Jay O’Shea has established himself as one of the Isuzu UTE A-League’s premier attackers since joining Brisbane Roar in 2019. On the cusp of history, the 2021-22 All Star shares his journey from the Premier League to Australia with KEEPUP’s Sacha Pisani.
Jay O’Shea’s 21st birthday was no ordinary celebration. August 10, 2009 was also the day he left his native Republic of Ireland for Premier League side Birmingham City.
He had other plans, but six days after arriving from Galway United, he was thrust into the action for his Premier League debut – an opening-day showdown against Sir Alex Ferguson’s reigning champions Manchester United at Old Trafford.
“That’s something I’ll cherish forever,” Brisbane Roar star O’Shea, who was a substitute in the 2-0 defeat, told KEEPUP.
“I was a big United fan growing up. I used to watch all the videos of (Eric) Cantona, (Ryan) Giggsy, (Lee) Sharpe all them boys. To get the chance to play there, it was obviously a baptism of fire playing against those champions.
“It’s something I’m not sure if it came too soon in my career in England. I signed for Birmingham on my 21st birthday on the Monday morning. Played an in-house game on the Tuesday and the gaffer must’ve liked what he saw.
“I didn’t even think I would’ve travelled to be honest. I made plans for my mum to come over and I was going to show her around Birmingham but on the Friday, I went in and my name was on the sheet to go to Manchester.
“So she had to come down to Manchester. It was a special day for her, she got to see me make my debut in the Premier League.”
Unfortunately for O’Shea, it was the only Premier League match he would play, not only as a Birmingham player but in his career.
That experience at St Andrew’s, however, was priceless and it has shaped the player Roar fans see flourishing in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
“I was learning things there without realising,” the 34-year-old attacker, who did play a pair of EFL Cup matches that season, recalled. “I would say when I first got there, I was probably quite loose in possession. I was a winger and lost the ball a bit too much. Those older pros would let you know.
“When I look back, that was the moment where I learned to protect the ball the most. Now when you see me play, I rarely give the ball away. If I could go back to that time with how I play now, I would have a lot better chance of breaking into that team.”
READ MORE ON KEEPUP
THE EQUATION: This is the ‘magic number’ in this season’s Isuzu UTE A-League
NEDS WEEKEND PREVIEW: 8 seconds of footage show the A-Leagues has a ‘world class athlete’
INS AND OUTS: Star Socceroo is BACK, squads confirmed for Liberty A-League Preliminary Final
BOS: A-Leagues’ all-time transfer record under threat
GOALS GALORE: The ‘collective blitz’ that is driving the Isuzu UTE A-League towards a record
As O’Shea suggests, when you watch the former Republic of Ireland international – who scored in an Under-21 match against a Spain team boasting Jordi Alba and Cesar Azpilicueta – play now in Australia, he is tidy in possession. It comes with maturity and experience.
He is no longer that young winger; instead, operating in his preferred no.10 role, the Irishman is a goals-coring threat with nine goals.
O’Shea, who joined the Roar in 2019, last week equalled the club record for most consecutive goalscoring outings alongside Brisbane and A-Leagues legend Besart Berisha from 2012.
If he scores against Sydney FC on Monday, the Roar man will eclipse the record. He will also take another step towards the all-time record, held by Melbourne City’s Jamie Maclaren (10).
“When I got here, I came off the back of a really good goalscoring season,” he said, referring to his 15-goal league campaign with Chesterfield United in 2018-19.
“I did start playing a bit deeper when I got here I was playing No.6 whereas before I was used to playing no.10. It was strange for me not getting any opportunities on the back of that season.
“It’s nice to get back in the goals. To be mentioned in the same sentence as Besart Berisha. I was lucky enough to play against him at Western United.
“To be mentioned even alongside him, even when it was the five-goal streak with Jamie Maclaren as well. It’s probably hard to believe when I first got here, people probably didn’t think I could score goals like that.
“But I would (trade) it all for a place in finals to be honest. I know it’s a cliché to say but the first two years we made finals, and last year we didn’t.”
Sliding doors
Sometimes, life has other plans for people. A different path to walk.
That couldn’t be truer when looking back on O’Shea’s career and a transfer that did not materialise.
After two years on the books of Birmingham – a period that included loan spells with Middlesbrough, Stevenage and Port Vale up until 2011, O’Shea landed at Sheffield United following a successful stint with Chesterfield United and promotion from League Two.
It was an initial loan with Sheffield United in 2017 after scoring 36 goals in 173 appearances for Chesterfield and he impressed with three goals in 10 appearances en route to promotion to the Championship.
