Darren O'Dea, Irish footballer
Darren O'Dea (born 4 February 1987) is an Irish retired professional football player, who is currently the manager of Celtic under-18s. O'Dea has played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represented the Republic of Ireland internationally.
O'Dea began his career on the youth team of Celtic, with whom he played from 2006 to 2012. During his time on 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 has been capped 20 times. He represented Ireland at the 2012 UEFA European Championship.