Liam Brady was born in Dublin on the 13th of February 1956. There was a strong footballing pedigree in Brady's family. His Uncle had been part of the Irish team back in the 1920s, and both of his brothers played professional football in England. By the time he was 15 years old Liam Brady had moved across the Irish sea to North London and Arsenal; he made his first team debut for the Gunners when he was only 17. During his time at Highbury, Brady played over 200 times for Arsenal and scored an impressive 43 goals. Brady won an FA Cup Winners' medal when he inspired Arsenal to a memorable 3-2 win over Manchester United in 1979. He collected two Runners' Up medals in the same competition - in 1978 and in 1980. In 1980 Brady was unlucky to also pick up a Runners' Up medal in the European Cup -Winners' Cup when Arsenal lost the final on penalties to Valencia.

Brady in action against Denmark in 1984

During the Summer of 1980 Brady nearly joined Manchester United for £1.5 Million - it would have been a British Transfer record had it gone through. However, he opted for the glamour of Italian giants Juventus over the Old Trafford club - signing for £600,000. Arsenal's loss was Juventus' gain; Brady slotted into their side with ease and in both of the seasons he spent there he collected an Italian League Championship medal. Brady would play for three other Italian clubs (Sampdoria, Inter Milan and Ascoli) before he returned to English football in 1987 signing for East London club, West Ham. Brady's experiences at West Ham were mixed however. Whilst he did very well initially - showing the Upton Park crowd that he had lost none of that flair from his days at Arsenal - he did sustain a serious knee injury in February 1987 that would ultimately bring his playing career to a premature end.

Brady (front row, centre) captains Ireland in 1986

In the green shirt of Ireland however, Liam Brady was at his empirical best. It is probably no small coincidence that his debut match for Ireland was one of their most historic results - a 3-0 victory over the highly-fancied Soviet Union in 1974. This was to be the first of 72 International Caps. Brady would go on to become a living legend both in Ireland and in England. He played the game with control and authority; his touch was sublime and his range of passing - especially from his famous left foot - was varied and intelligent. As midfield players go, there was very little that Brady did not have! His twilight years as an Irish international were unfortunately tarred by a run-in with the new manager Jack Charlton. Charlton's footballing philosophy was very straight-forward and uncomplicated. Brady's fluid and thoughtful style of play was never to Charlton's liking and the pair did not enjoy an easy relationship. Still though, Brady was unlucky to miss out on a place in Ireland's Euro '88 squad - he was suspended for the first two group matches following a sending off in Ireland's final qualifying match against Bulgaria. The knee injury he suffered playing for West Ham, however, rendered that suspension irrelevant because he was not fit to play anyway. Brady's final appearance in a full international was against West Germany in a friendly in 1989. Charlton substituted him after only 35 minutes - something Brady was deeply hurt by. He never played for Ireland in a full international match again.

In action against Bulgaria in 1987

Brady went on to manage Glasgow Celtic and Brighton. Both spells were unsuccessful. He is now the head of Arsenal's youth development and is playing an important role in Arsenal's current domination of the English game. Liam Brady won a total of 72 international caps for the Republic of Ireland. He scored 9 goals in the process and is rightly considered to be one of the most gifted players to have ever played for Ireland.