Ex-Sunderland, Shrewsbury and Millwall man Aiden O'Brien: I've not smiled much since my Portsmouth love affair. There's been dark times since
Aiden O’Brien hasn’t smiled much in three years, not how he used to. Not like his Pompey days.
A subsequent injury-impacted two years at Shrewsbury forced him to contemplate whether his playing days were over, while last summer he was stranded as a free agent and worryingly short of interest as clubs walked on by without a second glance.
Thankfully, the inaugural PFA pre-season training camp for out-of-work footballers rescued O’Brien’s career and, remarkably, he would go on to reap a league title, bringing the grin back. Temporarily.
Yet Pompey remains a lingering regret. The one that got away.
It had been love at first sight for the energetic attacker, netting with his first touch at Fratton Park in February 2022 and swiftly establishing a strong rapport with the Blues faithful.
A healthy return of five goals in 17 matches prompted Pompey to explore keeping the 28-year-old beyond his initial six-month stay, with O’Brien heading on holiday with his young family, safe in the knowledge he would be remaining.
That was until Danny Cowley’s late change of heart wiped the smile from the devastated Irishman’s face.
‘Go onto Google and type in my name at Pompey, there isn't a picture without me smiling. I’ve not smiled much since then, other than Shelbourne. And I really want to get back to smiling on that football pitch again,’ O’Brien told The News.
‘I don’t know what it was at Pompey, I felt so comfortable, the relationship with the fans and my team-mates kind of fitted, everything made sense. It was weird, it felt so natural playing football there, like I’d been there for years. It was a beautiful feeling.
‘The memory of scoring on my home debut against Doncaster is as clear as anything. Ronan Curtis got to the byline, flashed in a cross from the right, and I threw myself at the ball, getting in front of the defender before he could clear it. It trickled over the line, but any attacker will tell you, it doesn’t matter how they go in.
‘Then there was Fleetwood at home. We were losing 3-2 in the fifth minute of time added-on when the ball somehow ended up coming into my path. I just kept running thinking “This is it”.
‘Boom, right in front of the Fratton End, it was quality. I know it was a short time at Pompey, but for me, it was very, very memorable.
‘Joining for six months was a gamble. Should I get injured on a short-term deal, then no-one’s really going to look at me in the summer. It was a risk, but a calculated risk.
‘Pompey wasn’t far from home for me, it’s a big club, I knew a few players there, I knew the fans got behind the team. I was going to enjoy it for six months and see where it took me.
‘I loved the fans, loved them, my only regret is I didn’t get to spend more time with them, I would have loved to. I wish I had stayed longer, I had the chance to, I thought I was staying longer.
‘But a few complications arose and things kind of got pulled from under my feet. That really disappointed me, it still disappoints me.’
Deadline day recruit for Pompey
The departures of John Marquis, Gassan Ahadme and Ellis Harrison in January 2022 had left Danny Cowley’s squad short of striking options.
Tyler Walker’s loan arrival from Coventry during the transfer window somewhat addressed that. Then, on the evening before deadline day, O’Brien appeared on Pompey’s radar.
Having negotiated a mutually-agreed departure from Sunderland, Cowley persuaded the then 28-year-old to reject Oxford United in favour of a Fratton Park switch.
He would subsequently score in three of his opening four Blues appearances and ended the season with five as they finished 10th.
O’Brien and his agent expected him to stay, especially after promising talks. However, those hopes were soon shattered.
He added: ‘I wanted to stay at Pompey, I made that clear. Over that whole summer I thought I was staying. I went on holiday and was already thinking about what I was going to do for Pompey in the forthcoming season.
‘Basically, in my head, I was going back to pre-season with Pompey. I knew I was going to sign for Pompey, I’d performed well there, everything was already done.
‘I didn’t need to talk to any other clubs because I knew it was going to happen, I was definitely staying at Pompey, it’s a no-brainer. So when it didn’t happen, for whatever reason, we didn’t have much else going on. We’d put all our eggs in that basket because that’s what we were told. That was what we were going for.
‘So when my agent found out - and it did break down - he had to go back to the drawing board and it was quite hard for him at that late stage. Luckily we found Shrewsbury at the last minute, just before pre-season.
‘Maybe one day I can go into the ins and outs of what really happened at Pompey, but, for now, I am still a footballer and I respect people’s decisions, even if I don't agree with them or they don’t agree with mine.
‘It was made out as a business call and it wouldn’t be right for me to start talking about contracts, it’s not professional, it’s not something I will stand for. Now is not the right time, if there is any time.’
‘Injuries killed me at Shrewsbury’
Short of options, O’Brien managed to sign for Shrewsbury in July 2022 on a two-year deal and appeared as a late substitute in their opening day fixture at Morecambe - only to not feature again for another two months.
A hernia/groin issue would devastate his early involvement, restricting the former Millwall man to just seven appearances during the first half of the campaign.
He subsequently finished the 2022-23 season on loan at Gillingham, scoring twice in 14 outings after joining them in February 2023.
O’Brien was on the move again in August 2023, this time loaned to Sutton United for six months, where he featured 27 times, scoring twice and providing five assists.
