| Aaron O'Connor | |
| Fullname: | Aaron Derek O'Connor[1] |
| Birth Date: | 9 August 1983 |
| Birth Place: | Nottingham, England |
| Position: | Forward |
| Currentclub: | Eastwood |
| Years1: | 2002 |
| Years2: | 2002–2003 |
| Caps2: | 3 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2003 |
| Years4: | 2003–2004 |
| Years5: | 2004–2007 |
| Clubs5: | Gresley Rovers |
| Caps5: | 99 |
| Goals5: | 73 |
| Years6: | 2007–2008 |
| Clubs6: | Grays Athletic |
| Caps6: | 63 |
| Goals6: | 8 |
| Years7: | 2008–2009 |
| Clubs7: | Mansfield Town |
| Caps7: | 39 |
| Goals7: | 8 |
| Years8: | 2009–2011 |
| Caps8: | 75 |
| Goals8: | 24 |
| Years9: | 2011–2012 |
| Clubs9: | Luton Town |
| Caps9: | 34 |
| Goals9: | 5 |
| Years10: | 2012–2015 |
| Caps10: | 82 |
| Goals10: | 29 |
| Years11: | 2015–2016 |
| Caps11: | 20 |
| Goals11: | 9 |
| Years12: | 2016 |
| Clubs12: | → Stevenage (loan) |
| Caps12: | 3 |
| Goals12: | 0 |
| Years13: | 2016 |
| Clubs13: | Stevenage |
| Caps13: | 10 |
| Goals13: | 1 |
| Years14: | 2016–2020 |
| Clubs14: | Kettering Town |
| Caps14: | 116 |
| Goals14: | 59 |
| Years15: | 2020–2021 |
| Clubs15: | Tamworth |
| Caps15: | 4 |
| Goals15: | 0 |
| Years16: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs16: | Basford United |
| Caps16: | 15 |
| Goals16: | 4 |
| Years17: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs17: | Carlton Town |
| Caps17: | 35 |
| Goals17: | 14 |
| Years18: | 2023– |
| Clubs18: | Eastwood |
| Caps18: | 0 |
| Goals18: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 17:50, 4 June 2023 (UTC) |
Aaron Derek O'Connor (born 9 August 1983) is an English footballer who plays for Eastwood, where he plays as a forward.
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]
O'Connor had a brief spell at Nuneaton Borough at the start of the 2003–04 season, before moving back to Ilkeston Town.
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 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]
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]
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.
O'Connor left Rushden & Diamonds and joined Luton Town on a free transfer on 6 June 2011.[12]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
O'Connor signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division side Basford United on 6 August 2021.[28]
On 3 June 2023, O'Connor signed for Eastwood.[29]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Ilkeston Town | 2001–02 | Southern Football League Premier Division | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 2002–03 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| Scunthorpe United | 2002–03 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 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 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | 46 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 46 | 4 | ||||
| Grays Athletic | 61 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 8 | |||
| Mansfield Town | 2008–09 | Conference National | 29 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 29 | 8 | ||
| Rushden & Diamonds | 2009–10 | 38 | 10 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 38 | 10 | |||
| 2010–11 | 36 | 14 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 36 | 14 | ||||
| Rushden & Diamonds | 74 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 28 | |||
| Luton Town | 2011–12 | Conference National | 34 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 34 | 5 | ||
| Newport County | 2012–13 | 39 | 18 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 39 | 18 | |||
| 2013–14 | League Two | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 2014–15 | 39 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 10 | |||
| Newport County | 82 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 29 | |||
| Forest Green Rovers | 2015–16 | Conference National | 20 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 20 | 9 | ||
| Stevenage (loan) | 2015–16 | League Two | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Stevenage | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |||
| Kettering Town | 2016–17[30] | Southern League Premier Division | 31 | 15 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 34 | 15 | ||
| 2017–18 | 41 | 32 | 4 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | 45 | 35 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Southern League Premier Division Central | 27 | 10 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 28 | 10 | |||
| 2019–20 | National League North | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | |||
| Kettering Town | 116 | 59 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 124 | 62 | |||
| Tamworth | 2020–21 | Southern League Premier Division Central | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Basford United | 2021–22 | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 15 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 6 | |
| Carlton Town | 2021–22 | Northern Premier League Division One Midlands | 15 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 10 | |
| 2022–23[31] | Northern Premier League Division One East | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 22 | 5 | |||
| Total | 35 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 38 | 15 | |||
| Career total | 486 | 167 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 505 | 171 | |||
Kettering Town
2017–18;[32]
2017–18[33]