Brian O'Donnell

Brian Francis O'Donnell (8 August 1957 - 5 November 2020) was a Scottish professional footballer and football manager.

For the Gaelic footballer, see Brian O'Donnell (Gaelic footballer).

Brian O'Donnell
O'Donnell at Dorchester Town FC
Personal information
Full name Brian Francis O'Donnell[1]
Date of birth (1957-08-08) 8 August 1957
Place of birth Port Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death 05 November 2020
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Youth career
1973-1975 Bournemouth
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1976 Bournemouth 0 (0)
1976–1978 Bristol Rovers 0 (0)
1978–1980 Western Suburbs S.C 42 (4)
1980–1981 APIA Leichhardt FC 4 (1)
1981–1982 Blacktown City Demons 40 (15)
1982–1983 Bournemouth 14 (0)
1983–1984 Torquay United 19 (1)
1984 South Melbourne 0 (0)
1984–1985 Footscray 24 (0)
1986–1987 Bath City 28 (0)
Teams managed
1993 - 1999 Bournemouth Sports Club F.C
2000 - 2001 Bournemouth Poppies
2002 - 2003 Poole Town
2005 - 2009 AFC Bournemouth Youth
2009 Dorchester Town
2013 Frome Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

O'Donnell began his career as an apprentice with AFC Bournemouth. He turned professional with Bristol Rovers in May 1976 before emigrating to Australia, making over 40 appearances for Western Suburbs SC (NSW) before the club was taken over by APIA Leichhardt FC at the end of the 1978 season.

Blacktown City FC signed O'Donnell from APIA Leichhardt FC for AUD$8,000 in 1979. O'Donnell was only the third player in Blacktown's history to score on his debut in a 3–1 win against Brisbane City, the previous two being Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan.

O'Donnell went on to win Player of the Season for Blacktown City FC in successive seasons.

O'Donnell then moved back to the UK and resigned for AFC Bournemouth and made 14 appearances during the 1981-1982 Third Division winning season.[2] He then moved to Torquay United in October 1982 on a free transfer, making his debut at left-back in place of Mark Smith in the 3–1 win at home to Northampton Town on 16 October.[3] He played 19 league games before he returned to Australia to sign for South Melbourne FC.

A torn adductor muscle meant appearances for Footscray F.C. were limited and in February 1986, O'Donnell returned to the UK and joined Bath City.[4] Later, playing for Basingstoke Town, Bashley, Poole Town and Salisbury City.

He was appointed as manager of Bournemouth Sports CMFC in 1993 winning the Dorset Combination League title and Dorset Combination Cup along with notable success in the FA Cup.[5]

In 1999, O'Donnell joined Salisbury F.C. as Reserve team manager before taking over as manager of Bournemouth Poppies in February 2000.

Bournemouth Poppies managed to avoid relegation following O'Donnell's arrival, despite a points deduction placed on the club. In June 2001 amid a mass resignation of the Poppies executive committee,[6] and after steering the club to a comfortable mid-table finish,[7] O'Donnell left and in January the following year took over as manager of Poole Town[8] finishing 5th in the Hampshire Premier League.[9]

However, he left Poole in August 2002.

In 2003, O'Donnell took part in the Marathon des Sables.[10]

He later returned to AFC Bournemouth as their youth coach.[11]

In 2007, it was revealed in the Bournemouth Echo that O'Donnell was acting as a broker for an unnamed businessman in an unsuccessful takeover bid of the AFC Bournemouth.[12] Following a rival takeover, the club went into administration for the second time in their history the following year.[13]

In February 2009 he joined the coaching staff at Dorchester Town as caretaker manager.[14]

Despite an impressive start that drew four points from four games, including a 0–0 draw away to league-topping Basingstoke and with only having nine players signed, O'Donnell was not offered the job full-time and instead the position was given to Roy O'Brien by chairman Eddie Mitchell. O'Brien had been due to walk away from the club prior to being convinced to stay on when O'Donnell took over. O'Brien was subsequently sacked later that year due to a string of poor performances[15]

O'Donnell was appointed Manager of Frome Town in 2013 [16] after working as a Scout for Middlesbrough following similar spells with West Bromwich and Hibernian.[17]

O'Donnell later returned to Dorchester Town F.C. as the Director of Football before having to step down due to ill health.[18]

References
  1. Barry J. Hugman. The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946 – 1998. Queen Anne Press. p. 410. ISBN 1-85291-585-4.
  2. "Remembering 1981/82 Promotion". AFCB. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  3. Leigh Edwards. The definitive Torquay United F.C. ISBN 1-899468-09-9.
  4. "Past Players – O". Bath City F.C. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  5. "Bournemouth Sports AFC – A brief history". Bournemouth Sports CMFC. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  6. "O'Donnell fears end of Poppies". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 1 June 2001. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  7. "2000–01 Wessex Football League", Wikipedia, 17 July 2020, retrieved 28 December 2020
  8. "'Unfit' Dolphins take the points". Dorset Echo. 14 January 2002. Archived from the original on 25 June 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  9. "Hampshire League 1992-2004". www.nonleaguematters.co.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  10. "Footballer tackles cancer". www2.newsquest.co.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  11. "Brian has an eye on the future". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  12. "THERE IS A CHOICE". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  13. "Bournemouth enter administration". 8 February 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  14. "O'Donnell joins caretaking team". Dorset Echo. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "FOOTBALL: O'Donnell handed Frome job". Wiltshire Times. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  17. admin (8 October 2020). "Where Are They Now? Bournemouth Division Four promotion-winners 1981-82". The League Paper. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  18. "Brian O'Donnell steps down from the Board of Directors | Dorchester Town Football Club". Retrieved 21 November 2020.
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