Shamrock Rovers' Gary O'Neill reveals all-clear after cancer diagnosis

The Hoops midfielder has been absent last October. 

RECOVERY: Gary O'Neill at Shamrock Rovers training. Pic: INPHO/Evan Treacy

Shamrock Rovers midfielder Gary O'Neill says he has been absent from football since last October because of a cancer diagnosis.

The Hoops midfielder has now been given the all-clear from doctors after receviing chemotherapy tretment.

"I was put into the back of an ambulance from my house, probably around midday, one o'clock and I was rushed to Tallaght Hospital and went through the emergency department," the Kerry native told the club's media.

"I had to do some different tests, blood tests and I was in the hospital for five or six hours waiting to hear and was kind of told that it was looking like something like gastroenteritis because my bloods weren't too bad at the time."

"I was diagnosed with a form of testicular cancer," he continued however.

"This vicious illness doesn't pick and choose anybody."

While matchdays came and went, Gary O’Neill was facing something much bigger than football.

He speaks publicly for the first time about his cancer diagnosis and what he faced in the months that followed. pic.twitter.com/uOGifLM3y5

— Shamrock Rovers FC (@ShamrockRovers) April 11, 2026

"It was a tumour found in my stomach that was quite a large mass which triggered the pain that I was experiencing, which led to an excruciating pain in my stomach for the whole day even with the painkillers and everything they put me on. The pain just wasn't easing."

O'Neill has won five League of Ireland titles and two FAI Cups since joining the Tallaght Stadium side.

“I’ve been through some horrendous times and I’ve always found a way out of it,” he said. “I gave myself hours to be hurt and upset and then it was time to go battle with it.” 

O'Neill says he plans to return to football in time.