footballers' Association representative, he worked in 1989 as a community development officer at the Victoria Ground. He later became north-west Midlands area manager for Save the Children charity.^[3]

Style of play

Tall at 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) and weighing over 13 stone (180 lb; 83 kg), 'Big Bren', as he was known, worked well as a willing target man, shielding the ball and acting as a link between midfield and a pacey striker.^[3]

Career statistics

• Sourced from Brendan O'Callaghan profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Doncaster Rovers	1973–74	Fourth Division	38	10	4	1	2	0	44	11
	1974–75	Fourth Division	31	11	2	1	0	0	33	12
	1975–76	Fourth Division	42	22	1	0	7	6	49	28
	1976–77	Fourth Division	46	15	2	0	4	3	52	18
	1977–78	Fourth Division	30	7	1	0	2	1	33	8
	Total		187	65	10	2	15	10	212	77
Stoke City	1977–78	Second Division	15	6	0	0	0	0	15	6
	1978–79	Second Division	41	15	1	0	5	1	47	16
	1979–80	First Division	36	5	1	0	3	1	44	6
	1980–81	First Division	37	7	1	0	0	0	38	7
	1981–82	First Division	41	5	1	0	2	0	44	5
	1982–83	First Division	37	5	3	0	2	0	42	5
	1983–84	First Division	38	1	1	0	5	1	44	2
	1984–85	First Division	20	0	2	0	2	0	24	0
	Total		265	44	10	0	19	3	294	47
Oldham Athletic	1984–85	Second Division	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	1985–86	Second Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
Career Total			462	109	20	2	34	13	516	124

References

1. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
2. Brendan O'Callaghan at National-Football-Teams.com
3. Stoke City 101 Golden Greats. Desert Islands Books. 2002. ISBN 1-874287554.

External links

• Profile from Doncaster Rovers site