Max O’Leary joins West Bromwich Albion with almost 250 professional appearances to his name.
This move to the Black Country represents just the second permanent club of the 29-year-old’s career, as the goalkeeper had seen out a fantastic innings with his boyhood club, Bristol City.
Joining the Robins as an under-11, he worked his way through the age groups before securing the number one spot in 2022.
And now – with an impressive 179 City caps to his name – O’Leary joins the Baggies on a six-month deal until the end of the season.
The 6ft 2in shot-stopper made the first of those appearances as a 19-year-old when he came on as a half-time substitute in an FA Cup third-round tie at The Hawthorns in January 2016, with the match finishing 2-2.
Max’s next outing was in the replay 10 days later, which Albion won 1-0, before he experienced the first of his four loans away from City.
This came at Kidderminster Harriers, where O’Leary would feature five times across a one-month loan at the then National League outfit.
A stint at Bath City followed in 2016/17 before he joined Solihull Moors in November 2017. Here, he would go on to play 23 consecutive games in the National League and keep 10 clean sheets along the way.
With Max in the side for half a season, Moors picked up 39 of their total 54 points for that term as the goalkeeper played a huge part in keeping them in the division.
It was a spell which proved to be beneficial upon the stopper’s return to Bristol City for the 2018/19 season, where he got his first taste of Championship action - featuring 15 times and keeping five shutouts during the campaign.
Despite playing 11 of the final 13 league fixtures that season, O’Leary found himself back out on loan for the fourth and final time in the summer of 2019.
Shrewsbury Town was the Bath-born keeper’s destination, where he very briefly shared a training ground with Albion gaffer Eric Ramsay before he joined Premier League giants Chelsea as their under-23s coach.
Coming in to replace Dean Henderson in a side that had just made both the Play-Off and League Cup finals months earlier left Max with big shoes to fill.
But he proved more than capable of taking on the responsibility, playing 34 times before the campaign was curtailed due to COVID-19.
Back in Bristol following lockdown, the ‘keeper secured his place in City’s squad and – after a couple of quieter seasons – has since played 33 league games in 2022/23 and all 46 Championship matches in the following two campaigns.
He has featured five times so far this term and made his first-team debut for Republic of Ireland last June as they drew 0-0 with Luxembourg.
And O’Leary will be confident of ticking off his Baggies bow in the near future as he looks to help his new team improve their form in England’s second tier.
