Roy O'Donovan

Roy Simon O'Donovan (born 10 August 1985) is an Irish former footballer who played as a striker. He has been capped by Ireland at Under-19, Under-21 and B level. O'Donovan has previously played for Cork City, Sunderland, Dundee United, Blackpool, Southend United, Hartlepool United, Coventry City, Hibernian, Northampton Town, DPMM FC, Mitra Kukar FC, Central Coast Mariners, Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets and Sydney Olympic.

Club career O'Donovan played schoolboy football for Blarney Street United Cork. In 2001, he signed for English Premier League club Coventry City as a trainee, He scored in a UEFA Cup win in July 2005 versus Ekranas of Lithuania, City were eventually eliminated by Slavia Prague. The following season they competed in the Champions league qualifying phase but came up short against Red Star Belgrade (Crevena Zvezda). He was named the eircom/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) Player of the Month for November 2005 and won the award again in November 2006 after being switched to centre forward from midfield, he was also a nominee for the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) player of the year the same season.

On 21 November it was reported that Wolverhampton Wanderers were interested in signing O'Donovan, but that they were denied permission to speak to him about a move by Cork City. On 7 July 2007, he scored as Cork City drew 1–1 with Swedish Allsvenskan club Hammarby in the second round of the 2007 Intertoto Cup. He scored a total of 31 league goals in 74 league appearances for the club was top scorer in the 2007 Setanta Cup, as well as competing in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League in 2006 scoring 2 goals in European competitions in his time at CCFC.

Sunderland In July 2007, Fulham agreed a fee with Cork City to sign O'Donovan, however, Roy Keane signed him for Sunderland on 7 August for a League of Ireland record transfer fee of €500,000, with O'Donovan saying, "I had a choice between Fulham and Sunderland but when I spoke to the gaffer [Roy Keane] my mind was made up." The fee can increase to €1 million depending on appearances for club and country. He signed a three-year contract, He made his Premier League debut for Sunderland as a 70th-minute substitute in the 2–2 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew's on 15 August. His first start of the season came on 21 October in the 3–1 defeat to West Ham United at Upton Park, although he was substituted in the 46th minute. O'Donovan made seventeen appearances for the Black Cats in the 2007–08 season, starting just four Barclays Premier League games.

Dundee United On 8 August 2008, he signed a one-year loan deal with Dundee United, under then manager Craig Levein. He made his debut for the Tangerines on 11 August in a 3–1 defeat to Hamilton Academical at New Douglas Park. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 home win over St Mirren on 25 October, after coming on as a 67th-minute substitute: the goal was a poignant one, coming in front of a full stadium of supporters who had turned up to commemorate the passing of the popular club chairman Eddie Thompson. On 1 November, he was sent off in the 57th minute of the 0–0 draw against Falkirk at the Falkirk Stadium. In late December he was one of three players along with Michael Chopra and Anthony Stokes recalled by Sunderland who were struggling with injuries.

Blackpool On 9 January 2009, he signed for Championship club Blackpool on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut for the Seasiders in the 2–1 defeat to Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena on 17 January. He played mainly as a right-sided midfielder. What had been a successful loan spell up to this point took a turn for the worse when on 10 March, he was taken to hospital after being taken ill with suspected appendicitis before Blackpool's game against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Two days later he had keyhole surgery to remove his appendix. He returned to action just a month later on 11 April in Blackpool's 1–0 West Lancashire Derby win over Preston North End at Deepdale. He retained his place in the side for the following game, a 2–2 draw against Reading.

Southend United On 16 September 2009, O'Donovan joined Southend United on a one-month emergency loan deal. He scored on his debut against Brighton & Hove Albion, in the 3–2 win. O'Donovan made a further two league appearances plus one in the Football League Trophy before returning to Sunderland once the loan was completed.

Hartlepool United On 23 February 2010, he joined Hartlepool United on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season. He made his debut for Hartlepool in their 4–1 home win over Carlisle United on 23 February 2010. On 6 March 2010, he scored his first goals for Hartlepool, a hat-trick against Southend, who he was with at the beginning of the season. O'Donovan went on to make 15 appearances scoring 9 goals before returning to parent club Sunderland at the end of the season.

Coventry City O'Donovan signed a three–year deal with Coventry City on 25 June 2010 becoming new manager Aidy Boothroyd's third signing of the close season. He officially transferred to Coventry on 1 July 2010, five years after leaving them as an academy player. He scored his first goal for the Sky Blues against Bury FC in August 2011. O'Donovan suffered a fractured metatarsal in an nPower championship game against Barnsley in November 2011 which meant a significant period recovering on the sidelines. He signed on loan for Hibernian FC on his return to fitness on 31 January 2012 for the remainder of the season. O'Donovan returned to Coventry for the 2012–13 season and made some first team appearances under the new management of Mark Robins, but mutually agreed to terminate his contract on 31 January 2013.

Hibernian O'Donovan was loaned to Hibernian in January 2012 for the rest of the 2011–12 season where he scored two goals against Kilmarnock FC and a goal in the Scottish cup quarter final against Ayr United en route to the Scottish Cup Final at Hamden Park that season, O'Donovans goal versus Kilmarnock FC was a memorable one and an SPL goal of the month nominee>

Northampton Town

O'Donovan signed for Northampton Town on a free transfer in January 2013. A move he later turned down.

