O’Hare: John

1974-1975 (Player Details)

Forward

Born: Renton, Nr Dumbarton: 29-09-1946

Debut: v Birmingham City (h): 24-08-1974

5’8 1/2” 11st 7lb (1974)

O’Hare played for St Patrick’s School (Dumbarton) and Drumchapel Amateurs before signing amateur forms for Sunderland in 1962. He turned professional in October 1963 and was helped by Clough, who was the Sunderland Youth coach. O’Hare was Clough’s first signing at Derby County for £22,000 in August 1967. He had scored fourteen times in fifty-one League games at Roker. O'Hare's ball control and ability to keep possession as a centre-forward were crucial. There was initial criticism of him as he was seen as a large but slow forward. However, Clough persisted with him and in his second season he justified his fee and started to establish a lethal partnership with Kevin Hector as they went on to lead Derby County to the title of First Division Champions in 1971-72. While at Derby he scored eighty-one goals in three hundred and eight games in all matches of which sixty-five of the goals came in two hundred and forty-eight League appearances, of which only one was as a substitute. He scored five times at full international level as he collected thirteen full Scottish caps, as well as three appearances at Under-Twenty-three level and the League Championship medal in 1971-72 and a Second Division medal in 1968-69 in his seven years at the Baseball Ground. Scottish International O’Hare had a short period at Leeds under the brief, turbulent reign of Brian Clough, who bought him for £50,000, in a deal involving John McGovern, from his old club Derby County in August 1974. Having followed Clough to Leeds, however, he endured a frustrating spell there as Clough left Leeds after only forty-four days in the job and O'Hare bore the brunt of his failure and were never accepted by the Leeds fans. After Leeds he went to Clough’s Nottingham Forest with McGovern in February 1975 for £60,000. That opened another chapter of glory as O’Hare won a European Cup medal in 1980, another League Championship medal in 1977-78 and a League Cup Winners’ medal in 1978. For a player with such an illustrious career, it is surprising that he has received little recognition for his services to football and in particular two Midlands clubs. Whatever peoples' views on him, he was synonymous with one of the games’ great Managers, during his most successful spell. He was loaned to Dallas Tornado in the NASL in 1977 and left Nottingham Forest and the professional game in the summer of 1981. He had scored fourteen goals and made one hundred and one appearances, including seven as a substitute in League games for Forest. He was later with Belper Town, Derby Carriage & Wagon FC and Ockbrook FC. He became Manager of Central Midlands League side, Stanton, in March 1988. After leaving full-time football he ran a pub near Derby for ten months but left as he found it the wrong environment in which to bring up children, then worked for International Combustion in the city and then as a stock controller at Toyota’s European plant on the outskirts of Derby. He was also a part-time scout for Leicester City and Celtic for Martin O’Neill and continues doing the same for Gordon Strachan.