[1] At 14, he was accepted into the Football Association's National School of Excellence at Lilleshall, and went on to join Everton (in preference to Leeds United and Barnsley) as a trainee.
[4] He signed his first professional contract in October 1993,[1] and made his first-team debut in February 1996 against Manchester United at Old Trafford playing out of position at right back.
In his column in the Liverpool Echo, Everton's goalkeeper, Neville Southall, wrote that "facing Ryan Giggs on your debut is about as tough as it can get", but that O'Connor was not daunted and played very positively.
[5] He kept his place for the next two matches – two wins, no goals conceded[6] – and was then replaced by the newly arrived Swiss international right back Marc Hottiger.
He played regularly for a couple of months, and made 14 first-team appearances in the 2000–01 season, but eventually retired due to "persistent glandular fever problems.