Stephen O'Halloran

Aston Villa

O'Halloran was born in Cobh and played for local side Springfield A.F.C., before joining Aston Villa. He broke into the Villa squad for their 2006–07 pre-season friendlies but did not make any first team appearances. In late 2007, O'Halloran began talks over a new long-term contract; it was later confirmed on 31 January 2008, when he signed a new contract with Aston Villa, keeping him at the club until 2009. However, at the beginning of the 2009–10 season O'Halloran was omitted from the press release announcing Villa's squad numbers. O'Halloran's number 29 shirt was given to Welsh international defender James Collins upon his signing for the club. O'Halloran returned for the reserves, in the national play-off final against Manchester United. Despite never making an appearance, O'Halloran credited O'Neill for standing by him when he was suffering from injury.

Loans

O'Halloran was loaned out to League Two side Wycombe Wanderers in October 2006. After appearing as an un-used substitute for four matches, O'Halloran made his Wycombe Wanderers debut, making his first start, in a 2–0 loss against Hartlepool United on 25 November 2006. After making ten appearances for the club, O'Halloran's loan spell with Wycombe Wanderers was extended until 20 January 2007. A week after extending his loan, O'Halloran then played a pivotal role in guiding them to the semi-finals of the Football League Cup. However, his loan spell ran out before the second-leg, and…

On 16 May 2007, O'Halloran was named in Steve Staunton's Republic of Ireland squad and played in the friendlies against Ecuador and Bolivia, despite not having played a single first team game for Aston Villa. O'Halloran also represented his country at U15, U16, U17 and U21 level. He won the FAI Under 21 player of the year in 2008.

As of match played 23 April 2022