Thursday 5th March 2015 at 4pm – Irelands Soccer Top 20
Colm Keane profiles Irish soccer legend Liam Brady.
Former Arsenal, Juventus and Republic of Ireland star of the 1970s and 1980s, Liam Brady, who was voted Player of the Year in England in 1979, is Colm Keane’s guest on Ireland’s Soccer Top 20.
On the programme, Liam – who also played for other clubs including Inter Milan, Sampdoria and West Ham – talks about his successful years in British and Italian soccer, which won him two league titles with Juventus and an FA Cup medal with Arsenal.
“Regarding how good a player you are and how successful you are, both are measured by the amount of time you stuck around at the very highest level,” Liam says. “To play the best part of 15 years at the highest level is a test. It proves that you were successful in your career. To have six of those years at the very highest level in Italy was an experience that was well worth it.”
Liam also talks about his controversial relationship with Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton, who finally brought Liam’s career to an end with the player’s ignominious substitution in a match against West Germany in 1989, just prior to the 1990 World Cup finals.
“It was disappointing for me. You sense when your time is up or when a manager favours you, or when a manager is supportive of you..It was a sad way to go,” Liam recalls. “Maybe with another manager, with another style of play, he would have wanted Liam Brady in the squad to go to Italy. But it wasn’t to be. I knew my time was up. Having been substituted at Lansdowne Road against West Germany, I said: ‘I’ve had enough. Good luck. Do well. And thanks for the memories.’
(First Broadcast 2004)