Former Sunderland striker Roy O’Donovan was snapped up by the Central Coast Mariners in May 2015. He arrived at the Mariners with the praise of his former Sunderland boss Roy Keane, who mentored O’Donovan during his time in the English Premier League with the Black Cats. O’Donovan made his name in the League of Ireland with Cork City and also made several appearances at youth and B level for the national side. He soon drew the attention of several English Premier League sides and his transfer fee to Sunderland in 2007 was the highest the League of Ireland had ever seen at the time. After his stint at the Stadium of Light, O’Donovan went on to see time throughout England’s divisions as well as the Scottish Premier League, before rediscovering his touch with Brunei DPMM in Singapore’s S-League, where he went on a goalscoring spree before joining the Mariners.
