Ollie O'Neill: The Story So Far

From a special international moment to dazzling A-Level grades, Under-23s midfielder Ollie O'Neill spoke to fulhamfc.com on his journey so far.

Do you remember a specific moment when you realised football was what you wanted to pursue?

I think the first few times I played football, when I would have been around the age of four or five, I wasn’t really interested at all to be honest. At the age of six I went to my local Sunday League team in West London, and for whatever reason, it just seemed to click.

I was only playing at that team for a couple of weeks because I went quite quickly into Brentford’s youth setup. I think at this point I was about seven. Obviously you can’t be too confident, but I did always feel from that age that it was going to happen for me. As I progressed through Brentford’s Academy it all felt quite linear.

There wasn’t really a specific lightbulb moment for me personally, it was more a feeling that progressed over time.

Your Brentford journey was dramatically cut short. How did the club tell you that the Academy was to end?

 I think there’s maybe one or two other clubs that this has happened to but they weren’t done in the same way. Brentford’s was pretty much overnight. We were playing at a tournament in Greece at the time and we came home from the airport before finding out more or less the next day.

It was certainly an interesting experience and a strange feeling. There was quite a good group of players in that Academy, many of which are now at Fulham like Matt [Dibley-Dias], Stefan [Parkes] and a few more.

I was only 13 at the time when they told me the Academy was to stop running, so I wasn’t too aware of what was actually going on in a career sense.

How did hearing that news make you feel at the time?

If I’m honest, I can’t really remember my first reactions at all! I think I felt okay because I was in quite a fortunate position where I knew I’d have a few clubs to go to. I spent a few weeks going to various clubs and I was very close to Tottenham and Arsenal. In the end, I happily signed here and haven’t looked back since.

Young boys and girls across the country dream of progressing through a club's Academy. Are there any elements over the years you've struggled with?

One of the potential challenges revolves around identity. When you’ve been in an Academy since you were young, you quickly become known to those around you as 'Ollie the footballer.' It’s an easy way to introduce yourself and I think this is one of the struggles for players who don’t make it and end up leaving Academies. It almost turns off their identity in a way.

I’ve liked the lifestyle of it all on a personal level. I enjoy the discipline of semi-pro and pro training as I think it’s good for me. Growing up, you get a lot in return, from the effects of exercise to mental toughness, and this is the case for most players. So overall it’s been overwhelmingly positive.

You received your first senior call-up against Leeds in the Carabao Cup earlier this season. How valuable was that experience?

It was a really good opportunity. I trained with them for a couple of days leading up to the game which was really useful as I was physically playing football with better players. That was arguably the most valuable bit.

The day itself was really exciting. I was very twitchy on the bench, thinking about whether I was going to get on or not, but in the end the game was quite tight which maybe didn’t help me. It was a great match to watch because Leeds are an impressive side and quite unique. It was interesting to see the tactical build-up to that and how the coach and staff prepare.

Were there any particular players who made you feel comfortable and helped ease you in?

Cyrus Christie was there at the time and we obviously had that Irish connection, so I’d chat to him a fair bit. Alfie Mawson was a good character to be around also, very charismatic! At the time a lot of the guys training and around the squad were also quite young. Marlon [Fossey] and Jay [Stansfield] were on the bench with me and Fab [Carvalho] was playing, so in a way it doesn’t feel particularly different. That was quite nice I thought.

Another brilliant moment for you was scoring a last minute winner for your country at Under-21 level. Just how special was that goal?

Yeah, that was really brilliant and my best career moment so far probably. 

It’s funny, I had been around the Under-21s squad for the last couple of camps but I was ill for one and in the other we played Italy but I didn’t get on.

Every player dreams of playing for their country, no matter what the age group. Did you feel quite proud at the time?

For sure! It’s very different to playing club football. I love going away with Ireland because it’s nice to play in a different setup every now and then, which is absolutely no criticism to Fulham. You get to play in a slightly different team, different players and it’s a little different socially, too.

Away from the pitch, you achieved 11 A* GCSE grades and two A* A-Level grades. How important has your education been for you alongside your footballing journey?

My A-Levels in the summer were positive which I was pleased about and my GCSEs before went well, too. I went to quite an academic school (City of London) which was helpful educationally but also with my football.

I had the education side grounded into me from that age and I’ve also been quite self-driven. It’s funny, a lot of people ask me about this because they think it’s not too common in football but it didn’t feel at the time like I was doing anything too out of the ordinary. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it and think it’s a good thing to have on the side. A lot of people say living and breathing football is the way to do it but for me, and I’m sure a lot of other players, being able to have secondary focuses is actually quite helpful. Only ever focusing solely on football can sometimes be detrimental.

Did you have any footballing idols growing up and are there any new ones?

If I’m being honest, and I don’t want to offend any fans here(!), Frank Lampard was a player I looked up to until I became a first-year scholar. Then I changed position slightly, moving a little wider on the left and bit further up the pitch.

I don’t really have a particular player that I watch more than others, but in terms of a left-sided playmaker I’d have to throw Jack Grealish into the mix. I love watching Kevin De Bruyne, too.

There isn’t really a player I model myself on, but maybe I have small elements of a few different players. I’d like to think I do anyway!

If you weren't a footballer, what do you think you'd be doing now?

I probably would’ve been doing a role similar to yourself! I think I’d have gone into a form of journalism and writing. It all goes back to the upbringing within a football Academy really. It becomes such an integral part of you that it’s hard to imagine what you’d be doing away from it.

Say I went into journalism, at the minute I’d presume that I’d be working within the field of sport, but if I hadn’t been involved in an Academy, there would be no particular reason for me to say that. I might have worked as a political journalist or opinion writer instead. When you strip it down you realise that there are so many layers to the effect football has on your life.

What main tip would you go back and give 10-year-old you?

Good question. I want to give two answers and, in a way, they oppose one another.

Firstly, you can probably do more individual training whilst you’re in a school which I think is valid. A lot of the time, the people who make it professionally are the ones who have done the most training and worked the hardest.

But, at the same time, part of me thinks that actually the answer is to relax more. You don’t neccesarily want to take it easier but try and take it more lightly if you can. I was quite ambitious but also quite self-pressurised.

It seems a bit ridiculous looking back now. Just really enjoy it and wear football more lightly.