Colm Ó Tuathail

Colm Ó Tuathail
Personal information
Full name	Colm Ó Tuathail
Date of birth	26 March 158FE
Place of birth	Wynleth, Kelssek
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team	Ulsa
Number	16
Youth career
174–176	Wynleth Flyers
Senior career*
Years	Team
176–177	Wynleth Flyers
178–179	Oldem Knights
180–181	Issington FC
181–188	Shamrock Cathair
188–194	Ulsa
National team
178–194	Kelssek
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Colm Ó Tuathail (COL-um O Two-thai/le; [ˈkɔlˠəmˠ oː tʲʊat̪ˠaːɪl]) is a professional football player who is captain of the Kelssek national football team and plays for Ulsa in the Euraleague. He has the second-most caps for Kelssek in the modern era. He plays primarily as a left midfielder or winger, but has played more centrally in recent years.

Ó Tuathail was born and raised in Wynleth, the capital of Noua Cymru, and began his playing career in the youth system of the Wynleth Flyers club.

Playing career

Ó Tuathail played his first professional senior match for Wynleth at the age of 17, and quickly established himself in the first team, scoring 19 goals in his first season in the KFL Championship and gaining serious offers from leading clubs Burnaby SC and Kirkenes FC. However, he was encouraged to move abroad by Kelssek manager Kirk McDonagh, who felt that the Kelssek league was not developed enough or at an adequate level for the development of a player he saw as a potential superstar. Although nominally left-footed, he caught attention for his wilingness to cut inside and cross or shoot with his weaker right foot. He later explained in an interview with G/S, "I wasn't all that accurate, but the level the KFL was at the time, just getting it into the mixer could make a lot of things happen."

Oldem Knights

Apox's Oldem Knights paid Wynleth a transfer fee of USD 4 million. Ó Tuathail almost immediately broke into the starting eleven as the Knights finished the season eighth in the Apox National League. In his second year at New Alpaca Drive, the team placed fifth and achieved Challengers Cup qualification. During this time, Ó Tuathail was also named to the Kelssek U23 roster for the 13th Summer Olympics and earned his first cap for the senior team against Alanikka in the first matchday of the World Cup 82 qualifiers.

Issington FC

Ó Tuathail moved to Apox second division winners Issington for 5 million, seeing an opportunity to play a leading role on an up-and-coming team. He got off to a slow start as he missed three matches with an ankle injury early in the season. However, he ended up only playing one season there before existential uncertainty, the club suffering relegation, and a cheque with a fairly large number on it encouraged him to move to Audioslavia.

Shamrock Cathair

Shamrock Cathair signed Ó Tuathail for USD 5 million, setting a modern-era record for a Kelssekian player. He wore number 18 for Shamrock. His first season in Audioslavia coincided with the making of the documentary A Tale of Two Cathairs, and in extended footage he tells an interviewer about the signing, "I'm really looking forward to playing for Rohan Cammers. He's known as a kind and caring sort of coach," raising some immediate questions about what his agent was thinking. Later in the season he admitted that the Shamrock manager's temperament made him "a bit nervous" after losing a match against Silexhera. Ó Tuathail scored in the final match of the season to give Shamrock a 2-0 lead as they looked set to take the National League title, but Cazadores made a stunning comeback to draw the match 2-2 meaning Shamrock were second on goal difference.

Losing the title in that fashion stung Shamrock Cathair badly but the following 11th National League season saw Shamrock finish 5th and reach the Kirola Cup semifinals.

Ulsa

Ulsa signed Ó Tuathail for a fee of £1.5 million ahead of the 49th Euraleague season. Wearing number 16, he recorded 8 goals and 12 assists in his first season and was named Newcomer of the Season. His output increased to 16 assists, fifth in the league, the following year as Ulsa won the Gold League for the first time in 18 years. Although he saw his starts reduced in favour of Julia Holt from season 52, Ó Tuathail continued to make an impact off the bench and was tied with Nolberto Dravon as the club's assists leader with 12 as Ulsa won the Gold League title. He was nominated for Midfielder and International Player of the Season awards and named in the first eleven of the Gold League XI. In 193 Ulsa reached the quarterfinals of Champions League 13 but lost to Fontvielle Impact 2-4 on aggregate.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Notes
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Notes
Wynleth Flyers	57	KFL-C	36	19
Oldem Knights	28	ANL	29	3
Oldem Knights	29	ANL	27	3
Issington FC	30	ANL	25	6
Shamrock Cathair
	10	The National League		4
	11	The National League
	12	The National League
	13	The National League
	14	The National League
	15	The National League
	16	The National League
	17	The National League
	18	The National League
Ulsa	48	Euraleague Gold		8
	50	Euraleague Gold		10
	51	Euraleague Gold		8
	52	Euraleague Gold		7
	53	Euraleague Gold	—	6	CdC winner

Honours

Competition cycle with Kelssek calendar year in brackets
Shamrock Cathair

National League: 14 (183); runner-up: 10 (181)
Vilitan Cove Invitational: (180)
IFCF Champions League runner-up: 4 (184)

Ulsa

Gold League: 50 (190), 52 (192)
Euraleague Shield: 51 (191)
Rushmore Copa de Campeones: 59 (193)

Individual

Galaticos shortlist: 75 (181)
Testicúlos First XI: 193
Euraleague Newcomer of the Season: 48 (188)
Euraleague Gold League XI: 49 (189), 53 (193)
Euraleague Midfielder of the Season nominee: 50 (190), 52 (192)
Euraleague International Player of the Season nominee: 52 (192)