D.O.B 07 May 1983
O’Connor made his debut under manager Alex McLeish in April 2001 as a substitute against Dundee , his only appearance that season. The following season it looked as though O’Connor would need to wait longer for a regular place in the side, making just four appearances by Christmas. However the departure of Alex McLeish to Rangers and the arrival of new manager Franck Sauzée saw O’Connor feature more regularly in the first team. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1-1 draw with Celtic in February 2002, and although Sauzee was sacked later that month, O’Connor continued to feature in the first team under Sauzee’s successor Bobby Williamson. O’Connor went on to score a further 7 goals that season, including goals in 5 consecutive games between March and April.
His impressive form towards the end of the season was noticed by Scotland national team manager Berti Vogts, who gave O’Connor his debut against against South Korea in May 2002.
Following a period in which he struggled to fulfill his early promise, the arrival of manager Tony Mowbray at Hibs in May 2004 led to improved form for both O’Connor and the team as a whole. Hibs’ impressive 2004-05 campaign (in which they finished third in the Premier League) led to speculation that many of their talented young players would move abroad, or to the Old Firm. With O’Connor firmly establishing himself in the Hibs team, he won a recall to the Scotland squad and once again began to be linked with a move away from the club. O’Connor had formed a formidable partnership with Derek Riordan at Hibs and between them they scored 42 goals that season as Hibs qualified for the UEFA Cup.
O’Connor’s form continued in 2005-06 and he scored his first Scotland goal in a 2-2 draw with Austria in August 2005.
Lokomotiv Moscow
On 26 February 2006, it was reported that O’Connor was set to join Lokomotiv Moscow for approximately £1.6 million. This offer was subsequently accepted by Hibernian, with Tony Mowbray conceding that the personal terms on offer (including a reputed weekly wage of £16,000) were “life-changing for Garry and his family”. On 6 March it was announced that the transfer had been agreed [5]. O’Connor scored a total of 58 goals for Hibs in all competitions and scored in his final Hibs appearance against Falkirk in the Scottish Cup [6].
On 22 March 2006, O’Connor scored for the first time for his new club, the opening goal in a 2-2 draw with Spartak Moscow in a Russian Cup tie. He opened the scoring for his side against Torpedo Moscow in a 4-1 win on 14 May. In the 2006 season he scored 7 league goals and 1 cup goal in the 29 matches he played in (although only on the field for the full 90 minutes in 5 matches – he averaged 58 minutes of playing time per match), and was yellow-carded once. In Moscow he has formed a partnership with Russian international Dmitry Sychev, although Dramane Traoré, the Mali international, has threatened his position.
On 27 May 2007, O’Connor came off the bench to score the winning goal for Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Cup final against city rivals FK Moscow. The extra-time goal, coming in the 109th minute, was enough to seal a 1-0 victory for the railway team, and provided a measure of redemption for O’Connor, who struggled to settle into life in Russia, and was repeatedly linked with a return to British football. On June 27, he completed a £2.65m move to Birmingham.
International
Appearances 11
Goals 4
Yellow Cards 0
Red Cards 0
Matches
F.I.F.A. World Cup Qualifier
12 Oct 2005 SLOVENIA 0 – 3 SCOTLAND
26 Mar 2005 ITALY 2 – 0 SCOTLAND
International Challenge Match
30 May 2007 AUSTRIA 0 – 1 SCOTLAND
12 Nov 2005 SCOTLAND 1 – 1 USA
17 Aug 2005 AUSTRIA 2 – 2 SCOTLAND
16 May 2002 SOUTH KOREA 4 – 1 SCOTLAND
17 Apr 2002 SCOTLAND 1 – 2 NIGERIA
Reunification Cup
Date Home Team – Score – Away Team Goals Cards
23 May 2002 HONG KONG 0 – 4 SCOTLAND
U.E.F.A. European Championship Qualifier
06 Jun 2007 FAROE ISLANDS 0 – 2 SCOTLAND
07 Oct 2006 SCOTLAND 1 – 0 FRANCE
02 Sep 2006 SCOTLAND 6 – 0 FAROE ISLANDS
