Oscar Gobern

Oscar Lee Gobern (born 26 January 1991) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ross County. He has been capped once by the England U19's.

Career

Southampton

Gobern was born in Birmingham and joined the Saints Academy after a brief spell with Aston Villa. He made his league début as a substitute at Deepdale against Preston North End on 1 November 2008, as the "Saints" came from 2–0 down to claim a 3–2 victory.

After making seven appearances the season earlier, Gobern made his first appearance of the 2009–10 season in a 1–1 draw with Millwall, making a further two appearances for the Saints before, on 17 September, he was loaned out to fellow League One side Milton Keynes Dons on a one-month deal, making his debut as a 24th-minute substitute against Walsall on 14 October. After the match, manager Paul Ince commented "We had a young lad in Oscar Gobern playing left-back, who I thought did a fantastic job." Gobern also made a brief appearance as an 89th-minute substitute against Gillingham on 17 October, when he played alongside his elder brother, Lewis, for the first time in a professional match, before returning to Southampton after making just two appearances for the Dons. He went on to make a further four appearances for the Saints that season.

Gobern's first goal in his professional career came in the 87th minute for Southampton against Cheltenham Town, in the FA Cup Second Round on 27 November 2010. He received his first professional red card in a 3–1 victory at Bournemouth. His first professional league goal for Southampton came on 30 April 2011 in stoppage time of a 3–0 victory at Brentford. Gobern made a total of 13 appearances for Nigel Adkins' side during the 2010–11 season as the Saints gained automatic promotion to the Football Championship, with Gobern's scoring two goals.

Huddersfield Town

On 19 June, it was announced that he was set to join League One club Huddersfield Town, having failed to agree a new deal at St. Mary's when his contract expired at the conclusion of the 2010–11 season, but he has instead opted to move to West Yorkshire. The compensation fee was decided by a tribunal on 5 September 2011 as £275,000, rising to £400,000 on appearances. He signed a two-year deal with the Terriers on 1 July. He made his debut in a 1–1 draw against Bury at the Galpharm Stadium on 6 August 2011. His first goal for the Terriers came in the 3–0 win over Sheffield United at Brammall Lane on 13 September 2011. Gobern scored his second goal of the season in the clubs 6–0 thrashing of Wycombe Wanderers away in January 2012 when team mate Jordan Rhodes scored the other 5. Gobern made a total of 21 league appearances scoring twice making a total of 25 appearances in all competitions during his first at Huddersfield as they finished the season as Play-off champions winning promotion to the Championship after beating Sheffield United on penalties in the Wembley final.

The following season was disrupted by injury and it wasn't until late February 2013 when Gobern was playing in the first team, however he became a key part of the side that survived relegation and was subsequently offered a new 3-year deal, which he accepted, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2016.

Having become out of favour at Huddersfield Town, on 23 October 2014, Gobern joined Chesterfield on an initial one-month loan deal. His loan was ended early on 12 November.

Queens Park Rangers

On 6 August 2015, Gobern signed a one-year deal with Queens Park Rangers following a successful trial period. On 12 August 2015 Gobern made his competitive QPR debut in a 3–0 win away to Yeovil Town in the first round of the 2015–16 Football League Cup, he started the game and was replaced by Junior Hoilett in the 77th minute.

Mansfield Town

Gobern signed for Mansfield Town in September 2016.

Ross County

On 20 January 2017, Gobern signed for Scottish Premiership club Ross County until the end of the 2016–17 season.

International career

As an international player Gobern has represented the country of his birth England at International level having been capped at England Under-19 Level during his time at Southampton in 2009. Receiving his first call up for a friendly match against Russia Under-19s at Shrewsbury Town's ProStar Stadium in September 2009. He made his début in the match coming on as a substitute in the 60th minute in the 2–1 win over Russia.

Personal life

Gobern is the brother of fellow professional footballer Lewis Gobern.

Club statistics

Honours

• Football League One play-off winner: 2012