Stuart Antony Alan O'Keefe (born 4 March 1991) is an English professional footballer who last played as a central midfielder for Isthmian League Premier Division club Chatham Town.

He began his career with Ipswich Town, spending six years in the club's youth academy system, but was released as a teenager without making an appearance for the first team.

Following his release, O'Keefe joined the academy at Southend United, making his first-team debut for the club in 2008, during a League One match, at the age of 17.

[6] However, he failed to make an appearance for the first team and was released at the end of the 2006–07 season after Ipswich decided against offering him a scholarship,[7] believing that he would be unable to compete physically at under-18 level.

[6] In his first season with the academy, O'Keefe was part of the Southend team that reached the quarter-final of the FA Youth Cup and also featured for the reserves on several occasions.

Telford United in a 2–0 win in the FA Cup first-round replay as a late substitute in place of Alan McCormack,[10] having signed his first professional contract with the club the week before.

[11] He made his debut in League One two months later against Leyton Orient on 20 January 2009 in a 1–1 away draw, again coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute for Alex Revell and nearly scoring late in the match with a volley.

[12][13] The following week, after one further substitute appearance, O'Keefe was handed his first league start for Southend by manager Steve Tilson against Leeds United at Elland Road on 27 January 2009.

[14] Despite this, O'Keefe was nominated for the League One Apprentice of the Year award,[15] eventually losing out to Carlisle United defender Tom Aldred.

[17] Following his departure from Roots Hall, the club's head of youth director Ricky Duncan praised O'Keefe's attitude, stating "Stuart was always very driven and single-minded and he was different to a lot of the other lads in that regard.

O'Keefe featured just five times in the league during the season although he did make two appearances during the play-offs, replacing Wilfried Zaha as a late substitute during the second leg of their semi-final victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, and then playing the majority of the 2013 Championship play-off final after replacing Kagisho Dikgacoi due to injury after just 17 minutes as Palace claimed a 1–0 victory in extra-time to earn promotion.

[35] He made his debut on 29 November 2014, starting in a 1–1 draw with Rotherham United, being replaced by Nathan Delfouneso after 56 minutes,[36] and went on to make four appearances for the team before returning to Palace.

[57] O'Keefe knocked months off of his return date following his broken leg, and after a few appearances off the bench, made his first start since the injury against Charlton Athletic in February 2021.

[60][61] On 3 May 2023, manager Neil Harris confirmed that captain O'Keefe had played his last match for the club and would leave upon the expiration of his contract in the summer.