Club
O'Connell made his debut for the Ballerin Senior team in 1953. That year, as a fifteen-year-old year he played for Ballerin in both the Derry Minor and Derry Senior Championship finals - both on the same day in Magherafelt. Ballerin however, were defeated in both finals - by Bellaghy and Desertmartin respectively. In 1957 however, Ballerin won their first ever Derry Championship, beating Ballymaguigan in the final on a scoreline of 3-08 to 2-06. Playing for Ballymaguigan that day was fellow Derry footballing legend Jim McKeever. O'Connell, now a 19 year old, scored four points in that decider.
Ballerin won their second ever Derry Championship in 1976, this time defeating Dungiven in the final by 0-09 to 0-03, with O'Connell playing a starring role. They went on to win that year's Ulster Senior Club Football Championship - defeating St. Joseph's (Donegal) in the quarter-final, Enniskillen Gaels (Fermanagh) in the semi-final and Clan na Gael of Armagh in the decider - O'Connell's performances once again proving vital to the club's success. The team easily beat Killererin of Galway in the 1976-77 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship semi-final, setting up a final clash with Austin Stacks of Kerry. The two teams were very closely matched the whole match, with Austin Stacks effectively winning the game in the last three minutes - the game finishing 1-13 to 2-07. Such was the esteem in which O'Connell was held that virtually all the Austin stacks players rushed to commiserate with him after the match. His role in bringing Ballerin to the All-Ireland final cannot be underestimated - with two seventeen-year-olds, an eighteen-year-old and a nineteen-year-old among the six forwards, his experience and ability were irreplaceable.
He retired from club football in 1978, bringing an end to an incredible playing career.
Read more about this topic: Sean O'Connell, Playing Career
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