Robbie Brady

Robert Brady (born 14 January 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a left winger, left-back or left wing-back for EFL Championship club Preston North End and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Brady began his career in the Manchester United academy.

He was spotted by Manchester United scouts while playing for St. Kevin's Boys, and joined the club's academy shortly after his 16th birthday in January 2008.

He made his first appearance for Manchester United in an under-18s match against Liverpool on 19 January 2008.

His reserve team debut came just two months later, in a 3–1 win over Newcastle United.

In July 2008, Brady signed on as an academy scholar, and cemented his place in the under-18s throughout the following two seasons, as well as playing for the reserves.

In the 2010–11 season, Brady graduated to the reserve team on a permanent basis.

He was named as an unused substitute for the first team's League Cup Fourth Round win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on 26 October 2010.

On 19 July 2011, Manchester United loaned Brady to Championship club Hull City until 31 December.

He made his debut in the first match of the season on 5 August 2011 at the KC Stadium in a 1–0 defeat to Blackpool.

Three weeks later, he scored his first competitive goal for the Tigers in a 1–0 win against Reading at the KC Stadium.

After becoming their highest under-21 scorer of all time with seven goals, Brady made his senior international debut against Oman in 2012, scoring and setting up two more goals in a 4–1 victory.

He made his only appearance for Manchester United on 26 September 2012, coming on as an 86th-minute substitute for Alexander Büttner in a 2–1 victory over Newcastle United in the third round of the League Cup.

The loan was extended until the end of the 2011–12 season on 5 January 2012.

On 21 January, Brady scored in a 1–0 win against Reading at the Madejski Stadium.

On 5 November 2012, Manchester United loaned Brady to Hull until 2 January 2013.

He came off the bench the following day against Wolverhampton Wanderers as a replacement for Liam Rosenior.

Brady scored his first goal since returning to Hull on 8 December 2012 against Watford; he scored with a 25-yard free kick that went in off the crossbar, making it 2–0 to Hull.

However, after featuring just once for United's first team, he joined Hull City initially on loan and then permanently in 2013.

On 8 January 2013, Brady was signed by Hull on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee.

Brady scored a first-half penalty in Hull's opening home Premier League match on 24 August 2013, giving them a 1–0 win against Norwich City.

He went on to score two more goals in the Premier League the following month.

He then underwent two separate groin operations which made him miss most of the rest of the season.

He made 124 appearances for the Tigers, helping them reach the 2014 FA Cup Final.

Brady scored three goals during the 2014–15 campaign including two goals in the second leg of the Europa League play-off round tie against Belgian Pro League side K.S.C. Lokeren on 28 August.

Hull won 2–1 on the night but lost the tie on the away goals rule.

In July 2015, he joined Norwich City for £7 million where he suffered relegation to the Championship with the club in 2016.

On 29 July 2015, Brady joined newly promoted side Norwich City on a three-year deal, for a reported fee of £7 million.

He netted his first league goal in a Norwich City shirt on 26 September 2015, opening the scoring in a 2–2 draw against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground.

He has earned over 50 caps for his country and represented them at Euro 2016, scoring two goals during the tournament.

Born in Baldoyle, Dublin, Brady attended Pobalscoil Neasáin and was part of their under-16 All-Ireland Championship winning team.

On 1 March 2016, Brady lost two teeth in a clash of heads with teammate Gary O'Neil in a Premier League match against Chelsea.

Brady opened his 2016–17 goalscoring account on 1 October 2016 with a stunning 25-yard strike in the 2–1 away win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He doubled his goal tally for the season on 5 November, opening the scoring in a 3–2 home defeat to Leeds United.

On 31 December, Brady was sent off in the 0–0 draw at Brentford in a controversial decision with manager Alex Neil saying: "Robbie clearly isn't going in to injure the lad and both of them are sliding at impact, but we're not getting the rub of the green right now and that's just another example."

Norwich appealed the red card shown to Brady but it was rejected, meaning the Irishman would miss the next three matches.

He returned to the Premier League where he became Burnley's record signing in January 2017 when he completed a transfer for a fee reported to be around £13 million.

Brady has represented Ireland at all youth levels.

There was to be more disappointment for Brady as Hull were relegated after finishing the season in 18th position, three points behind Aston Villa.

Norwich ended the season in 19th place which meant back-to-back relegations for Brady.