Alan O'Brien
Alan O'Brien is an Irish former footballer who last played for Wealdstone. O'Brien, who played as a winger, represented the Republic of Ireland at full international level five times, all while he was on the books of Newcastle United.
Club career
Newcastle United
O'Brien played for Cabinteely and St Josephs at youth level in Ireland before signing for Newcastle United. He played in the under–17 national championship winning team who beat Manchester United 5–2 in a final played over two legs at Old Trafford and St James' Park. He then featured regularly for the Newcastle reserve team during the 2003/04 season, but he suffered a broken leg in a training ground accident in July 2004. O'Brien progressed in the next year to the extent that he was in the first team squad, but he was sent on loan to Carlisle United during October 2005. He scored within 10 minutes of his debut for Carlisle, but the loan spell was cut short due to injury.O'Brien made his Newcastle first team debut on 7 January 2006 in a FA Cup tie against Mansfield Town. Wolves and Norwich City were interested in signing O'Brien, but Glenn Roeder kept O'Brien due to the demands on a small Newcastle squad. O'Brien eventually made his first full Premier League appearance on 20 January 2007 against West Ham United at St James' Park. He played the full 90 minutes against West Ham, but never made another first team start.
Hibernian
On 25 June 2007, O'Brien agreed to sign a three-year contract with Scottish Premier League side Hibernian after the expiry of his contract with Newcastle United, who were entitled to compensation. O'Brien initially struggled to win a place in the Hibernian team, and he turned down a loan move to Football League One side Crewe Alexandra in January 2008. He played more regularly for Hibs during the 2008–09 season, although he missed two months due to a knee injury. He was released by the club on 1 July 2009 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.Swindon Town
Soon after his release by Hibernian, O'Brien signed for Swindon Town. He made his debut for Swindon on the opening day of the 2009–10 season in a 5–0 defeat away at Gillingham.O'Brien managed four appearances for Swindon before suffering a hamstring injury in August. O'Brien made just one substitute appearance under the management of Paul Hart, who decided to release O'Brien from his contract in April 2011. O'Brien made a total of 40 appearances, the majority as a substitute, in two seasons for Swindon.