David O'Brien (footballer)

{{Infobox football biography

| name = David O'Brien

| fullname =

| height =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1984|1|24}}

| birth_place = Stirling, Scotland

| currentclub = Stirling University (coach)

| clubnumber =

| position = Midfielder

| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Denny Amateurs

| years1 = 2001–2007

| years2 = 2007–2009

| years3 = 2009

| years4 = 2009–2010

| years5 = 2010–2014

| years6 = 2016–2017

| years7 = 2017–

| clubs1 = Stirling Albion

| clubs2 = Dundee

| clubs3 = Ayr United

| clubs4 = Stirling Albion

| clubs5 = Greenock Morton

| clubs6 = Camelon Juniors

| clubs7 = Stirling University

| caps1 = 166

| goals1 = 37

| caps2 = 42

| goals2 = 2

| caps3 = 0

| goals3 = 0

| caps4 = 36

| goals4 = 6

| caps5 = 101

| goals5 = 18

| caps6 =

| goals6 =

| caps7 =

| goals7 =

}}

David O'Brien (born 24 January 1984) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a left-sided midfielder, for home-town side Stirling University now acts as a coach.[https://spfl.co.uk/challenge-cup/fixture/3639995/ Partick Thistle U20 6 - 1 Stirling Uni]‚ spfl.co.uk, 15 August 2017 He has also played for Stirling Albion, Dundee and Ayr United.

Career

O'Brien started his career with Stirling Albion in 2001, after joining from amateur side Denny Amateurs, and helped them win the Second Division play-off final against Airdrie United in 2007. In January 2007, he signed a pre-contract agreement with Dundee, moving to Tayside in May 2007.{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stirling_albion/6677357.stm|title=O'Brien joins Dundee from Albion|work=BBC Sport|date=21 May 2007|accessdate=23 May 2007|publisher=BBC}} At the end of the 2007–08 season, he signed a one-year contract extension with the Dens Park side.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee/7376593.stm|title=O'Brien extends Dundee contract|work=BBC Sport|date=30 April 2008|publisher=BBC|accessdate=1 May 2008}} He failed to have his contract renewed when it expired in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dundee/8034534.stm|title=Quartet set for Dundee departure|work=BBC Sport|accessdate=9 May 2009|date=5 May 2009|publisher=BBC}}

On 15 June 2009, Ayr United announced that they had signed O'Brien. He left the Honest Men on 3 August 2009, after not being selected to play against his old club Stirling Albion on 1 August 2009. O'Brien met with the manager Brian Reid, and after a short discussion he left the club.

He rejoined his home-town team, Stirling Albion, on 6 August 2009.

After his contract expired at Stirling, he joined manager Allan Moore at new club Greenock Morton.{{cite news|url=http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/articles/2010/06/04/401111-obrien-al-can-help-me-be-wing-king/|title=O'Brien: Al can help me be wing king|work=Greenock Telegraph|date=4 June 2010|accessdate=5 June 2010|first=Martin|last=Greig}} O'Brien signed on for another season in May 2012.{{cite news|url=http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/sport/morton/articles/2012/05/09/428612-moore-wields-his-axe/|title=Moore wields his axe|work=Greenock Telegraph|date=9 May 2012|accessdate=9 May 2012|first=Chris|last=Tait}} He again signed a one-year deal in May 2013.{{cite news|url=http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/sport/morton/articles/2013/05/08/456686-gaston-and-obrien-staying-with-ton/|title=Gaston and O'Brien staying with Ton|work=Greenock Telegraph|date=8 May 2013|accessdate=8 May 2013|first=Jonathan|last=Mitchell}} He left Morton in the summer of 2014 after failing to recover from an injury sustained at Celtic Park.

In August 2016, he signed for Junior side Camelon Juniors where he stayed for a season before signing for Stirling University.{{cite web|url=https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/news-archive/2017/10/footballers-through-to-scottish-cup-second-round/|title=Footballers through to Scottish Cup second round|publisher=University of Stirling|website=stir.ac.uk|date=2 October 2017|accessdate=15 August 2018|author=Glen Barclay|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815164453/https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/news-archive/2017/10/footballers-through-to-scottish-cup-second-round/|archive-date=15 August 2018|url-status=dead}}