About Darren O'Dea
Darren O'Dea (born 4 February 1987) is an Irish professional football coach and former player. He played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represented the Republic of Ireland internationally He is currently assistant manager of Slovan Bratislava. O'Dea began his career at the youth team of Celtic, with whom he played from 2006 to 2012. During his time at Celtic, he was loaned to Reading, Ipswich Town and Leeds United. While playing for Leeds, O'Dea won the Ireland Young International Player of the Year Award. For more first-team opportunities he switched clubs and countries, joining Toronto FC of Major League Soccer for a year until 2013. The following season, he represented FC Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine. O'Dea's stint was cut short due to the Ukrainian political situation, and he returned to England with Blackpool. In July 2015, he signed with Indian Super League club Mumbai City FC. After three years with Dundee, O'Dea retired from playing professionally in 2019. He then became a coach at Motherwell, while playing semi-professionally for East Kilbride. After being capped by the youth national teams of the Republic of Ireland, O'Dea made his senior-team debut in 2009 and was capped 20 times up to 2013. He represented Ireland at the 2012 UEFA European Championship. O'Dea made his first league starting appearance against Dunfermline Athletic four days after his Champions League debut. After making his way through the reserves and academy side, he made his first-team debut for Celtic in the Scottish League Cup against St Mirren in September 2006.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.