NEVER MIND YOUR Platinum Jubilee.
Lee O’Connor is the Quiet Man of the Republic of Ireland establishment who has provided service with distinction from the age of 14.
Including his one senior cap against New Zealand in 2019, the 21-year-old has represented his country 75 times.
A defeat to Poland at Under-15 level was the start of the journey for the Waterford native – who hopes victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina tonight will be the catalyst for a final push to the Under-21 European Championships.
The defender’s talents took him to Manchester United, then Celtic, before his most recent season with Tranmere Rovers provided a solid footing in senior club football.
But in green his work has been done away from the spotlight.
Not that it has gone unnoticed.
He was FAI player of the year in that first international age group in 2015. He collected the same award for the Under-19s in 2018 while recognition as the Under-21 player of the year also arrived in 2019. That was the same year the versatile operator was part of Tom Mohan’s Under-19s that reached the semi-final of the European Championships.
“I’d swap all the player of the years to qualify now, nobody has done it,” he says of the Under-21 age group. “Last year was probably the closest we’ve come to it. It is the perfect way to sign off for my underage career.
“I have had a lot of caps and I have had a great time but this would be the perfect way to top it off. My mam and dad (Ann and Noel) have travelled the world to come see me in most of my games. They have been there for most of the 75.
I get asked all the time how many I have but I could never tell you. But it’s my last campaign and I want to get to 80, and the only way to get to 80 is if we qualify.”
To give an indication of the churn of talent in the age groups, he reckons Aaron Connolly is the sole survivor of that first Under-15 camp to progress throughout the ranks.
“I think that might be it. I mean I probably forgot someone and I apologise,” he says.
Despite his experience, O’Connor’s Under-21 boss, Jim Crawford, has seen the player develop further. “Lee is one of them who has grown for me over the last year and a bit, in this campaign.
“Lee will be open enough to say that he’s a quiet fella. He’s definitely grown as a person over the last while. You can say that’s what we do at international football but it’s also what he does at his club.
“He’s a first team player at Tranmere. He’s a big player at Tranmere. He’s got that taste of what it means to win games. Up to the last couple of games of the season they were there or thereabouts in the playoffs. That in itself is part of that journey where there’s pressure on those games. Lee has come in over the last few windows and for me he’s matured.
“He’s very good with the younger players. We’re slowly integrating certain players that would be involved for the next campaign. Lee has shown his maturity with those players in and around the hotel. On the training pitch I’ve certainly seen an improvement in the way he trains.
“I showed him clips the other day, there’s a lot of good clips from him in terms of how hard he works to get back into the defensive shape. That was something I said to him a while back.
“Just keep focusing on that because he can do it. He’s certainly matured and developed into a leader in his own right.”
They are the same traits which O’Connor reckons this group have developed as a unit over the course of a campaign which has stuttered with defeat away to Montenegro, but been brought back to life by back-to-back wins against Sweden.
“We have won in different ways, which is always the sign of a good team. The last performance away in Sweden was different to what we have done before but we executed the game plan perfectly. That will give us confidence as well,” O’Connor reckons.
“I think maybe we’ve grown as a group, we seem to be improving, every camp we come in we seem to be getting better and better and it just feels like it’s all coming together at the right time.
“I mean, we had a great chance last year but we fell at the last hurdle. That’s something I’m keen not to do again.”
