Gavin Cooney

TURN THE CLOCK back to St Patrick’s Day, 2017, as Robbie Brady picked up the FAI’s senior men’s player of the year for the first time. 

Brady won it for his exploits across 2016, which reached a heady peak with that headed goal against Italy on a tear-soaked night in Lille.

A subsequent penalty against France at the last-16 phase at Euro 2016 made Brady only the second Irish player to score more than one goal at a major tournament – Robbie Keane, obviously, came before him – and by the time he was collecting his award, Brady had recently turned 25 and was back in the Premier League, signing for Burnley in a club record deal.

If this feels like a different era, it’s because it was.

Back then, the FAI’s awards were a live broadcast held in RTÉ studios, whereas now the ceremony aspect has been junked in the Association’s era of austerity, and a few hardy souls in the FAI have battled to retain an awards programme at all. 

And so when Brady won the award for a second time for this week, the announcement was made by John O’Shea at a team meeting ahead of Friday’s friendly against Senegal. The only camera in the room belonged to the FAI, who captured Brady’s brief acceptance speech. 

“This is brilliant, I didn’t expect to win it. . . shows how shite youse have all been if I’m winning this!” 

Brady sat beside Heimir Hallgrimsson for Thursday’s pre-match press conference, and reflected on his second award win. 

“This one means a little bit more to me”, he said. “2016 I was a lot younger and playing really well at the time. Not that I expected to win then because I was in a really good team, but I was in really good form.

“To come back now, after a little time out, the group and staff have helped me to get back to a level where I feel comfortable. I am playing some good football at the minute, and really enjoying it, so it means a lot to me.”

A little time out is an understatement. Injury meant Brady played just three times for Ireland between he made just three appearances for Ireland between June 2021 and March 2024, missing the entirety of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.   

One of those injuries came in a March 2021 friendly against Qatar, which sidelined him for so long he was left as a free agent after his contract at Burnley expired. Thus during the summer of the first Euros since 2016, Brady was training alone with the Irish team’s fitness coach at the AUL complex close to Dublin airport. He eventually signed for Bournemouth in October, and then had to go on trial to convince Preston to sign him the following summer. 

It was a good decision on Preston’s part: Brady’s made a hundred appearances for the Championship club and signed a new contract at the end of this season. 

“Listen, it is just about working hard and getting back to what I can do myself”, says Brady. “I’ve loved every minute of being back in here, under a spotlight.

“Obviously there are doubts around that time when you are not getting a call-up. I wasn’t fit at the time but I knew if I could get myself fit and looked after my body, and I got back playing, the rest was down to me to perform. I managed to do that and I never lost belief that I could get myself back. It was down to a fitness thing. I don’t think you just forget how to play football. If I’m fit I can perform and I’ve managed to do that since I’ve come back in.”

He has also established himself as integral to Hallgrimsson. The Irish manager decided to omit most of his Championship players from this squad, given their regular season ended a month ago. There are three exceptions: Jason Knight and Max O’Leary – whose seasons were extended by play-off involvement – and Brady, who is the only Championship player included whose season ended on 3 May. 

“First of all he is a good footballer, but for us with his experience, his knowledge, his character, his leadership skills, it is really important for us to have a player like him because we have such a young squad that is lacking the experience we need to play on the big stage”, says Hallgrimsson. “We are really fortunate to have him. [Matt Doherty] as well, similar age, similar experience, so all teams need quality players and leaders like him.”

Now 33, Brady knows his second act as an Irish international will not be infinite, which gives an urgency to World Cup qualifying later this year.

“There’s no lying about it, I’m not getting any younger. But, like I said, the team we have now, it’s a physical young team, and it suited me to come in and sort of play the role I’ve played. It’s been great for me.

“We’ll be looking forward to this tournament, we’ll be looking to start well and hopefully qualify. But yeah, I’ll be looking at this as probably the last, there are no secrets about it.”