A raft of players from the Premier League era have turned out for both Arsenal and West Ham United, but perhaps the most talented to play for both came in the decades that preceded English football’s new dawn.
Back in 1987, former Gunners legend Liam Brady left Serie A side Ascoli and was signed by Hammers boss John Lyall for £100,000. It was a perfect move for Brady, arguably the most cultured and sophisticated midfielder of his generation.
Lyall, he explained, “was a manager who preferred to explain and rationalise rather than shout and scream, which many English coaches did in that era. I had an excellent relationship with the fans during my time at Upton Park, where I played for four seasons.’
A decade or so before, the Irishman with the magic left foot was hero-worshipped at Highbury. A teenage prodigy, Brady burst into the first team as a 17-year-old with the club labouring in the lower regions of the First Division.
A playmaker extraordinaire, ‘Chippy’ flourished at the heart of a team nicknamed the ‘London Irish.’ Ulsterman Terry Neill selected fellow Northern Irish stars Pat Jennings, Pat Rice and Sammy Nelson, while Brady, Frank Stapleton and David O’Leary were from the other side of the Emerald Isle. They all gelled and began to turn Arsenal into a force to be reckoned with once more.
Brady could feint, dart and shoulder dip like no other player in the game, and was at his elusive best when we defeated Manchester United 3-2 in the 1979 FA Cup final. He began the play for Brian Talbot’s opener, provided the beautifully chipped cross for Stapleton to head in the second goal, and summoned the energy in the dying seconds to orchestrate the move which led to Alan Sunderland’s late winner.
After shredding the Tottenham defence all afternoon, his exquisitely curled goal at White Hart Lane in our 5-0 win at Christmas 1978 was his finest in red and white.
His performances saw him become the first foreign player to win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award in 1978/79, and finish joint-seventh in the Ballon d’Or that year. But just as he had reached the game’s peak, Brady announced that he would leave N5 at the conclusion of the following season.
His 307th and Arsenal match was against West Ham in the 1980 FA Cup final, where the Gunners fell foul of Trevor Brooking’s header. After six years in Serie A with Juventus (where he won two Serie A titles), Sampdoria, Inter Milan and Ascoli, the 31-year-old Brady sought a new challenge back in England
There had been various rumours throughout the 1980s that he would return to N5 but they proved false. Instead, at West Ham, he played alongside the sublimely gifted Alan Devonshire, former Gunner Stewart Robson and a young Paul Ince.
Brady came back to haunt us when he was instrumental in the Hammers knocking us out of the 1988/89 FA Cup at Highbury, and is fondly remembered by the east-enders for sticking with the club following their relegation that year.
The midfield maestro retired at the tail end of the following season but had one last moment of magic to give, as with virtually his last kick in professional football, he curled home another stupendous goal from outside the box in a 4-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
He was mobbed by jubilant supporters during the celebrations - a fitting end to a stellar career.