An Interview with Liam O'Brien
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
A mere goal kick away from Lansdowne Road lies the two footballing hotbed villages of
Ringsend and Irishtown.
These little enclaves of Dublin 4 have produced many quality footballers, both domestic and internationally, like David Cassidy and Dave Langan.
Liam O’Brien also hailed from the area and it was 25 years ago this year that the then Shamrock Rovers player made his international debut at home to Uruguay.
Liam honed his skills at Cambridge Boys before, at 14, moving to the famous footballing nursery of Stella Maris.
At 16, Bohemians came calling, where he would play for the reserve team, winning the Blackthorn Cup and making five first team appearances before joining Shamrock Rovers in 1983.
It was at the Hoops where his class came to the fore. Under the guidance of Jim McLaughlin, Rovers would once again dominate Irish football. They won four leagues and three cups in the next four seasons, and O’Brien was part of it, winning three leagues and two cups.
“When I signed and looked around I thought ‘How am I going to get my game here?’ with the squad we had?” O’Brien remembers.
“In the first year, I was in and out and on the bench but I worked my way into it as the year went on. The following year I got more confident and I got more established.”
By the 1985/86 season he was a vital cog in the Rovers machine that marched relentlessly towards their second double in a row.
The young midfielder then went on to have the week of his dreams between Monday, April 21 to Sunday, April 26, 1986.
He was awarded the SWAI Personality of the Year, and closed out the week with his inclusion in the Rovers team that defeated Waterford United in the FAI Cup final.
But the highlight came in the middle of the week when he won his first cap Republic of Ireland cap against Uruguay.
“Jim McLaughlin pulled me aside at training and told me that I’d been picked for the squad, I asked him ‘what squad?’.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was the best news I ever heard. It is every young kids dream to play football and to progress to play for your country.”
The fact of where Liam was from only added to the joy at the call up: “Yeah sure I remember trying to bunk in there as a kid for the games.”
Then, a couple of days before the game he was informed by Irish boss Jack Charlton that he was going to start.
“Jack told me when we were doing set plays in training that I was going to get a start, I was delighted.”
“To get your first cap and represent your country and to play alongside guys you had seen on the television was great.”
So was he daunted by sharing a dressing room with the likes of Ronnie Whelan, Paul McGrath and Kevin Moran?
“No not at all I was made feel at ease by all the experienced players around me, even that early in Jack’s reign the camaraderie was great”
Fellow league of Ireland player Barry Murphy – a centre half with Bohs - started that day and Liam’s Rovers team mate Peter Eccles appeared as a substitute as a late replacement for Chris Hughton.
Ruben Paz opened the scoring for the South American’s but another former Bohs player Gerry Daly equalised from the spot to earn Ireland a 1-1 draw.
Later that year after a man – of - the – match - performance against Celtic in the European Cup at Milltown, Manchester United came calling for O’Brien.
He was to be Ron Atkinson’s last signing. However it was his successor Alex Ferguson that handed him his debut against Leicester in December 1986.
He spent two years at united playing alongside Brian Robson - 'the best player I ever played with' - and witnessed the famous hairdryer treatment, which he simply describes as “frightening.”
In November 1988 he was signed by Newcastle United where he would spend five years winning a First Division championship in 1992/93.
He is still fondly remember in song by the Geordies after a wonderful free kick away to bitter rivals Sunderland in October 1992
“Liam O’Brien, Andy O’Brien, any O’Brien, who put the ball in the Mackems net O’Brien, O’Brien,” they still sing at St James’ Park today.
John King then brought him to Tranmere in 1994. He would suffer League Cup and play-off heartbreak before finally returning home in 1999 to join Cork City.
Liam spent one season with the Leesiders. Then after a gap of 17 years, he returned to Bohs in the summer of 2000.
“Roddy Collins brought me in as a player coach. I played in the European games versus Aberdeen and Kaiserslautern and I won a league and cup medal that season too”
Liam has since been on the backroom staff at Bohs under Pete Mahon, Stephen Kenny and Pat Fenlon and has worked at Pats under John McDonnell. He also returned to Shamrock Rovers to work with Liam Buckley.
“It was a different club then; at times it was like banging your head against a brick wall,” is how he describes the Hoops.
Liam would make the squad for Euro 88 - “To be in that squad, was one of the biggest highlights of my career” - and he would represent Ireland 16 times overall.
He would make his final appearance under Mick McCarthy as an 85th minute substitute for Alan McLaughlin in a 3-0 victory over Macedonia in October 1996.
