The FA Cup-winning midfielder reminisced in his time at Arsenal in a new interview with FourFourTwo
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Footballers have earned themselves all sorts of curious nicknames over the years – and Arsenal icon Liam Brady is no exception.
Throughout his seven-year Gunners career, the Irishman was affectionately known as Chippy – presumably for his propensity for chipping the ball, right?
Actually, not at all, as Brady – a 1978/79 FA Cup winner with the North London giants – explains in an insightful interview for the latest issue of FourFourTwo.
Liam Brady began his career at Arsenal in 1973 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Rather, the Chippy moniker pertained to that finest of English cuisines: fish and chips (well, mainly the latter part) – and FFT couldn't resist asking Brady for his expert opinion.
Quizzed on his favourite out of cod, plaice and haddock, the 67-year-old says: "Cod – I do like to have fish and chips probably once every fortnight. Some people still think the nickname comes from how I used to chip the ball, but it was all down to my fondness for chips.
"When I first visited Highbury and we were taken to the club restaurant, the chief scout passed out some menus and my mum said, 'Don’t worry about him; he only eats chips'. And so the nickname was cast!"
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Brady made 307 appearances for Arsenal and was capped 72 times by the Republic of Ireland.
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He left the Gunners for Juventus in 1980, also playing for Sampdoria, Inter Milan and Ascoli in Italy – before returning to England to finish his career at West Ham.
Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
