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Liam Brady
| Category: | Male Player |
| Year Inducted: | 2006 |
| Principal English Clubs: | Arsenal (1973-79); West Ham United (1987-89) |
| Other Teams: | Ascoli, Internazionale, Juventus, Sampdoria |
| International Record: | Republic of Ireland 72 caps, 9 goals |
| Honours: | Club 1 FA Cup / 2 Italian League Championships |
| Individual PFA Player of the Year 1979 |
Profile by Robert Galvin, the author of Football's Greatest Heroes, the official book of the National Football Museum Hall of Fame:
Liam Brady secured his place in Highbury folklore when he lifted a stunned, exhausted Arsenal team off the floor and steered them to victory in the 1979 FA Cup final. With a minute to go at Wembley and the Gunners reeling, Brady turned the game on its head. Socks rolled down around his ankles, an exhausted Brady embarked on a 40-yard run with the ball that would eventually draw four opponents to him, freeing up vital space for his team-mates to exploit. ‘When we scored,' he recalled later, referring to Alan Sunderland's volleyed winner, ‘it was the most emotional moment of my career. God knows, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry'. His telling intervention in what became known as the ‘Five-minute Final' encapsulated for many fans his career with the club. The Gunners needed inspiration – and it was Brady, the linchpin of the side, who supplied it.
His winners' medal would prove to be his only club honour as an Arsenal player (on an individual note, he was voted Player of the Year by his fellow professionals in 1979). In total, Brady appeared in four Cup finals for the Gunners, before leaving to play in Italy, where he won a championship medal with Juventus, before returning home to play out his career at West Ham. Meanwhile, at international level, Brady amassed 72 caps for the Republic of Ireland between 1974 and 1990; ‘Liam is the most accomplished player ever to represent this country', Irish manager Eoin Hand said.
During his seven years as a first-team player between 1973 and 1980, Brady was idolised by Gunners fans to an extent unprecedented in the post-war era. Nick Hornby wrote, in 1992, that the Irishman was ‘revered by every single Arsenal supporter'. Time has not diminished his reputation. In 2004, more than two decades after his last appearance in Arsenal colours, Brady was described, rather poetically, in an official history as ‘a midfield general of sublime vision and skill whose left foot was an instrument of almost celestial precision and who could drift past opponents as thought they were not there'. He would, the book added, be ‘many fan's choice as the club's finest footballer of all time'.
His background as a product of the youth system only added to his popularity at Highbury. ‘Chippy' (a nickname derived from his favourite food, we're told, rather than any insistence on lofting all his passes) was one of them – a ‘Gooner'. ‘In football parlance, if you cut him he would bleed Arsenal,' Hornby said.
The victory over Manchester United, sandwiched between defeats against Ipswich Town and West Ham, owed everything to Brady, who helped create both of Arsenal's first-half goals. On a sweltering day at Wembley United scored twice in three minutes late in the game to level the score at 2-2. All the momentum seemed to with them. ‘I had to buy some time,' Brady said, recalling his thoughts when the ball landed at his feet moments later. ‘So I just did what I always did, I ran at them.' Once in enemy territory, however, Brady sensed that United – a side seemingly on an unstoppable roll - might, in fact, be vulnerable. ‘At first all I cared about was getting to extra-time. Then I realized that we had to strike during these last few seconds while United were still mentally celebrating their comeback.'
Brady had, by now, decided to pursue his career overseas – once his contract expired in 1980. In response, Arsenal offered to make him the best-paid player in England, but to no avail. At the age of 24, Brady had made the last of his 306 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 59 goals. Terry Neill described the Irishman's departure to Juventus as ‘a tragedy of monumental proportions for the club'.