The Irish football public bade farewell to an era of sports TV on Monday night, as Liam Brady became the last of RTÉ's "Dream Team" to hang up his microphone.
Appearing as a pundit for the last time on RTÉ, Brady called Ireland's 3-0 victory over Gibraltar alongside Didi Hamann in the Aviva Stadium before packing it in. Explaining his reason for departing, Brady simply said he had fallen out of love with modern football.
Host Bill O'Herlihy was the first of the "Dream Team" to leave after the 2014 World Cup, before the unexpected departure of John Giles after EURO 2016. Dunphy would follow after the 2018 World Cup, leaving Brady as the last man standing.
Between them, the quartet gave us a whole host of iconic moments down through the years, and Brady was emotional when remembering their time together during his final broadcast on Monday night.
A brilliant clip shared to Twitter (h/t to @Garbhannn) of a seldom-seen clash between Dunphy and Brady during the 2007-08 Champions League perfectly summed up the TV magic that the RTÉ soccer panel created.
Iconic Liam Brady-Dunphy clip from 2008 sums up magic of RTÉ panel
Though they are best remembered for their coverage of Ireland internationals of the 2000s, the Liam Brady-Johnny Giles-Eamon Dunphy team also gave us some brilliant moments during their coverage of major international tournaments and the UEFA Champions League.
It was during that Champions League coverage that we got Eamon Dunphy's iconic "I managed to stay alive..." and "Rod Liddle" moments, and another gem was shared to Twitter on Monday night of a clash between Dunphy and Brady in 2008.
The clip in question appears to be taken from Arsenal's Champions League quarter-final match-up with Liverpool in 2008 (if our calculations are correct) - a tie which saw both legs take place either side of a Premier League clash between the pair.
After Arsenal lost the second leg at Anfield, Dunphy collated a series of clips from the previous weekend's Premier League action which shows the similarities between Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's mannerisms, and those of famed TV character Basil Fawlty.
"He's got the John Cleese look!" - Dunphy exclaims with a giggle, before it all kicks off in the RTÉ studio.
We will never see this level of showbiz ever again baby https://t.co/ReRJ67xOvv pic.twitter.com/NpjN8DoCvI
— The General (@Garbhannn) June 19, 2023
Liam Brady was, at the time, head of youth development at Arsenal, having had a hugely successful time as a player with the club.
Needless to say, he was not impressed with Eamon Dunphy taking the piss out of the boss at his beloved club, and ripped into Dunphy and host Bill O'Herlihy for their decision to play the clip after Arsenal's 4-2 loss at Anfield:
Would you have shown that if they had won tonight, Bill?
I think that's terrible. That's diabolical, I think it's diabolical.
The man has to be applauded, his team were magnificent tonight. They made mistakes - but if this guy is lost to English football, it's a big, big blow.
That's poor, that's poor, that's a set up to Wenger losing the game tonight.
As Graeme Souness sits idly by and chuckles at the bizarre disagreement unfolding beside him, Dunphy asserts to Brady that he is conducting "analysis" of Arsenal's loss - which only incenses Brady even more.
That was already in the can waiting to go out, based on the man losing a game tonight.
Dunphy even manages to get in a trademark "baby" when arguing his right to play the comedic clip, as O'Herlihy and Souness continue to hold back their laughter.
It might not be the cutting edge touchpad analysis some have come to expect in the Monday Night Football era, but there will never be a football TV broadcast quite like those of the RTÉ Dream Team ever again.
SEE ALSO: Stephen Kenny Came Back From The Precipice Against Gibraltar, But He's Not In The Clear Yet
