Liam Brady

William Brady, known as Liam, was born in Dublin, on February 13, 1956.

Source Wikipedia

He started playing in Ireland with St.Kevin's Boys and then Home Farm before joining the Arsenal academy in London in 1970.

In 1973 he joined the Gunners first team squad and stayed seven seasons. He played 235 league games and scored 43 goals. In 1979 he won the FA Cup defeating Manchester United at Wembley. In 1979 he also won the PFA award (Players' Player of the Year). Arsenal reached the final of the Cup Winners Cup in 1980 but lost to Valencia on penalties. His managers at Highbury were Bertie Mee (1973-76) and Terry Neill (1976-80).

In 1980, with the reopening of the "borders" in Italian football, he joined Serie A giants Juventus. He stayed two seasons and won two league titles under Giovanni Trapattoni. He played 57 league games with 13 goals (Inter, Udinese, Bologna x2, Torino, Perugia, Catanzaro, Pistoiese, Avellino, Como, Torino, Inter, Catanzaro), 11 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Perugia) and 8 in Europe with 1 goal (Widzew Lódź). In 1982, with the arrivals of Zbigniew Boniek and Michel Platini, he left Turin but stayed in Serie A.

In the summer of 1982 Brady joined Sampdoria. He stayed in the Ligurian capital for two seasons. He made 57 league appearances with 6 goals (Pisa, Ascoli, Fiorentina, Juventus home and away, Udinese) and 14 in Coppa Italia. The Doriani finished 7th twice under Renzo Ulivieri. He played alongside future Lazio, Roberto Mancini, Luca Brunetti and fellow English speaker Trevor Francis.

In 1984 he moved to Inter and stayed two seasons. He played 58 league games with 5 goals (Cremonese, Sampdoria, Napoli, Milan, Torino), 20 in Coppa Italia with 5 goals (SPAL, Verona, Milan, Empoli, Roma) and 20 in Europe with 6 goals (Sportul Studențesc, HSV Hamburg, Real Madrid, LASK, Nantes, Real Madrid). In the first season the Nerazzurri finished 3rd under Ilario Castagner and reached the semifinals of the Coppa Italia and UEFA Cups, while in the second, under Castagner and then Mario Corso, they finished 6th and again were knocked out in the UEFA semis. At Inter he was teammates with future Lazio, Paolo Mandelli but also players such as Walter Zenga, Fulvio Collovati, Beppe Bergomi, Marco Tardelli, Alessandro Altobelli and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

In 1986 he joined his last Italian club Ascoli. He stayed one season, playing 17 league games. The Bianconeri finished 12th in Serie A, first under Aldo Sensibile and then from November Ilario Castagner. The highlights of the season were winning 1-0 both home and away against Milan and drawing 2-2 away at Juventus. Ascoli also won a trophy, the Mitropa Cup. In Ascoli his teammates included Lazio connections Giuseppe Greco and Carlo Perrone.

In 1987 he said goodbye to Italy and returned to London. He signed for West Ham United and played three more seasons. He played 89 league games with 9 goals. The Hammers finished 16th, 19th (relegated) and 7th in the Second Division (now Championship). The Claret and Blues reached two League Cup semi-finals but lost to Luton Town and Oldham Athletic. His managers included John Lyall, Lou Macari and Ronnie Boyce.

At 34 Brady then retired.

He had also played 72 games for Ireland with 9 goals (Norway, France, Trinidad and Tobago, Holland, Malta x2, England, Belgium, Brazil) and was captain 12 times. In this time Ireland never managed to take part in a major tournament but Brady helped them qualify for the Italia '90 World Cup.

After retiring he worked as a manager. From June 1991 to October 1993 he was Celtic head coach. In his two full seasons "The Hoops" finished 3rd twice.

In December 1993 he took over at Brighton in the Second Division and finished 14th and 16th.

From 1996 to 2014 he worked in the Arsenal academy and at the same time from 2008-2010 was assistant manager to Giovanni Trapattoni with the Ireland national team.

Brady, known as "Chippy" from his early Arsenal years, was a midfield playmaker. He was a left-footed player who possessed excellent vision and timing which made up for his lack of speed. He was a strong player with good tackling skills and a reliable penalty taker.

He was a success in Italy. He won the Scudetto twice, stayed seven seasons and even spoke excellent Italian.

Sources

Wikipedia