O’Neill, John

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Personal

Fullname: John Joseph O’Neill
aka: John O’Neill
Born: 2 January 1974
Birthplace: Bellshill
Signed: 16 May 1994
Left: 29 March 1996
Position: Striker
Debut: Celtic 0-0 Partick Thistle, League, 9 Nov 1994
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 0
International Goals: 0

Biog

Striker John O’Neill signed for the Bhoys from amateurs Queen’s Park in May 1994. He made 91 appearances for them scoring 30 goals. He was signed to Celtic by Lou Macari at the very end of the 1993-94 season in desperation to find a striker but Celtic had no money in the pot. Lou Macari was soon to be cut and John O’Neill had to now convince new management under Tommy Burns.

After playing a couple of trials with the Reserves, notably against Stirling Albion he was given a 1 year contract. He played in Mark Hughes Testimonial at the end of the season where he was on the end of a Steve Bruce tackle which saw him withdrawn with a hamstring injury and meant he missed the end-of-season tournament in Canada.

John had worked in the same bank as Malky MacKay whilst playing part-time with Queens Park. He started 1994-95 with the first team squad playing in two pre-season Friendlies and after a spell with the Reserves where he did well he was given a debut against Partick Thistle in November 1994 (a dreary 0-0 home league draw) before returning to spend the rest of the season with the Reserves.

It was a difficult time of transition, coming just as the Celtic Takeover was completed, and a new manager in Tommy Burns was installed. The club was still a bit of a mess at the time, but being steered in the right direction under Chief Executive Fergus McCann. No easy environment for a young player to try to make his name in.

He left to join Bournemouth in 1996.

Post Celtic Career:
He had a productive period with Bournemouth becoming an attacking midfielder and after 4 seasons with the side he returned to Scotland to join Ross County in November 2000 making only 2 appearances before joining Queen of the South.

It was with the Dumfries club that John really made his mark. He had two spells at Palmerston Park, from 2001 to 2003 and then 2005 until the end of the 2007/08 season. He was known as “the penalty king” because he scored in 27 out of 29 attempts for Queen of the South assembling 70 goals in his 189 appearances in a blue shirt and was been top scorer for the last two seasons.

In between his time at QotS he had a two season spell with St Mirren and left when his contract expired.

The highlight of his career will have been the Scottish Cup Final in 2008 against Rangers which was an incredible achievement for a lower tier side to make the final. The Doonhamers narrowly lost but John did not start but was subbed on. He had been an inspiration to the team and drove them on through their season.

At the end of the season he left to take up the Player/Assistant Manager’s position from another ex-Celt, Mark McNally, at Stirling Albion. However, he didn’t last too long sadly and was sacked by Stirling in January 2011. He then went junior with Auchinleck Talbot.

John O’Neill is a respected figure in the game, and we wish him the best.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

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