Long before the Irish soccer team had announced themselves on the big stage at European Championships and World Cups, Liam Brady had put the Boys in Green on the map and had finished in the top 10 in the Ballon D’Or voting for three consecutive years between 1979 and 1981.
He may never have gotten to play in a major tournament with the Republic of Ireland, but when it comes to golf, he’s got no shortage of major-winning companions. We sat down with the former Arsenal, Juventus, Inter Milan and West Ham midfielder to find out where his love for the game arose, what it’s like to play alongside major champions, and why there’s one dream fourball he’d cherish over all others.
Q: Home club? I haven’t got a home club. I used to be an overseas member at Royal Dublin, but now I play with the Variety Club Society in Britain and I’m a member of the Eligo Club which has associate relationships with and access to a variety of clubs all over the world. I get plenty of golf!
Q: How did you get into golf? It started when I joined Arsenal, really. If you got a professional contract with Arsenal, there was a club called South Herts that the club had an arrangement with and the professional players could all go up there and play. Dai Rees, who was the professional there, had been a great player in his day and captained the GB&I Ryder Cup team who beat the United States in 1957 – a rare thing back then. He was a big Arsenal supporter and that’s where the association came from. I should’ve taken more lessons from him though.
Q: Was golf big at Arsenal then? Yeah, nearly every player played. If we had a midweek day with no match, we’d all go out together and it was great for bonding and team spirit. That was the norm for us, and I’d say it was the norm at most clubs.
Q: You’re playing in the Irish Legends Celebrity Pro-Am at Mount Juliet. How much are you looking forward to it? Very much so. I’ve played Mount Juliet a couple of times and it’s a wonderful course, and then, when you’re competing alongside professionals, it adds that extra ingredient that makes it very attractive. I’ve been lucky enough to play with the likes of Luke Donald and Sandy Lyle in previous Pro-Ams, and they are always special memories.
Q: Any other big names that you’ve teed it up with? I’ve played with a couple of Ryder Cup Captains in Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke, and I played with Gary Player for a show that BBC (I think it was) did back in the day where they’d pair other sportspeople and professional golfers. So, it was Player, Sandy Lyle, Kevin Moran and me. Nice to have played with two Masters winners, and Player is a fabulous storyteller.
Q: Of all the pros you’ve played with, who impressed you the most? They’re all wonderful to play with and each time was a great experience, but if pushed, I’d have to say Luke Donald. This was back in 2010 at the JP McManus Pro-Am and he was at the top of his game, soon to be ranked number one in the world. I think he shot 68 which was one of the best scores on the day, and he just made it look so easy.
Q: The crowds were huge at that event. How do the first tee nerves compare to going out at Highbury, Old Trafford, Anfield or Lansdowne Road? Oh, I was a lot surer of myself going out at Highbury and Lansdowne Road than I was there. There are crowds of people 20 yards left and 20 yards right and I’ve got to hit a tee shot that could go anywhere, so it was a bit daunting, but once you get into it, strange as it is to say, you almost forget what’s around you and you’re able to concentrate on playing golf.
Q: Do you find yourself trying to impress the pro? Not really, it’s a team event and you’re just trying to do your part and get your name on the scorecard.
Q: On your own game. Let’s say you’re challenged to either hitting a fairway with driver, hitting a green from 100 yards or holing an eight-foot putt. Which would you choose? Well, I’m not very long so I manage to keep the ball on the fairway quite a bit, so I’d probably pick that one. The approach shot would be the weakest of the three, but if I don’t hit the green, that’s where the big trouble really lies. I’ve resorted to one-handed chipping because I had the yips with two hands, but it’s helped my game a lot and then putting is one of the better parts of my game. But an eight-footer, that’s probably a 50-50 chance.
Q: You’ve had a varied career, from player, to manager, to youth development, and of course, to punditry. How did you manage the transitions from role to role? I didn’t really think about it, to be honest. Obviously packing in playing was a big decision, but I retired at 34 and I had no intention of going into management and hadn’t prepared for it at all. Then I got offered the job at Celtic and it was a hard job to turn down, so I jumped in at the deep end and probably got burned a little by it. I went to Brighton after that, and I enjoyed it – and I still live there – but the club were going nowhere really back then, so when the offer came to head up Youth Development at Arsenal, I took it. And that’s the best role I’ve had since my playing days because the pressure wasn’t so intense and I’d been through it as a kid at Arsenal myself, so I could relate to the young kids that we were trying to bring through.
Q: You were extremely unfortunate never to play in a major tournament with the Republic of Ireland…I was. I was suspended in 1988 which meant I was to miss the Euros, but then I got a reprieve which would’ve made me eligible to play in the final group game but then I got injured playing for West Ham against Derby County and that put me out for 10 months so I never got to go to Stuttgart. I came back and played in a couple of friendlies and one or two qualifying games for Italia ’90, but by then Jack [Charlton] had moved onto other players and I thought it was time to pack it in.
Q: That led to a semi-career in punditry with RTÉ. For three decades, yourself, Bill O’Herlihy, John Giles and Eamonn Dunphy provided something special and in many ways unique. Well, you could probably get away with saying things then that you couldn’t now. I think it’s all become a bit sanitised, apart from Roy Keane perhaps who we all look forward to watching, especially when Man Utd have had a bad result. But yeah, you must remember that we had the ’94 World Cup after Italia ’90, Mick McCarthy’s team in 2002, [Giovanni] Trappatoni and [Martin] O’Neill later on, so the Irish team were getting into big tournaments and that made for great TV too. And the Irish people were so much behind the team, that it made them hungry for what we had to say as well.
Q: Swinging back to golf, do you have particular favourties among the courses you’ve played? Well, Royal Dublin will always be up there as it was my club for many years and when I was working with RTÉ, I played there pretty often but once I’d packed that in, I knew I wouldn’t be around much so had to let it go. Being a northside Dubliner, Portmarnock is another of my favourites, but I’ve been lucky enough to play many of the great courses in Ireland. Royal Portrush and Royal County Down, Old Head, Tralee…. I haven’t played Ballybunion or played in Donegal or the North West yet and I keep threatening to come up there. My nephew Eamonn Brady won the West of Ireland twice so Rosses Point is another place I’d love to go to.
Q: It sounds like you’re a links over parkland man? Yeah, I prefer links golf because you can putt from off the green (laughs).
Q: And what course is top of the bucket list? Well, I doubt it’ll ever happen, but Augusta would be top of course, but TPC Sawgrass would be another. I love watching golf on a Sunday and anytime they’re at these great venues it’s always so much better.
Q: And finally, who would make up your dream fourball? It would have to be my three brothers and me. They all played golf, but they’ve all sadly passed. I’m the baby of the family, I was born in extra time, but Frank – that’s Eamonn’s father – Ray and Pat were all good golfers, and we’ve played many rounds together. To relive that just once more would be very nice.
If you fancy seeing Liam in action along with some of the amazing legends of the game at Mount Juliet this week during the OFX Irish Legends CLICK HERE for tickets.
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