Liam Beckett

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 17 July 1951) is a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

former football manager and player, who now works as a pundit and radio broadcaster.

Playing career

Starting his career after a five-year plumbing apprenticeship, Beckett won an Irish League title and

Carlsberg Cup Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

with Crusaders, before transferring to

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

in December 1973. In 1975 he moved to

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

, before re-joining Crusaders in October 1979. However, he only remained at the club for nine days, returning to Coleraine after buying licensed premises in his hometown of Ballymoney. His playing career ended with Coleraine in 1981.

Managerial career

Beckett coached at

Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as ...

in the early 1990s, before managing hometown club Ballymoney United. He later managed Cliftonville and Institute.

Broadcasting career

Since leaving management behind, Beckett has frequently worked as a sports broadcaster on BBC Radio Ulster for Northern Irish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

motorcycle racing Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

, particularly

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

. However, since July 2018, he has focused solely on football due to a spate of accidents in road racing, particularly the death of William Dunlop, given his closeness to the Dunlop racing family. Beckett had also worked as a mechanic and served as mentor for William's father

Robert Dunlop Stephen Robert Dunlop (25 November 1960 – 15 May 2008) was a Northern Irish motorcycle racer, the younger brother of fellow road racer, the late Joey Dunlop, and the father of William Dunlop and Michael Dunlop. Like Joey, Robert died after ...

Honours

In December 2017, Beckett was awarded an

in the

New Year Honours list The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

for his service to the Northern Irish voluntary sector and sport.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Liam Living people 1951 births Crusaders F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players Institute F.C. managers Moyola Park F.C. managers Ballymoney United F.C. managers Cliftonville F.C. managers NIFL Premiership players League of Ireland players Members of the Order of the British Empire Men's association football fullbacks Association footballers from County Antrim Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Association football managers from Northern Ireland Sportspeople from Ballymoney