Brunei DPMM After previously rejecting a contract after initial talks in January, O'Donovan signed a contract with Brunei DPMM FC in February 2014 as their marquee player in the Singapore S.League. He won his first pieces of silverware in Asia when picking up the Starhub S.League Cup in July 2014 and was also voted as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. O'Donovan finished the season with 26 goals in total and as a firm fans favourite.

Mitra Kukar In February 2015, he was signed by Mitra Kukar of the Indonesian Super League. Having enjoyed success in Asia the previous season scoring 26 goals in 35 games in the Singapore S.League in all competitions with Brunei DPMM. He was to spend only two months in Indonesia due to the newly formed Indonesian Super League (ISL) being scrapped by FIFA regarding ongoing issues with the football association of Indonesia.

Central Coast Mariners On 30 May 2015, the Central Coast Mariners announced that they had signed O'Donovan to a 2-season contract. He made his competitive debut for the club in an FFA Cup match against Wellington Phoenix on 12 August 2015. He missed a penalty late in the same match. In his A-League debut against Perth Glory on 10 October 2015, O'Donovan opened the scoring in the game finding the net after a shot from Fábio Ferreira was rebounded to him by the glory keeper Ante Covic. The Mariners won the match 3–2.

On 31 December 2015, O'Donovan was involved in an incident in a match versus the Wellington Phoenix, where he deliberately head-butted Phoenix defender Manny Muscat in retaliation for an off the ball elbow he received from the defender, O'Donovan was sanctioned during the match for the act as the referee awarded the player a yellow card. However, he was later handed an eight-match ban by the Football Federation Australia disciplinary committee for his conduct, one of the longest bans in A-League history. Manny Muscat also received a multiple game suspension for his elbow that triggered the incident. O'Donovan finished his first season in Australia as the club's golden boot winner as well as the winner of the Hyundai A League 'Goal of the Season'

Newcastle Jets On 19 April 2017, O'Donovan signed a two-year contract with another A-League team, the Newcastle Jets. He reportedly turned down offers from Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar, Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners. In the 2018 A-League Grand Final he was sent off with a straight red card after a high boot to the head of the opposing team's goal keeper while trying to score a goal in the final minute of the 2018 A-League Grand Final. He was subsequently suspended for 10 games

Brisbane Roar On 24 June 2019, O'Donovan signed a two-year deal with Brisbane Roar after choosing not to re-sign with Newcastle Jets. He scored his first goal for the club in his debut on 13 October 2019, snatching a late draw against Perth Glory in the season opener. On 17 November 2019, O'Donovan secured his first hat-trick for Roar in a 4–3 home win against Melbourne City.

Newcastle Jets On 2 February 2020, O'Donovan signed an 18-month contract with the Jets. In 2020, O'Donovan became an Australian citizen and counts as a local player under A-League regulations.

Sydney Olympic On 21 October 2021, O'Donovan signed with Sydney Olympic for 2022 National Premier Leagues NSW Seasons. He made his league debut on 5 March 2022, in a 1–0 loss against Manly United wearing the number 99. A week later, he scored his first goal for the club against Rockdale Ilinden. O'Donovan prolific form continued throughout the season, helping his side win the NPL Premiership and winning the golden boot. He was also named in the NPL NSW Men's Team of the Year with teammate Darcy Burgess who was named as a substitute.

On 18 November 2022, O'Donovan renewed his contract and was additionally appointed as assistant coach with head coach Labinot Haliti prior to the 2023 season.

Having scored over 50 goals across 3 seasons for the National Premier Leagues team, O'Donovan announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2024 National Premier Leagues NSW season.

Newcastle Olympic

Despite announcing his retirement a month before, O'Donovan signed for Newcastle Olympic of the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW for the upcoming 2025 season. He finally hung up his boots after six goals in as many games.

International career O'Donovan has played for the Republic of Ireland Under-19, Under-21 He went on to make eight appearances for the under-21s, scoring once.

On 21 November 2007, he played for Republic of Ireland B as they drew 1–1 with Scotland B in a friendly international at the Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie.

In May 2007, O'Donovan expressed his surprise and disappointment at not being part of the Republic of Ireland squad for the end of season international matches against Ecuador and Bolivia, a squad in which his Cork City teammate Joe Gamble was included. O'Donovan said, "I'm surprised to be honest with you. I've scored 25 goals in the last 25 or 26 games so I can't do any more. I would have liked a reason why I'm not in it, but that's life."

A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including substitutes) in the Football League Trophy. B. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including substitutes) in the A-League Finals Series.

Honours Eircom League Premier League: 2005 Starhub Singapore League Cup: 2014

Individual Starhub S-league League Cup Most Valuable Player 2014 A-League Goal of the Year: 2015–16 Professional Footballers Australia A-League Player of the Month for October 2017 National Premier Leagues NSW Golden Boot 2022 National Premier Leagues NSW Team of the Year 2022