Chris Wilder and Sheffield United wanted him to stay, and the player himself was keen to remain in south Yorkshire. The Blades were promoted to the Premier League two seasons later.
“I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason. Obviously I look back and if I had of went there, who knows what would’ve happened,” said O’Shea, who also crossed paths with a young and emerging Dele Alli at MK Dons, where he was also teammates with Alan Smith and Jimmy Bullard.
“They’ve had great success and they look like they will return to the Premier League. You do look and think, could I have been part of that?
“But at the moment, I’m really happy with where I am, where I’m living and with my football. I do truly believe I’m meant to be here. I do think this is where me and my family will settle after football. No regrets.”
‘There were some lads who couldn’t even afford fuel to get to training’
Instead of becoming a permanent fixture at Bramall Lane, O’Shea landed at Bury in League Two.
It all turned pear-shaped in 2018-19, however. Mired in a financial crisis, Bury players went large parts of that season unpaid amid a promotion push.
In the face of outstanding funds and adversity, O’Shea and his teammates still secured promotion toe the third tier of English football. Yet, it counted for little as Bury became insolvent and were eventually expelled by the English Football League (EFL) before the 2019-20 campaign.
“It was such a strange thing because the team were doing so well. I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like if we weren’t getting paid and we were down towards the bottom. That would’ve been hell,” O’Shea said.
“Obviously it was tough but because we knew there was an end goal and we were all playing for our futures. It was like, we’re not getting paid but lets all stick together. We could’ve thrown in the towel and said right, we’re not playing but it was never going to do the players any good.
“We needed to stick together and whatever happens, we will all move on from here and the better we do, the better move we will get.
“I was getting married that summer too. There are bills to be paid. It was a really, really stressful time.
“People think footballers have a glamorous life but there were some lads who couldn’t even afford fuel to get into training. They had to get loans off other players.
“A lot of players in League Two live month to month. They don’t have massive savings. It’s not like Premier League players, they have mortgages to pay, car repayments all this stuff. It was really, really bad.
“The PFA in England were really good. They stepped in every quarter and kind of helped out with loans which we would have to pay back when we got the money back.”
He continued: “All that time playing, winning games, ended up getting promoted to League One and at the end, it was worth nothing because the club actually folded. For the boys, it was a really special thing to do knowing we all pulled and we weren’t even getting paid.”
Bury’s pain, Brisbane’s gain
Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler caught wind of Bury’s issues heading into his first season as head coach of Brisbane in 2019-20.
The former England international, who also played for North Queensland Fury and Perth Glory in the A-Leagues, turned to his homeland for a Roar recruitment drive.
One of the players at the top of his list was O’Shea.
As soon as O’Shea took a call from Fowler, and after a quick Google search, he was convinced.
“It came at a really good time because me and my wife were planning to get married,” added O’Shea.
“I got the call around April time because he knew what was going on with the club and he thought there was a chance I could get out as a free agent. I was supposed to have another year on my contract, but because I hadn’t been paid, it’s a breach of contract so you can leave for free.
“He must’ve got wind of that. He gave me a call. I just remembered thinking it would be a great one. I always wanted to play abroad. I had probably done all I could in the lower leagues.
“I remember googling, when he said the team where it was going to be. I typed in Brisbane and just had a look at Google images. I just saw Southbank.
“I showed it to the wife straight away, she was putting the kids to bed. She came down and I told her I just had an offer, what do you think?
“She was up for it as much as me. It was perfect time. We got married 6th of June and I was on the flight on the 1st of July on my own. Left my wife to pack up the house with the kids. Never looked back since.”
An unforgettable All Stars experience
O’Shea has established himself as one of the competition’s best attackers since touching down in Australia almost four years ago.
He is one goal shy of reaching double figures in league goals for just the second time in his career, and first since 2018-19.
Last season, he found the back of the net three times but supplied 10 assists as he earned A-Leagues All Stars selection for the blockbuster showdown against LaLiga powerhouse Barcelona in May.
O’Shea was part of a nail-biting 3-2 defeat in front of more than 70,000 supporters at Accor Stadium. He also got Sergio Busquets’ shirt afterwards.
“It was amazing. To go from probably thinking you’ll never ever play against a club like that again when you’ve come out to Australia,” he recalled.
“When we got there, the whole event… just meeting up for training. Training with the players, there was top, top players. The training was high quality.
To go out and play in front of like 70,000 people on a Wednesday night, it was like walking out for a Champions League game. It was like walking around Camp Nou, everyone was wearing Barcelona shirts.
“To go out and play and to do so well against Barcelona, it was an amazing experience. It’s another one I’ll cherish. Not many people can say they’ve played against Barcelona. That’s one I’ll tell the kids and grandkids.”
