The Kevin O'Connor story: Wolves, injuries, mortgages and an Irish Sunday League title showdown | OneFootball

Two decades after his Wolves debut, Kevin O’Connor is preparing for a Wicklow Sunday League title decider at 40. According to ExpressAndStar.com, the former Wolves midfielder will line up for St Anthony’s against Ashford Rovers on Sunday.

A Wolves Academy graduate, he first tasted senior football on loan at Stockport, scoring against Shrewsbury, whose goalkeeper was future England international Joe Hart.

Mick McCarthy then handed him a start at Plymouth in 2006, and his shot deflected in off Matias Kouo-Doumbe to earn a point. He followed up with home starts against Ipswich and Preston, with Rob Edwards coming off the bench in each.

A complex hamstring injury linked to the sciatic nerve meant Finland surgery, then a slip while carrying shopping worsened it. Surgeons later found the hamstring had torn from the bone, and despite McCarthy granting an extra year, his Wolves momentum stalled.

A Port Vale trial did not convince, Walsall talks ended after medial ligament damage, and by December 2008 he left the professional game. He spent a year out, then became a PFA-supported personal trainer while playing non-league for Telford and Worcester.

Back in Ireland, he joined Bray Wanderers alongside a day job in air conditioning and scored the play-off winner that kept them up, before joining Longford Town. Four years there brought promotion from the First Division, then retirement in 2017.

Now in finance with brother Danny at EBS Greystones, O’Connor makes regular trips to see his son Darragh in Wolverhampton. After small-sided games, he returned in January as a number 10 for St Anthony’s and heads to Finn Park for Sunday’s decider.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com