Stuart Antony Alan O'Keefe (born 4 March 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for National League side, Aldershot 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. In 2010, he completed a move to Championship club Crystal Palace on a free transfer and went on to make over 50 appearances in all competitions for the club during a five-year spell, helping the club gain promotion to the Premier League via the 2013 Championship play-off final, also spending a brief period on loan at Blackpool in late 2014. In January 2015, he moved to Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee.
Early life
O'Keefe was born in Eye, Suffolk. He grew up in the village of Gislingham, Suffolk and attended Gislingham Primary School and later Hartismere School. He is a supporter of Arsenal.
Career
Youth
Having attracted the attention of scouts from several clubs whilst playing for local youth team Scole Lads, O'Keefe was invited to train with Norwich City's under-nine team. However, he later signed a youth deal with their East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, joining the club at the age of nine and playing alongside Jordan Rhodes and Ed Upson in the academy during his time at the club. 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, believing that he would be unable to compete physically at under-18 level. O'Keefe later commented on his release "It was disappointing to be released by Ipswich, especially since I had been there from such a young age, but I always kept believing in myself".
Following his release, O'Keefe spent one month on trial at Aston Villa and impressed the club's coaching staff, including youth coach Gordon Cowans, but was forced to leave the club, who were only willing to offer him a one-year youth contract, after struggling to travel to the Midlands-based club on a regular basis as he continued to prepare for his GCSEs. He was also offered a trial with Nottingham Forest, scoring during a friendly match for the club but O'Keefe again moved on after Forest stalled over offering him a contract as they were only willing to offer him a one-year youth deal.
Southend United
O'Keefe attended a trial with Southend United in November 2007 at the age of 16, having been recommended to the club by a scout working for Manchester United, and was offered a two-year scholarship just days after arriving at the club. 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. O'Keefe made his first-team debut for Southend on 18 November 2008, at home to A.F.C. Telford United in a 2–0 win in the FA Cup first-round replay as a late substitute in place of Alan McCormack, having signed his first professional contract with the club the week before. 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.
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. However, this proved to be his last appearance for the club during the 2008–09 season. Despite this, O'Keefe was nominated for the League One Apprentice of the Year award, eventually losing out to Carlisle United defender Tom Aldred. The following season, O'Keefe featured more regularly for the first team, making nine appearances in total despite missing two months of the season due to a hernia injury sustained in a match against Millwall on 26 January 2010. 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."