Seamus O'Connell (11 January 1930 – 24 February 2013) was an English amateur

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

for Queens Park and in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, Chelsea and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

during the 1950s. O'Connell was born in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

. His cousin

Sean O'Connell Sean O'Connell (1930s – July 2003) was a Gaelic football manager and player who featured for the Derry county team in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and was on the Derry side that finished runners-up to Dublin in the 1958 All-Ireland Champ ...

was an all-time great

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er who played for

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, O'Connell divided his playing time with working for his family's cattle-farming business. He played for Scottish amateur club Queens Park, and made his English

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut for

on Boxing Day 1953, scoring in a 3–2 win against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. He joined Chelsea in August 1954 and scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on his debut (one of only two Chelsea players to do this, the other being

George Hilsdon George Richard Hilsdon (10 August 1885 – 10 September 1941) was an English footballer who played as a striker. He began his career at West Ham United, making his debut in the 1903–04 season. His brother Jack Hilsdon also played for West H ...

) against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in October 1954, although his side still lost 6–5. The season was nonetheless a success for O'Connell and Chelsea, as he scored seven goals in ten league games and helped the club win their first League Championship. O'Connell remained with Chelsea for another season before returning to the amateur game, and ended his time at the club with 12 goals from 17 games. He was a three-time winner of the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

, with

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

in 1955 and 1956, and

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Football ...

in 1959. He won four

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for the England amateurs. Having suffered a stroke in 2006, O'Connell died on 24 February 2013.

References

External links

Coverage of the 1955
an
1956
Amateur Cup Finals at British Pathé 1930 births 2013 deaths Footballers from Carlisle, Cumbria English men's footballers Men's association football forwards England men's amateur international footballers Queen's Park F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Bishop Auckland F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Crook Town A.F.C. players English people of Irish descent {{England-footy-forward-1930s-stub