O’Connor: Padhraic John (Paudie)
2017-Current
(Leeds Player Details)(Player Details)
Centre Back
Born: Ballybrown, County Limerick, Republic of Ireland: 14-07-1997
Debut: v Sunderland (h): 07-04-2018:
6’3" 12st 2lb (2018)
His early football career saw him starting with Kilcoran, then Breska Rovers and on to Regional United before signing for Limerick FC at the age of sixteen in July 2013. He started with their
Under-Nineteen team but soon progressed to the senior team in the Premier Division of the SSE Airtricity League. He made his debut at Centre Half on 7th March 2015 in a 0-3 home defeat by
Bohemians, in which he played a full game. He went on to start fifteen, play one as a substitute and sat unused thirteen times on the bench in the League of Ireland fixtures. He also scored his
first goal on 14th August 2015 in a 3-2 win at Cork City, when he got the winner in the sixty-fifth minute. However, Limerick did not fare well and were relegated at the end of the season. This saw
them start the 2016 season in the First Division. O'Connor was at the University of Limerick studying Engineering and he started twenty-three and sat unused on the bench in four and added two
more goals to his tally. They came in a 5-0 win at Athlone Town on 26th March 2016, when he opened the scoring in the twenty-sixth minute, and on 4th June 2016 in a 2-2 draw at home to
Drogheda United, when he again opened the scoring on the hour mark. Limerick finished the champions of the First Division, with O'Connor being included as the Centre Half in the Division's
team of the year, and were promoted back to the Premier League. He deferred his studies for a year to give himself the chance to concentrate on football. He had the option of a one year contract
with Limerick, but, after trials with Crystal Palace and Leicester City he then had trials at Leeds in March 2017 and favourably impressed coach Garry Monk. He was signed on a two and a half year
contract, with Limerick obtaining an undisclosed fee. He started the 2017-18 in the Under-Twenty-Three team, now under Thomas Christiansen, going on to score once in twenty-two starts and also
became captain for the season. He had been part of the pre-season squad, which gave the new coach ample opportunity to assess his abilities. He was called up onto the bench for the EFL Cup
match against Newport County on 22nd August 2017. As the season continued Leeds had increasinf injury and suspension problems and on 3rd April 2018, new manager Paul Heckingbottom
named O'Connor in the Leeds first team squad for their game against Fulham at Craven Cottage although he was not named among the substitutes. His first team debut came at Centre Back when
he started on 7th April 2018 in a 1-1 home draw with Sunderland and he got his first booking in the seventy-fifth minute. He maintained his position three days later in a 1-3 defeat at Deepdale by
Preston North End. He picked up his second booking in the sixty-third minute. Three days later he had another full game in a 0-1 defeat at Villa Park at the hands of Aston Villa. His fourth consecutive
game came in a 2-1 win over Barnsley at Elland Road to bring his starts to four. A week later he was an unused substitute in a 1-2 defeat at Carrow Road by Norwich City. He was one of four players
nominated on 16th April 2018 Leeds United's Young Player of The Year award, but it was won by Bailey Peacock-Farrell. He signed a new two-year contract extension at Leeds, with the option of an
additional year, on 29th June 2018. Director of football Victor Orta said of O'Connor, "He will be a key player for Leeds United for many years to come, and that the club intended to send him out on
loan for regular games. On 3rd July 2018, O'Connor joined EFL League One side Blackpool on loan until 31st May 2019, to gain first team experience. On 4th August 2018 he made his debut for the
seasiders at Centre Half in a 0-0 away draw at Wycombe Wanderers and he played a full game. He scored his first goal on 4th September 2018 in a 8-6 penalty shoot-out win in Group A3 of the
Football League Trophy at Macclesfield Town, when he equalised with a header four minutes into injury time to make the score 3-3 and took the game into extra-time. He had started four and been a
substitute once and sat on the bench unused on four occasions in League One games together with two starts in the Football League Trophy and started one, made one substitute appearance and
sat once unused in the League Cup.