At the centre of one of the greatest days in the history of the Ireland football team stood an 18-year-old star in the making by the name of Liam Brady.
The Dubliner had broken into the Arsenal first team during the 1973-74 season at the age of just 17, and Ireland player-manager John Giles had hoped to bring him on the national team's summer tour of South America.
Although that move was blocked by then-Arsenal manager Bertie Mee, Giles was determined to get the teenager into the Ireland team. He would not have to wait long.
In October of that year, Ireland got their Euro 1976 qualification campaign underway against the might of the Soviet Union. European champions in 1960 and runners-up in '64 and '72, the USSR posed just about as tough a test as John Giles and Ireland may have feared.
That did not stop him from making a bold call right off the bat with his team selection. Eoin Hand had been one of the standout players of the South American tour. Despite this, Giles opted for the 18-year-old Arsenal star he had pushed so hard to bring into the setup.
Standing close to each other as the teams lined up for the anthems were a man taking charge of his country in a competitive game for the first time ever and another making his first appearance for his country against a European giant while still only a teenager.
For any younger football fans, it will be baffling to picture over 30,000 people crammed into Dalymount Park for a fixture of this stature. But it is known as the 'Home of Irish football' for a reason and, on the 30th of October 1974, the iconic Phibsboro ground was packed to the rafters.
50 years ago today, almost 35,000 people gathered at Dalymount Park to witness one of the greatest days of Irish football.
Ireland - who were managed by Johnny Giles - beat the USSR 3-0 on the back of a Don Givens hat-trick. A 18-year-old from Whitehall named Liam Brady won his… pic.twitter.com/TJ21TCLvNo— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) October 30, 2024
The nerves took hold pre-match for Liam Brady. He describes in his book vomiting up what little food he had been able to stomach, as his teammates' steel studs clattered on the dressing room floor and the smell of Guinness from the bar next door wafted in.
His manager had the perfect antidote to Brady's nerves.
"The experts say touch gives you the longest-lasting memories of all," writes Brady in his autobiography Born to be a Footballer. "John collects the kick-off from Don Givens and very purposely pushes the ball towards me. His way of saying: 'Come on now, I have every faith in you. I know you can do it.' I don't know if you could say any fear subsided right then, but I just remember enjoying the game."
Just about every Irishman and woman in the stands that day could scarcely forget what Ireland did to one of European football's superpowers. A sensational Don Givens hat-trick vanquished the Soviet Union 3-0, in a result that to this day stands as one of the Irish team's greatest ever results.
It was Givens' finest-ever moment in an Irish shirt and he rightly continues to take the plaudits for it to this day.
But player-manager John Giles looks back fondly on the role played by Liam Brady. In the foreword to Brady's autobiography, Giles says:
When you watched Liam play, you wouldn't think he had a care in the world. I remember knocking the ball back to him from the kick-off, just to get him into the game straight away. But he played that afternoon like he'd been in the team for 10 years.
He was so young, yet so mature. He was brilliant in a famous win for Ireland over a world-class team.
Brady was to go on to play a special role in the star-studded post-match celebrations in Dublin city centre.
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John Giles has fond memories of Liam Brady's Ireland debut in 1974
The game had kicked off at 3pm due to an energy crisis ongoing in Ireland and the UK. The FAI, suggests Brady, were not interested in forking out for the hefty cost of operating Dalymount's iconic floodlights.
The early kick-off had one happy side-effect for the Irish team - the celebrations could get started nice and early.
John Giles was a close friend of Irish traditional music hero Luke Kelly, and the Dubliners singer was in attendance as the squad rocked up to the Central Hotel. Paddy Reilly, Patsy Watchorn, and Tommy Byrne too were part of the party.
Evidently, Liam Brady had beaten his pre-match nerves. Writing in his book A Football Man, Giles recalls Brady debuting his party piece as a sing-song to remember got underway.
We had many great nights but this night in the Central Hotel after beating the Soviet Union was special. The match had been in the afternoon, so we had an early start to the celebrations. There is no better feeling than enjoying a good win.
Back then, we all had our party pieces: Terry Conroy would sing 'To Dream the Impossible Dream'; Mick Martin gave us a memorable 'Step It Out Mary My Fine Daughter' and Noel Campbell did 'Massachussets' by the Bee Gees. Eoin Hand's party piece was 'Green Valleys' and there was a debut performance by Liam Brady of 'Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town.'
I wasn't really a folkie, so I would stick to my repertoire of Nat King Cole or Johnny Mathis numbers.
One man who was not part of the Irish squad that day was Eamon Dunphy. Giles says that, in Dunphy's absence, his party piece was taken by Luke Kelly. We're sure that the group mightn't have been distraught to hear Kelly crack into his signature tune 'Raglan Road' in lieu of Dunphy.
It was a special day for Irish football and an even more special one for debutant Liam Brady.
An outstanding career was ahead for the young lad from Dublin but nothing ever quite topped that special day in Dalymount.
As far as debuts go, it lived up to a decade's worth of dreams. Easily the best day of my life up to that point. My mother, father, brothers and sister were all there to see me play my part in a truly great display by an Irish team. Don Givens rightly made the headlines with his outstanding hat-trick, and the consensus was I had struck up an excellent partnership with Giles, and that I had a bright future.
In an international career spanning 15 years and 71 matches, this debut cap remains the one I remember best and cherish most.
