Denise Rebecca O'Sullivan was born on 4 February 1994 and is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National Women's Soccer League club North Carolina Courage, which she captains, and the Republic of Ireland national team.
39 Facts About Denise O'Sullivan
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Denise O'Sullivan played for Peamount United in the County Dublin club's UEFA Women's Champions League campaigns in 2011 and 2012.
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At North Carolina, Denise O'Sullivan was voted most valuable player by her teammates in both 2018 and 2019.
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In 2015 and 2020, Denise O'Sullivan was named FAI Senior International Player of the Year.
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Denise O'Sullivan was born in Cork and grew up in Knocknaheeny.
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Denise O'Sullivan learned to play football on the streets with her siblings and as a youth looked up to Roy Keane.
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Denise O'Sullivan played for a boys' team, Nufarm Athletic, until age 11 when she had to leave due to rules against mixed-sex football.
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Denise O'Sullivan began her football career with Irish club Wilton United.
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Denise O'Sullivan finished the 2013 season with three goals in 12 appearances in all competitions.
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Denise O'Sullivan was named Glasgow City Players' Player of the Year, Coaches' Player of the Year and Fans' Player of the Year in both 2014 and 2015.
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On 19 March 2016, Denise O'Sullivan signed with the Houston Dash, who paid Glasgow an undisclosed "four figure" transfer fee, which was the first time a Scottish women's club was paid a compensation fee for a player.
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Denise O'Sullivan finished the 2016 season with 2 goals and 5 assists in 18 appearances.
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On 28 July 2017, Denise O'Sullivan was claimed off waivers by the North Carolina Courage.
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Denise O'Sullivan made a total of nine appearances for the Courage in 2017 and scored one goal.
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Denise O'Sullivan played a total of 1,932 minutes on the pitch for the Courage.
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Denise O'Sullivan was voted the Most Valuable Player on the team by her Courage teammates at the end of the season.
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Denise O'Sullivan has a massive impact on tactics because she controls the tempo, dictates the tempo and her job functions are multi-faceted.
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Teammate Sam Mewis said Denise O'Sullivan was 'the "glue" that holds the team together, winning tackles and spraying the ball wide from a deeper position.
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In November 2019, Denise O'Sullivan signed a multi-year contract with the Courage.
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Denise O'Sullivan is a massive influencer in the way we play.
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Denise O'Sullivan has a genius soccer IQ that makes her a brilliant reader and manipulator of the game.
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Denise O'Sullivan is a tremendous footballer and passer of the ball and she breaks up the opponent's playmaking ability with an intuitive reading of the game.
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Denise O'Sullivan made 23 appearances with 23 starts in the 2021 season, helping the Courage finish in sixth place.
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Denise O'Sullivan made 19 appearances and 18 starts in the regular season as the Courage finished seventh, missing the playoffs.
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Denise O'Sullivan was named captain of the Courage ahead of the 2023 season.
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Denise O'Sullivan was named to the NWSL Second XI at the end of the season.
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Denise O'Sullivan started all 20 games in which she played and ranked top five in the league in pass accuracy and duels won.
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On July 29,2024, Denise O'Sullivan contract was extended to keep her with the Courage through the end of 2026.
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The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Denise O'Sullivan had been "a sensation" in her seven games for the club.
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Denise O'Sullivan was a starting midfielder in all seven games that she played.
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Denise O'Sullivan wanted to be available for Ireland's rescheduled UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying Group I fixtures.
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Denise O'Sullivan was a starting midfielder in eight of the nine matches she played.
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Denise O'Sullivan was part of the under-17 team that finished in second place at the 2010 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, after losing on penalties in the final against Spain.
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Denise O'Sullivan continued to be selected by national team coach Susan Ronan and participated in Ireland's failed 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification campaign.
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Alongside namesake Fiona Denise O'Sullivan she was the team's joint-top goalscorer with three goals.
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Denise O'Sullivan was named 2015 FAI Senior International Player of the Year.
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Denise O'Sullivan remained an important national team player under Ronan's successor Colin Bell, displaying good form in the unsuccessful 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying series.
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Denise O'Sullivan emerged as a promising forward with the Irish youth national teams.
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Denise O'Sullivan is noted as an aggressive player and was nicknamed "junkyard" by her coach.