Eugene "Taffy" O'Callaghan (6 October 1906 – 4 July 1956) was a Welsh professional

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 as a forward for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

during the 1920s and 1930s.

Career

Club career

Taffy was born in

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

, Wales and joined Tottenham Hotspur from

in 1925, making his debut for the first team in January 1927 against Everton, having impressed with his two-footed play and accurate passing. Again in 1928 he impressed against Everton, scoring four goals in February of that year. Taffy helped the team achieve promotion back to

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

at the end of the 1932–33 season and in the following year was a key member of the side known as the 'greyhounds' as they played with speed and style. During his time at Spurs he made 252 league appearances scoring 93 goals and a further six in eleven FA Cup matches for the club. He was transferred to

in March 1935 although playing once again for Tottenham as a 'guest' during the war years at the time when the Football League had been suspended. After the war he went on to a coaching role at

International career

His first cap for Wales was won in May 1929 and he went on to play a further ten times at International level.

Career statistics

International

''Wales score listed first, score column indicates score after each O'Callaghan goal''

References

1906 births 1956 deaths Sportspeople from Ebbw Vale Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wales men's international footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Welsh people of Irish descent {{Wales-footy-forward-stub