Liam Brady – Arsenal, Ireland, Juventus & Italy

Liam Brady is rightly considered one of the most talented Irish footballers of all time. Best known for his time in the Premier League with Arsenal, Brady played for the Gunners from 1970, when he signed on schoolboy forms, until 1980, when he moved to Juventus. He went on to have a successful career in Serie A.

Liam Brady also played for the Republic of Ireland and has 72 caps for his country.

Early Life

Liam Brady was born in Dublin, Ireland on 13th February 1956 and grew up in Whitehall, attending school at St. Aidan’s C.B.S. Due to his exceptional talent, he played for the renowned St. Kevin’s Boys – one of the best clubs in Ireland in terms of developing young players.

Brady, like many young Irish footballers, didn’t hang around long in Ireland and moved to Arsenal in 1970.

Liam Brady at Arsenal

Liam Brady played for Arsenal from 1973 – 1980 and is the most talented Irish player to have played for the club. The majestic midfielder signed for Arsenal on schoolboy terms in 1970. Brady signed professional terms with Arsenal in 1973 on his 17th birthday.

Liam Brady was an amazing footballer: a brilliant attacking midfielder who was fantastic on the ball. He was an exceptional playmaker and could glide past opponents at will. Brady was nicknamed ‘Chippy’ – because of his love for fish and chips rather than his ability to chip the ball! Brady played in three successive FA Cup finals for Arsenal in 1978, 1979 and 1980 and was instrumental in the 1979 FA Cup win against Manchester United. This game was his finest in an Arsenal shirt and he had a hand in all three Arsenal goals.

Liam Brady left Arsenal at the end of the 1979/80 season, and his final games didn’t go as well as he would have hoped. Arsenal were beaten by West Ham in the 1979/80 FA Cup final. Just three days later, Arsenal lost the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final to Valencia. The game finished 0-0 and Valencia went on to win 5-4 on penalties. Brady, who took Arsenal’s first penalty, missed his spot kick that day. The first European final to be decided on penalties was the 1979-80 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final. To further compound Arsenal’s misery, they went on to lose their final league game of the season 5-0 against Middlesbrough and missed out on European qualification for the following season.

Liam Brady played 307 times for Arsenal and has 72 Ireland caps. Brady became the first Irish player to win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award in 1978/79 – only Paul McGrath (1992/93) and Roy Keane (1999-2000) have won it since. Brady was also the first Arsenal player to win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, with only Dennis Bergkamp (1997/98), Thierry Henry (2002/03 & 2003/04) and Robin van Persie (2011/12) winning it since. He was named as Arsenal’s Player of the Season in 1975/76, 1977/78 and 1978/79. The Dubliner was also named in the PFA Team of the Year on three occasions, in 1977/78, 1978/79 and 1979/80.

One of Liam Brady’s finest goals came in a 5-0 rout against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in 1978. “LOOK AT THAT – OH LOOK AT THAT!“

Brady is considered a true legend at Arsenal, one of only a few Irish players to achieve this status at the club. Brady scored 59 goals in 307 games for Arsenal.

Liam Brady in Italy

In 1966, in an effort to boost the Italian National Team, the Italian FA banned their clubs from signing foreign players. But with the clubs struggling, it was decided that Italian clubs would be allowed to sign one foreign player each from the 1980/81 season onwards.

Juventus decided that Liam Brady, being one of the most talented players in England, was going to be their one foreign signing and paid around £500,000 for him in 1980. Brady had a successful two-year stint with Juventus: winning the 1981 and 1982 Serie A titles with the Old Lady.

Serie A’s foreign players’ rule was expanded to two players per club in 1982. But Juventus wanted to sign the legendary Michel Platini and Zbigniew Boniek, meaning Brady would have to leave the club. Brady was told he would be leaving the club before the conclusion of the season and he was so angry with the decision that he asked to be taken off penalty duty. On the final day of the season, Juventus played away to Cantanzaro, needing a win to be crowned champions. Juventus were awarded a penalty, which Brady converted in the 75th minute to win the title for Juventus. Brady said: “It was a good way to say goodbye because I scored and I’m down in history as the guy who got sacked and took the penalty to win the title.”

Liam Brady played 76 games for Juventus and scored 15 goals.

Brady eventually moved on to play for Sampdoria from 1982 until 1984. He played with Trevor Francis and Roberto Mancini at Sampdoria, where he played 57 times and scored six goals. After his spell with Sampdoria, Brady spent two seasons at Inter, playing 58 games and scoring two goals. Brady ended his time in Italy with Ascoli where he played 17 games from 1986 until 1987.

Liam Brady at West Ham

Liam Brady returned to England in 1987, when he signed for West Ham. Brady played 119 games and scored 10 goals for the Irons before retiring in 1990. Brady scored in his last ever game, during a 4-0 win against Wolves.

Republic of Ireland

While Brady has 72 caps for Ireland, scoring nine goals, he never played in a major international tournament. Suspension and injury ruled him out of Euro 88. Brady retired from international football during qualification for the Italia ’90 World Cup. Brady, though, did make but made himself available for selection for the tournament. However, Jack Charlton said that he wanted to bring the players that played in the qualifiers and got them there.

Brady was inducted into the FAI Hall of Fame in 2001. During his international career, he scored against France, Netherlands, England and Brazil. Brady also played against Diego Maradona when Argentina played Ireland at Lansdowne Road in 1979. Brady has Maradona’s shirt from the game.

After Retirement

Liam Brady went on to manage Celtic from 1991 to 1993 and Brighton from 1993 to 1995. Neither spell was particularly successful and he even said that management wasn’t for him after sampling it at Celtic and Brighton.

Brady went on to hold the role of Head of Youth Development at Arsenal from 1996 until 2014, when he oversaw Arsenal’s academy.

In 2008, Brady again linked up with Giovanni Trapattoni, who had signed him as a player 28 years previously for Juventus. Trapattoni became the Republic of Ireland’s manager and included Brady in his backroom staff.

Brady is well-known in Ireland for being part of RTE’s (Ireland’s National Broadcaster) football coverage alongside Bill O’Herlihy, Eamon Dunphy and John Giles. Brady was with RTE for 25 years, from 1998 until 2023.

One of the Best

Liam Brady is considered one of the most talented Irish players of all time. He is remembered extremely fondly by Arsenal fans who watched him when he was at the club. It’s a testament to Brady’s quality that Arsenal really struggled after his departure – the Gunners went trophyless until 1987.

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