“Any time there was a call up, I was first on the plane. I was in the squad for 10 years, and I was delighted to play for my country.”
These little enclaves of Dublin 4 have produced many quality footballers, both domestic and internationally, like David Cassidy and Dave Langan.
Liam O’Brien also hailed from the area and it was 25 years ago this year that the then Shamrock Rovers player made his international debut at home to Uruguay.
Liam honed his skills at Cambridge Boys before, at 14, moving to the famous footballing nursery of Stella Maris.
At 16, Bohemians came calling, where he would play for the reserve team, winning the Blackthorn Cup and making five first team appearances before joining Shamrock Rovers in 1983.
It was at the Hoops where his class came to the fore. Under the guidance of Jim McLaughlin, Rovers would once again dominate Irish football. They won four leagues and three cups in the next four seasons, and O’Brien was part of it, winning three leagues and two cups.
“When I signed and looked around I thought ‘How am I going to get my game here?’ with the squad we had?” O’Brien remembers.
“In the first year, I was in and out and on the bench but I worked my way into it as the year went on. The following year I got more confident and I got more established.”
By the 1985/86 season he was a vital cog in the Rovers machine that marched relentlessly towards their second double in a row.
The young midfielder then went on to have the week of his dreams between Monday, April 21 to Sunday, April 26, 1986.
He was awarded the SWAI Personality of the Year, and closed out the week with his inclusion in the Rovers team that defeated Waterford United in the FAI Cup final.
But the highlight came in the middle of the week when he won his first cap Republic of Ireland cap against Uruguay.
“Jim McLaughlin pulled me aside at training and told me that I’d been picked for the squad, I asked him ‘what squad?’.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was the best news I ever heard. It is every young kids dream to play football and to progress to play for your country.”
The fact of where Liam was from only added to the joy at the call up: “Yeah sure I remember trying to bunk in there as a kid for the games.”
Then, a couple of days before the game he was informed by Irish boss Jack Charlton that he was going to start.
“Jack told me when we were doing set plays in training that I was going to get a start, I was delighted.”
“To get your first cap and represent your country and to play alongside guys you had seen on the television was great.”
So was he daunted by sharing a dressing room with the likes of Ronnie Whelan, Paul McGrath and Kevin Moran?
“No not at all I was made feel at ease by all the experienced players around me, even that early in Jack’s reign the camaraderie was great”
Fellow league of Ireland player Barry Murphy – a centre half with Bohs - started that day and Liam’s Rovers team mate Peter Eccles appeared as a substitute as a late replacement for Chris Hughton.
Ruben Paz opened the scoring for the South American’s but another former Bohs player Gerry Daly equalised from the spot to earn Ireland a 1-1 draw.
Later that year after a man – of - the – match - performance against Celtic in the European Cup at Milltown, Manchester United came calling for O’Brien.
He was to be Ron Atkinson’s last signing. However it was his successor Alex Ferguson that handed him his debut against Leicester in December 1986.
He spent two years at united playing alongside Brian Robson - 'the best player I ever played with' - and witnessed the famous hairdryer treatment, which he simply describes as “frightening.”
In November 1988 he was signed by Newcastle United where he would spend five years winning a First Division championship in 1992/93.
He is still fondly remember in song by the Geordies after a wonderful free kick away to bitter rivals Sunderland in October 1992
“Liam O’Brien, Andy O’Brien, any O’Brien, who put the ball in the Mackems net O’Brien, O’Brien,” they still sing at St James’ Park today.
John King then brought him to Tranmere in 1994. He would suffer League Cup and play-off heartbreak before finally returning home in 1999 to join Cork City.
Liam spent one season with the Leesiders. Then after a gap of 17 years, he returned to Bohs in the summer of 2000.
“Roddy Collins brought me in as a player coach. I played in the European games versus Aberdeen and Kaiserslautern and I won a league and cup medal that season too”
Liam has since been on the backroom staff at Bohs under Pete Mahon, Stephen Kenny and Pat Fenlon and has worked at Pats under John McDonnell. He also returned to Shamrock Rovers to work with Liam Buckley.
“It was a different club then; at times it was like banging your head against a brick wall,” is how he describes the Hoops.
Liam would make the squad for Euro 88 - “To be in that squad, was one of the biggest highlights of my career” - and he would represent Ireland 16 times overall.
He would make his final appearance under Mick McCarthy as an 85th minute substitute for Alan McLaughlin in a 3-0 victory over Macedonia in October 1996.
“Any time there was a call up, I was first on the plane. I was in the squad for 10 years, and I was delighted to play for my country.”
