One of Ireland’s greatest ever players, and one of the game's most respected pundits, Liam Brady dedicated his life to football.
Born in Dublin in 1956, he started out with Dublin sides St Kevin's Boys and Home Farm. The teenage prodigy moved to London, aged just 15, to sign for English giants Arsenal in 1971.
He was only 17 when he made his debut for the Gunners as a substitute against Birmingham City in October 1973. He quickly won over the fans with his deft left foot in the No7 shirt and won the FA Cup in 1979.
He moved to Italy in 1980 and won two Serie A titles with Juventus, before spells with Sampdoria, Inter Milan, and Ascoli. Brady, who is married to Sarah with two sons and a daughter, then returned to England for a stint at West Ham before ending his playing career in 1990.
READ NEXT : Liam Brady to leave RTE after Ireland vs Gibraltar following 25-year career
He was also a manager, taking charge of Celtic between 1991 and 1993 and then Brighton from 1993 to 1995. He returned to Arsenal as a successful youth coach until 2016 and was also assistant manager to Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni.
He played for Ireland for 16 years after making his debut against the Soviet Union in 1974, scoring nine goals in 72 caps, and retired in 1990. It was not until 1998 that he started working as a pundit for RTE – but he began in the role a full decade earlier when he was an analyst for UK broadcaster ITV.
His 35-year football pundit career began at Euro 88. He worked for the BBC during the World Cups of Italia ’90 and USA ’94 He also did punditry for Channel 4 on its Italian football coverage.
After 52 years in professional football, including 19 years as a player and 35 as a pundit, with some years overlapping, Liam finally bowed out this evening. In the end, he got one more game on the side of Ireland, analysing for the home team as the Boys in Green played Gibraltar in their faltering bid to reach Euro 2024.
His career was already the focus of a RTE documentary in February this year in a review that included his career in Italy and a fractious relationship with the late Ireland boss Jack Charlton. What did the deadpan pundit say about his glittering career in the film called Liam Brady: The Irishman Abroad? He said: “I could have played better at Inter.”
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