Aiden Anthony O'Brien (born 4 October 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for National League club Woking. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team.
O'Brien began his career with Millwall, who loaned him out to five different clubs. After making 188 league appearances for Millwall, he moved to Sunderland, before moving on to Portsmouth and finally Shrewsbury, where he had two further loan spells.
Born in Islington, London,[4] O'Brien started his career in the youth system at Millwall and signed his first professional contract in 2010 on his 17th birthday.[5] He made his debut for the club in the League Cup third round 5–0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers, coming on as a substitute for Dany N'Guessan.[6] On 1 January 2012, O'Brien signed for Conference South side Staines Town on a one-month loan.[7]
A month later, O'Brien signed for Conference Premier side Hayes and Yeading on a one-month loan and immediately found himself playing games.[8]
In May 2014, O'Brien agreed a new two-year deal with Millwall with the 20-year-old being highly regarded by Millwall manager Ian Holloway.[9]
O'Brien made his first appearance of the 2014–15 season coming on as a substitute for Richard Chaplow against Southampton in the League Cup. The game finished 2–0 to Southampton.[10] A month later, in September 2014, he made his first league appearance for Millwall in a 3–1 defeat to Birmingham City. O'Brien spoke of his delight of fulfilling a lifelong ambition when he made his league debut for Millwall and has dedicated the achievement to his father.[11][12]
At the end of the 2017–18 season, his contract was extended by Millwall after the club exercised an option.[13] He left Millwall at the end of 2019–2020 season, after his contract expired.[14]
On 30 July 2020, O'Brien signed for Sunderland, on a two-year deal.[15] On 8 September 2020 he scored his first goal for Sunderland in an EFL Trophy tie against Aston Villa U21s.[16]
On 24 August 2021, O'Brien scored a hat-trick against Blackpool in the second round of the EFL Cup. His third goal came in the first minute of stoppage time to secure a dramatic 3–2 victory, earning him the "Player of the Round" award.[17][18]
On 31 January 2022, O'Brien joined EFL League One side Portsmouth on a free transfer.[19] He scored his first goal for the club against Doncaster Rovers on 12 February 2022.[20]
Despite being offered a new contract by Portsmouth,[21] O'Brien opted to sign a two-year deal with fellow EFL League One side Shrewsbury Town.[22]
On the last day of the January 2023 transfer window O'Brien signed for EFL League Two side Gillingham on loan for the remainder of the 2022–23 season.[23]
On 1 August 2023, O'Brien signed for League Two club Sutton United on loan until January 2024.[24]
He was released by Shrewsbury at the end of the 2023–24 season.[25]
On 12 August 2024, O'Brien signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Shelbourne on a multi-year contract.[26] On 31 December 2024, it was announced that O'Brien had departed the club.[27]
On 4 January 2025, O'Brien joined National League club Woking on a short-term contract until the end of the season.[28]
On 6 February 2013, O'Brien scored on his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21s against Netherlands in a 3–0 win at Tallaght Stadium.[29] O'Brien then scored his first competitive goal and his third goal for Ireland in 4–1 away win against the Faroe Islands.[30] On 15 November 2013, O'Brien scored another two goals against the Faroe Islands in a 5–2 win at The Showgrounds.[31]
O'Brien scored five times for the U21s, placing him two goals off Robbie Brady's all time goal scoring record of seven.
In September 2017, O'Brien was called up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Wales.[32]
On 11 September 2018, O'Brien scored his first senior international goal for Ireland on his debut in a friendly against Poland in Wrocław which finished 1–1.[33] The goal would later be named as the 2018 FAI International Goal of the Year.[34]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Millwall | 2011–12[35] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2012–13[36] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14[37] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15[38] | Championship | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 20 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16[39] | League One | 43 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8[a] | 2 | 53 | 13 | |
| 2016–17[40] | League One | 43 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6[b] | 0 | 57 | 15 | |
| 2017–18[41] | Championship | 30 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 32 | 6 | ||
| 2018–19[42] | Championship | 35 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 42 | 4 | ||
| 2019–20[43] | Championship | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 21 | 4 | ||
| Total | 188 | 34 | 14 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 226 | 44 | ||
| Staines Town (loan) | 2011–12[44] | Conference South | 2 | 0 | — | — | 1[c] | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Hates & Yeading United (loan) | 2011–12[35] | Conference Premier | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Crawley Town (loan) | 2012–13[36] | League One | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Aldershot Town (loan) | 2013–14[37] | Conference Premier | 5 | 3 | — | — | 4[c] | 4 | 9 | 7 | ||
| Torquay United (loan) | 2013–14[37] | League Two | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Sunderland | 2020–21[45] | League One | 32 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7[d] | 2 | 41 | 6 |
| 2021–22[46] | League One | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 2[e] | 0 | 12 | 5 | |
| Total | 39 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 53 | 11 | ||
| Portsmouth | 2021–22[47] | League One | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| Shrewsbury Town | 2022–23[48] | League One | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 2023–24[49] | League One | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| Gillingham (loan) | 2022–23[48] | League Two | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
| Sutton United (loan) | 2023–24[49] | League Two | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1[e] | 0 | 29 | 2 |
| Shelbourne | 2024[50] | LOI Premier Division | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 10 | 2 | ||
| Woking | 2024–25 | National League | 9 | 3 | — | — | 4[f] | 1 | 13 | 4 | ||
| 2025–26 | National League | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[g] | 0 | 14 | 1 | ||
| Total | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 1 | 27 | 5 | |||
| Career total | 350 | 52 | 20 | 6 | 17 | 8 | 35 | 9 | 422 | 75 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 September 2018 | Stadion Miejski, Wrocław, Poland |  Poland |
1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
Millwall
Sunderland
Individual
Shelbourne
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