THE O'Connell clan has been littered with a long line of sporting talent over the years and the apple did not fall far from the tree in the form of Wrexham defender Eoghan.

Cousin Paul, Ireland’s legendary rugby union lock, was a two-time Six Nations winning captain, whilst father Damo and brother Andy played football for hometown club Cork City.

Cenre-back Eoghan, who joined Wrexham from Charlton Athletic in January 2023 for an undisclosed fee and is a back-to-back promotion winner, says sport runs in the O'Connell family.

“I’ve been quite lucky because my whole family’s quite sporty,” O’Connell told SportsBoom.com.

“My dad and my uncle played a decent level of Gaelic football and amateur soccer as we would call it back home.

“I’ve always had role models like that. To have someone as successful like Paul was in rugby to look up to really helped.

“I used to go and watch a lot of the Ireland rugby games when I was younger. The family are dead proud to be related to someone like that.

"He's been great with me anytime I've needed anything. I used to text him a little bit for advice when I was younger, and he was still playing and he was brilliant.

"He's obviously coaching now and making a success of that as well."

Irish youth international Eoghan had a genuine choice over whether he wanted to pursue a career in Gaelic football or football.

The 29-year-old gave up GAA at 15 when it became apparent he had an even brighter future ahead of him with the ball at his feet when he was offered a contract at Scottish giants Celtic.

He started his career alongside Virgil van Dijk at Parkhead and also achieved League Two promotion with Bury before going from the National League to League One with Wrexham.

“I never played rugby when I was younger, but I played Gaelic football and hurling," reflected O'Connell, who used to dream of starring in an All-Ireland final at Croke Park.

"I had to make the choice about which sport I wanted to progress in and I picked football.

“I wouldn’t say that was always the case when I was younger though. I was always more of a Gaelic player in my head if I’m honest.

“The way it worked up, Celtic were the first club I ever went on trial with and I ended up signing there. It was quite a quick process.

“It was a pretty quick decision. I went over to Scotland to give it my best shot. I’ve obviously moved on from there, but 15 years later I’m still playing so it’s been a bit of a ride.”