Lee O'Connor (footballer)

Lee Patrick O'Connor (born 28 July 2000) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League Two club Tranmere Rovers and the Republic of Ireland national team.^[3] He has also spent time on loan at Partick Thistle.

Lee O'Connor

Personal information
Full name	Lee Patrick O'Connor[1]
Date of birth	(2000-07-28) 28 July 2000 (age 25)
Place of birth	Waterford City, Ireland
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Tranmere Rovers
Number	22
Youth career
0000–2016	Villa F.C.
2016–2019	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2022	Celtic	0	(0)
2020	→ Partick Thistle (loan)	4	(0)
2020–2022	→ Tranmere Rovers (loan)	49	(0)
2022–	Tranmere Rovers	138	(0)
International career‡
2015–2017	Republic of Ireland U17	14	(0)
2017–2019	Republic of Ireland U19	13	(2)
2019–2022	Republic of Ireland U21	26	(1)
2019	Republic of Ireland	1	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:52, 28 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:50, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

In 2016, O'Connor moved from Villa F.C. of Waterford to the Manchester United youth team, signing a three-year contract.^[4] On 6 August 2019, O'Connor played an EFL Trophy match for Manchester United U21s away to Rotherham United, winning 2–0 at the New York Stadium.^[5]

Celtic

In September 2019, O'Connor joined Celtic, signing a four-year contract until 2023.^[6][7]

Partick Thistle loan

In January 2020, O'Connor joined Scottish Championship club Partick Thistle on loan, joining Ian McCall's side for the second half of the season.^[8] He made his debut in senior club football on 25 January 2020, in a 2–1 loss to Arbroath.^[9] He made five appearances in all competitions for the club before the season was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[10]

Tranmere Rovers

O'Connor joined League Two club Tranmere Rovers on 17 August 2020 on a season-long loan.^[11] He made 42 appearances over the course of the season and returned to Celtic for pre-season.^[12] O'Connor returned to Tranmere Rovers on another season long loan on transfer deadline day, 31 August 2021.^[13] The transfer was made permanent in January 2022.^[14]

International career

O'Connor made his international debut, and recorded an assist, for the Republic of Ireland on 14 November 2019 in a friendly match against New Zealand.^[15][16][17] O'Connor was announced as the FAI Under-21 International Player of the Year for 2019 on 4 August 2020.^[18] O'Connor holds the record number of underage appearances for the Republic of Ireland with 78 appearances across all underage teams.^[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 April 2024^[12]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Manchester United	2019–20	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	1	0
Celtic	2019–20	Scottish Premiership	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0[b]	0	0	0
	2020–21	Scottish Premiership	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2021–22	Scottish Premiership	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1[b]	0	1	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Partick Thistle (loan)	2019–20	Scottish Championship	4	0	—		—		—		1[b]	0	5	0
Tranmere Rovers (loan)	2020–21	EFL League Two	35	0	2	0	1	0	—		4[a]	0	42	0
Tranmere Rovers (loan)	2021–22	EFL League Two	14	0	2	0	—		—		2[a]	0	18	0
Tranmere Rovers	2021–22	EFL League Two	17	0	—		—		—		—		17	0
	2022–23	EFL League Two	39	0	1	0	2	0	—		3[a]	0	45	0
	2023–24	EFL League Two	40	0	1	0	0	0	—		0[a]	0	41	0
	Total		145	0	6	0	3	0	—		9	0	163	0
Career Total			149	0	6	0	3	0	0	0	12	0	170	0

1. Appearances in EFL Trophy
2. Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup

International

As of match played on 14 November 2019^[15]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Republic of Ireland	2019	1	0
Total		1	0

Honours

Individual

• FAI Under-15 International Player of the Year: 2015^[20]
• FAI Under-19 International Player of the Year: 2018^[21]
• FAI Under-21 International Player of the Year: 2019^[18]