BRENDAN O’CONNELL

Director of Football

Brendan was born in London and at 16 he became a professional soccer player by joining Portsmouth Football Club. He went on to play for various clubs at the highest level in English soccer, playing a total of 451 league games and scoring 79 goals.

After retiring at 31 due to a leg injury, Brendan joined the coaching staff at Wigan Athletic Football Club. Here, Brendan lead the way in developing the youth team road map to the first team. He then progressed to first team coach at the soccer club. After a number of years at Wigan Athletic Soccer Club, he accepted an offer to join the clubs Chairman/Owner in his business JJB. At the time JJB was the biggest sports retailer in Europe. Brendan was brought in to set up a smaller business within JJB called Team Wear, focusing on the sale of soccer kits to soccer clubs across the UK.

Brendan is married to a Canadian and after eight years dividing his time between Calgary and the UK, they relocated to the city in 2012 where they are now raising their three children and where they plan to stay.

Brendan has a long career in football both on and off the field and this has given him a deep understanding of the game, the workings of soccer clubs, a wide range of contacts across the UK and internationally as well as a passion to drive the highest-level soccer project in Calgary.

Brendan currently serves as the Head Coach at the University of Calgary and recently held the position of Sporting Director at Calgary Blizzard SC.

The opportunity to develop a new Soccer Club with Brendan’s vast experience is exciting.

Licenses:

UEFA A License

Canada Soccer National Youth License