| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 17 August 1953 | ||
| Place of birth | Bellshill, Scotland | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1971 | Kirkintilloch Rob Roy | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1971–1974 | Celtic | 0 | (0) |
| 1974–1978 | Queen of the South | 137 | (9) |
| 1978–1980 | Washington Diplomats | 89 | (1) |
| 1981 | Jacksonville Tea Men | 31 | (0) |
| 1981–1983 | Motherwell | 53 | (0) |
| 1983–1984 | Falkirk | 36 | (3) |
| 1984–1985 | Partick Thistle | 17 | (0) |
| Total | 363 | (13) | |
| National team | |||
| 1982 | United States[1] | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Tommy O'Hara (born 17 August 1953) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Active in Scotland and the United States, O'Hara made over 350 career league appearances. He also earned a cap with the U.S. national team in 1982.
Born in Bellshill, O'Hara moved from junior side Kirkintilloch Rob Roy to Scottish giants Celtic in 1971. O'Hara never made a league appearance for Celtic, before joining Queen of the South F.C., the club to whom he gave his longest service. In subsequent interviews for the club, Tommy O'Hara was listed among the best players at the club at the time by each of Allan Ball, Iain McChesney, Crawford Boyd and Jocky Dempster.[2] O'Hara played in one of the more successful sides in the Willie Harkness era at Queens. Queens enjoyed some notable cup results as well as being deprived of promotion to Scotland's top division only by league restructure.[3]
In March 1978, O'Hara moved to the United States where he signed with Washington Diplomats of the North American Soccer League. He spent three seasons with the Dips where among his team mates was Johan Cruyff.[3] Financial difficulties led the team to sell his contract to the Jacksonville Tea Men in December 1980.[4] He played one season in Jacksonville, then returned to Scotland.
O'Hara then played for Motherwell, Falkirk and Partick Thistle in the Scottish Football League. O'Hara later played junior football for Lesmahagow.