Upon the expiry of his Shrewsbury contract in the summer of 2024, he had totalled 19 appearances, of which just three were league starts, while he hadn’t contributed a single goal or an assist.
O’Brien said: ‘Injuries killed me at Shrewsbury. It was meant to be minor surgery for a hernia/groin repair. According to the specialist, it should have taken me three weeks to get back fit, maybe a month maximum. It ended up being about eight months.
‘I kept breaking down, then, when I did return we had a new manager in Matt Taylor. It was very, very messy - a messy time. Shrewsbury’s such a nice club with lovely people, I would have loved to have done well there, but sadly I didn’t even get started.
‘Whether they rushed me back following surgery, I don’t know. I was just doing my rehab, doing what I could, but it just wasn’t budging, even after surgery. I was getting loads of injections every other week, about 20 over the course of a couple of months.
‘It just wasn’t working, I was chasing my fitness, wondering whether I was ever going to get fit. Was my career over? It was a dark time.
‘I was a new signing, I had zero credit. I was accused of just being happy to get a pay cheque. That’s fine, fans can say what they like, but it was never like that, I wanted to go to Shrewsbury and do well, I had moved my family up there, I was serious about it.
‘After lots of specialists, injections and different opinions, luckily I got back fit and the problem hasn’t returned.
‘It was such a tough two years at Shrewsbury and took a hit on my CV. People were probably looking at me and saying “He didn’t play much”. Yet they don’t really dig deep and look at the bigger picture and think “Hold on, there’s a player in there”. They just look at what you did last season.
‘If I was being judged on what I did previously at Shrewsbury, it wasn’t much, I have to be honest.’
Career saved by the PFA
Without a club in the summer of 2024 and struggling to attract interest, the PFA offered the 30-year-old a helping hand through their newly-launched residential pre-season training camps for out-of-contract players.
The 10-week programme was held at Champneys Springs, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, with O’Brien among the first intake for its June 2024 opening.
Among those also on board were ex-Pompey trio Omar Bogle, Milan Lalkovic and Kieron Freeman, along with former Newcastle pair Ciaran Clark and Dwight Gayle.
By August 2024, the training camp had paid dividends for O’Brien, with a move to Shelbourne in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Even better, he won the title with the Dublin-based club within three months.
‘The PFA training camp was like being at a Championship club, I can’t say a Premier League club, because I never played there,’ O’Brien added.
‘It was terrific, absolutely terrific, a brilliant set-up. I would definitely strongly advise that, if you are out of contract, get in touch with a PFA rep and get into that camp. It was also funded by them.
‘You were there from Monday to Thursday, with two training sessions a day. There was a gym, a pool, massages, protein shakes, GPS to track your running, everything you needed to make sure you’re fully fit for when a club comes calling. It was unbelievable, really, really top notch.
‘There was so much demand that you weren’t allowed to take a slot for 10 weeks, so it was a case of having a week off so someone else could have a go, before returning.
‘At the time my agent was telling me interest was really slow, there wasn’t much coming through the door, so I had to keep my mind right, having chats with players in the same boat as me after training, getting to know others.
‘Stimulating your mind in that way was vital, rather than sitting in your room and dwelling on why you haven’t got a club. We were all in the same boat, so let’s all help each other, let’s keep each other positive - and that's what we did.
‘After six weeks of pure graft on the camp, I joined Shelbourne. There wasn’t much going on in the UK that I wanted and I know the sporting director there. It was mid-season for them, yet all the work I’d done in the PFA camp meant I could slot straight in and I scored on my debut against Galway.
‘I wanted to prove a point - and we won the league. It shows that if you put your mind to it and don’t believe all the negative things which have been happening in your life, it can actually be turned around. I was down and out for a little while, but now had a medal to show for it.’
Family come first
After 10 games and two goals, O’Brien reached a mutual agreement to cancel the remaining 12 months of his Shelbourne deal so he could return to his family, based near Bromley, Kent.
His departure was announced on New Year’s Eve and within days he’d joined non-league Woking for the remainder of the season. It also reunited the attacker with his former Pompey first-team coach Simon Bassey.
As has been a familiar trait in his career, the 31-year-old scored on his debut in a 1-1 draw at Yeovil in January, after just seven minutes on the pitch.
Although, having featured four times, he’s currently nursing a hamstring injury, which has sidelined him since February.
O’Brien said: ‘I should still be at Shelbourne, but, after we won the title, I explained to the sporting director how I needed to leave.
‘My family weren’t willing to come with me to Ireland because they were settled back home in Kent. My son, Mariano, has his own room, his after-school club, his football club, his friends. I couldn’t be selfish and bring them over.
‘Besides, I was missing them like mad, my son was missing me like mad, we noticed a change in his behaviour towards his mum. There’s more to life than football - and Shelbourne were very good about it.
‘From now on, I’m definitely going to be local to my family, that is guaranteed. I will not be uprooting or leaving any time soon, because I know how it affected my son when I went to Ireland. No amount of money will make me do that again.
‘I have a lot to give, I have a lot of energy and a lot more fire. I want to win a lot more things in my career, but I want to do that from my sofa now, with my family next to me, I don’t want to be doing that up north.
‘I want to be going home every day to my son and my partner. That makes me smile.’
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