Jon O'Connor is a retired English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football defender.

Darlington

Darlington

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

-born O'Connor started his career at Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

 after joining in 1993. He captained England at youth level, and graduated through the F.A. School at Lilleshall

Lilleshall

Lilleshall is a village in Shropshire, England.It lies between the towns of Telford and Newport, on the A518, in the Telford and Wrekin borough and the Wrekin constituency....

, he was also capped at England U21 level. Although he was a centre back, Everton were well covered in this position, and so he had made his first-team breakthrough at right back, after Joe Royle

Joe Royle

Joseph "Joe" Royle is an English football manager. In his club career, he played for Everton , Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team...

 dropped Matt Jackson

Matt Jackson

Matthew Alan "Matt" Jackson is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender throughout his career and represented and captained England at U21 level.-Career:...

 after a disastrous FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 in 1996. He made his debut at Old Trafford

Old Trafford

Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...

. A series of injuries put O'Connor out of the whole 1996-97 season, and Royle left Everton near the end of the 1996-97 season and was replaced in the summer by Howard Kendall

Howard Kendall

Howard Kendall is an English football manager and former player. He is most famous for his connection to Everton, a club that he both played for and managed. His uncle Harry Taylor played for Newcastle United and Fulham in the 1950s....

.

In February 1998, he left Everton, joining Sheffield United, initially on loan.

At Bramall Lane

Bramall Lane

-Cricket at the Lane:Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town's industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket...

 he only made three starts and two substitute appearances in two-and-a-half years, making his debut versus Bradford City

Bradford City A.F.C.

Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

. In October 2000 he joined Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

 on a free transfer. He played 13 times for them, before retiring due to persistent glandular fever problems.

Clubs

• 1993-1998 :   Everton
  Everton F.C.
  Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
  
  

1998 :   Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

 (loan)

• 1998-2000 :   Sheffield United
  Sheffield United F.C.
  Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...
  
  
• 2000-2002 :   Blackpool
  Blackpool F.C.
  Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...