Where were you when John Lennon was shot dead in New York in December 1980?
Liam Brady remembers hearing the devastating news on the local radio, five months into his Italian adventure, having signed for the world-renowned Juventus football club.
We join the former Ireland star driving back to his old club in Turin, 42 years on from those heady days in what was arguably, at that time, the most prestigious league in world football.
'Liam Brady: The Irishman Abroad' is a very enjoyable reminisce in the company of the former Arsenal star, and it airs on Monday evening on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.
"Some footballers wanted to be rock stars, and some rock stars wanted to be footballers," ponders Brady during the hour-long film, shot on location, primarily in Italy.
And while his love for music is particularly evident throughout, his vocal performance, singing along to John Lennon’s Just Like Starting Over, makes it clear that the correct career choice was considered when it came to making a living.
Signing for Arsenal as a schoolkid, the documentary takes you on Brady’s journey from Dublin to London, where he soon became a fan favourite, as the "bionic Irish man" helped the Gunners to FA Cup glory in 1979 at a time when a host of Irish - north men and south men - dominated the north London squad.
Brady was named the Players' Player of the Year in 1979 but would spend just one more season at Highbury before jetting off to Serie A to become Juventus’ first foreign player to be signed under the new league rules.
The documentary understandably races through those early Brady years to focus on the time spent in Italy where he played for Sampdoria, Inter Milan and Ascoli, as well as The Old Lady, over a seven-year spell.
At one point we find Brady standing in the middle of an Italian museum with a battered and burst Mitre leather football, looking like a lost schoolboy who had just lost a fight with a thorn bush.
Diego Maradona’s Hand of God football sold for €2.3m in November, so it is fair to say that Brady’s relic would also fetch a fair price in the auction rooms of Turin.
The documentary gives an insight into the success that Brady enjoyed at Juventus for that two-year stint as old team-mates Marco Tardelli and Claudio Gentile welcome their old Irish friend back with open arms.
"We were wary of foreigners, but Liam was very good at making friends", we are told, and it was evident that Brady went all-in to make the most out of his Italian job, as he became fluent in the language during his stint in Turin.
Liam Brady catches up with former Juventus team-mate Marco Tardelli, who was sent off for fouling him the first time they played against each other | Watch Liam Brady: The Irishman Abroad, Monday 9.35pm on @RTEOne pic.twitter.com/m2DirhORCb
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Brady’s Juventus career brought immediate success, however, it was dramatically cut short due to the arrival of creative French genius Michel Platini and Polish star of the 1982 World Cup Zbigniew Boniek - Serie A having increased the foreign player limit from one to two.
Having done the hard work to impress in the Italian league and learn the language, Brady’s wife, we find out, encouraged him to fend off offers from big clubs back in England to stay in Italy.
"He made us dream for two seasons," booms the tannoy as Brady returns to a hero’s welcome at club number two, Sampdoria, where the departing Juve playmaker was convinced by the club’s owner, Paola Mantovani, that the emerging Genoa side could one day mix it at the top table in Serie A.
And while success did not come in the form of silverware, as the majestic midfielder linked up with English striker Trevor Francis, the ability to bring that belief to the club’s fans is a perhaps a currency even more valuable - Sampdoria would go on to win the Coppa Italia in 1985 with Graeme Souness replacing Brady, before finally realising that dream, lifting the league title in 1991.
Who were the three best players Liam Brady ever faced? | Watch Liam Brady: The Irishman Abroad, Monday 9.35pm on @RTEOne pic.twitter.com/vU9yFsVIec
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) February 8, 2023
"I could have played better at Inter," says Brady as he looks over the majestic lakeside setting of his home during the time spent at the Milan club, where West Germany striker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was the other foreigner on the team.
But that’s about all we get regarding Brady’s final three years in Italy - he also spent a season at Ascoli - as well as a token shot of his final club, West Ham United.
The hour is almost up before we get a mention of Brady’s Republic of Ireland career, giving credence to the consideration that while he was without doubt one of the country’s best ever players, he was not one of the national team’s most revered.
An interesting ending to the journey as we dip back into that fractious relationship with Jack Charlton who was making a name with the Republic of Ireland in what were the final days of Brady’s career.
Like all good films, this Brady homage leaves you wanting more, and perhaps more could have been squeezed in in place of some of the idle banter - including a chat with Tardelli about Thierry Henry’s handball perhaps pandering to the casual viewer.
Those hoping for a cinematic dissection of the mercurial footballer, akin to the Zinedine Zidane treatment, may be a touch disappointed, likewise viewers who grew up on a diet of Channel 4’s Italian football show in the 1980s would, no doubt, want more and more footage of that iconic era when Serie A was at its peak.
However, it is a well put together tribute to one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots on this small island, and the emotional ending will answer the long lingering questions about the aforementioned relationship with another Irish footballing great, Big Jack.
Watch Liam Brady: The Irishman Abroad on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player on Monday, 13 February at 9.35pm
