Galway United are delighted to announce the signing of defender Anthony O’Connor, subject to international clearance.

Born in Cork, O’Connor began his professional career in England with Blackburn Rovers after joining their academy as a teenager. Since then, he has built a career spanning England and Scotland, making over half a thousand professional appearances across spells in the EFL and Scottish Premiership.

The versatile defender has enjoyed success along the way, helping Burton Albion secure promotion to the Championship and Aberdeen to consecutive second-place finishes in Scotland. Most recently, O’Connor has made well over a century of appearances for Harrogate Town since joining the club in January 2023.

Capable of playing at centre-back, right-back or even in midfield, O’Connor brings considerable experience across the English and Scottish professional game, as well as having represented the Republic of Ireland at underage level on many occasions.

Speaking on the signing, Galway United manager John Caulfield said:

“We’re delighted to have signed Anthony. He comes with a wealth of experience, over 500 games between the Championship, League One and Two and the SPFL. Over the last number of weeks our supporters will have seen we've been hit with some unfortunate injuries. Piesold out for most of the season, Brouder has had a knock and injuries to other players as well. Kris Twardek & Matthew Wolfe have both also been out injured, but are on their way back now.

Anthony gives us great options, to play centre-back or in midfield. With the number of defenders we had out injured it’s important to bring in someone with experience and versatility. He possess fantastic leadership qualities that we know will be an asset to us going forward as he gets settled with us”

Our next game is against Bray Wanderers this Friday 7th August at Eamonn Deacy Park. With a 7:45PM kick-off, and tickets available HERE.

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