A Life in Football
Shot on location in Italy, Ireland and the UK, this film follows Brady as he revisits old haunts, triumphs and disappointments. With revealing interviews, extensive archive and never before seen personal letters and mementos: ‘Liam Brady: The Irishman Abroad’ paints an intimate portrait.
A shipworker’s son from Dublin’s Northside, who becomes the playmaker, the star player, at Italy’s most famous football club: Juventus.
The focal point is Brady’s 7 years in Italy. He was centre stage as Serie A became the richest and most glamorous league in the world. Also chronicled are his years at Arsenal and his rollercoaster journey as an Ireland player and coach, including revelations about his turbulent relationship with Jack Charlton.
London Irish
Set to a personally curated soundtrack of the 70s and 80s, this film will reveal a very different side
to one of Ireland’s most famous sons. Liam Brady is our guide as we are transported back to a time
when football was different. Alongside Frank Stapleton and David O’Leary, we revisit the
snooker halls and pubs of North London, where the young Irish apprentices would while away
their afternoons after training at Arsenal. We hear of life in London in the 1970s, with The Troubles casting a shadow, Brady is attacked on the Tube in the aftermath of the Birmingham Pub bombing. Like so many others, homesickness is a constant factor, and one that drove him home to Dublin before returning to Arsenal to be crowned the best player in England.
The Italian Job
Brady is the first in a series of high profile foreign stars that grace Italian football at the start of the 1980s, shining alongside Zico, Michel Platini and of course Diego Maradona. Greeted by a scrum of Juventus fans at the airport, it is the first taste of life in Italy and the huge expectations that awaited. “This will be different”, he thinks as new manager Giovanni Trapattoni whisks him straight from the runway to a
training camp.
Adapting quickly, he leads the club to two titles in two years. He becomes the team’s playmaker, creating and finishing chances with his glorious left foot. Yet the memories of his Juventus career are bittersweet, as his stay in Turin is brutally curtailed. Gianni Agnelli, owner of FIAT and Juventus, deciding he wants the Frenchman Platini as his new number ten. Brady suddenly surplus to requirements, the Italian dream over. Or so it seemed… We follow Liam as he travels throughout the Italian peninsula catching up with
old team mates and rivals.
A Family on the Move
Alongside his dramatic ups and downs on the pitch, the film sheds a light on the struggles of his young family trying to forge a new life abroad. Discovering they are to be new parents at the time when Juventus unceremoniously drop Liam; it is Sarah that persuades Liam to stay and see out their Italian adventure. Despite Liam’s initial reservations their time in Italy continues, first in Genoa (Sampdoria) then Milan (Inter) and finally Ascoli. Their first born, Ella, arrives on the eve of Liam facing his old club
Juventus for the first time.
When Giants Collide
A love affair with the green jersey began on the terraces of Dalymount Park, watching his brother Ray represent Ireland. Liam kept up the family tradition and made his debut at the same ground, in 1974,
mesmerising the USSR and helping Ireland to a famous victory. The end of his International career some 72 caps later is remembered for its controversy and divisiveness, Jack Charlton brutally hooking Brady off before half time against West Germany. In this film Brady opens up about his clashes with Big Jack, giving fresh insight via personal letters and anecdotes.