William Francis "Liam" O'Brien (born 5 September 1964) is an Irish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, Tranmere Rovers and Cork City.

Club career

O'Brien began his career with the schoolboy club Stella Maris. He began his senior career under Billy Young at

where he was also a youth international representing his country at the

1983 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1983 Final Tournament was held in England. Qualification Group 2 Group 13 Other Groups Teams The following teams qualified for the tournament: * * * * (host) * * * * * * * ...

where Ireland were knocked out despite not losing a game. In April 1983 he played for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

U21s against their Italian League counterparts who included Roberto Mancini and

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; born 9 July 1964) is an Italian former football manager and player who played as a striker. Since retiring, he has gone into management, punditry and worked previously as a commentator for Sky Sport Italia. He is currently ...

in their tea

After only five League appearances, he signed for

in September 1983. After having won his third League of Ireland title with Shamrock Rovers in 1986, and making six appearances in European competition and 118 total appearances, O'Brien became Ron Atkinson's last signing as manager of

. He joined the Reds for an initial fee of £50,000.

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

took over from Atkinson as manager in November 1986, and O'Brien made his debut in the 1986–87 season, making nine appearances, including an appearance in January 1987 where he was shown a red card just 85 seconds into a game against Southampton. The sending-off is the quickest dismissal in club history. The majority of his appearances in the 1987–88 season were as a substitute, and, frustrated by lack of first-team opportunities, he joined

in a £275,000 move in November 1988, after 36 appearances (31 in the League) & two goals for Manchester United. His career at St James' Park brought mixed fortunes. O'Brien suffered relegation from the top flight in the 1988–89 season. However, he played a major role as Newcastle won the First Division title in 1993, making 33 appearances and scoring six goals. O'Brien found himself surplus to requirements as Newcastle rejoined the top flight and subsequently made a £350,000 move to Tranmere Rovers after a successful loan period. After Tranmere, he signed for Cork City, where he played in the UEFA Cup before returning to

in 2000 as player-coach. He enjoyed some great European nights during this season as Bohs knocked out Aberdeen and beat

1.FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern () or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in seve ...

. He also played a part as Bohs won the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

Double before retiring as a player.

International career

O'Brien played for the

Republic of Ireland national under-19 football team The Republic of Ireland national under-19 football team, is the national under-19 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland and competes in the biennial European Under-19 Football Championsh ...

that qualified for the

where despite remaining unbeaten in a group that included eventual winners France they were eliminated. He was also a Republic of Ireland international, winning his first cap while still at Shamrock Rovers. In all he won 16 caps as well as an U23 cap and was part of the UEFA Euro 1988 squad.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, O'Brien had spells as assistant manager at Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers. He was appointed first team coach of Hibernian in November 2011 by

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland titles ...

. O'Brien left Hibernian after the end of the 2012–13 season. O'Briens last coaching role was at Sligo Rovers who he joined in 2015.

Honours

Club

Shamrock Rovers * League of Ireland (3): 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86 *

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

(2): 1985, 1986 * Leinster Senior Cup: 1984–85 * LFA President's Cup (2): 1984–85, 1986–87 *

Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 se ...

: 1983–84 Newcastle United *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1992–93

Individual

* PFAI Young Player of the Year: 1985–86 *

SWAI Personality of the Year The Soccer Writers Association of Ireland Personality of the Year is an annual award for the person considered to have made the most positive impact on the domestic League of Ireland season. Instigated in 1961 - when Drumcondra's Dan McCaffrey w ...

: 1985–86

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Liam 1964 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Bohemian F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players Cork City F.C. players UEFA Euro 1988 players Premier League players Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players League of Ireland XI players Stella Maris F.C. players