Brady to relinquish Republic role

Posted Saturday, February 13, 2010 by PA

Liam Brady has put club before country and confirmed he will be standing down as assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland in April.

The former Republic international winger will stand down as Giovanni Trapattoni's assistant when his contract expires.

Brady explained: "The decision to end my involvement with Ireland has been taken in light of my continued work as director of youth development at Arsenal."

He added: "The Ireland role required me to be away a lot of time and although Arsenal made clear they would have been quite happy for me to continue, I have decided it is not right in the circumstances to remain in position after I complete my contract this April.

"I thank the Football Association of Ireland and everyone involved in the Irish set-up. It has been a great personal experience for me and I wish Giovanni, Marco (assistant manager, Tardelli) and all the players all the very best for the coming campaign."

The FAI confirmed on their website, www.fai.ie, that next month's international against Brazil will be Brady's last match with the Republic - fittingly it takes place at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.

Trapattoni said: "Liam has been a great asset to the Ireland management team and we will all be sorry to see him go after his last match with us against Brazil.

"He has done a great job here and I know all of the players join me in wishing him every continued success at Arsenal."