Jack Brady: 'We just totally shunned the idea away and got on with it on the pitch'

Speaking on this week’s ExtraTime.ie Sportscast, former Limerick goalkeeper Jack Brady has opened up on how the off-field speculation impacted on the dressing room at the Markets Field.

Brady impressed for the Shannonsiders this term, with some superb showings earning the 22-year-old a move to Shelbourne ahead of the 2020 campaign.

Having joined Limerick in July 2018, Brady, nor many would have foreseen the road Limerick were about to embark on.

Allegations were directed at many of the Limerick players, and despite the consistent negativity at the club – the former Longford Town shot-stopper admits he was proud of being a part of a dressing room that handled itself ‘impeccably’ through the negativity.

“It’s not something I really shy away from to be honest; I get asked about this all the time from people. For the pros that we had in the dressing room, they were impeccable when it came to this.

“We just totally shunned the idea away and we just got on with it on the pitch. It was mentioned briefly after the allegations came out online before a training session, but we never had an informal conversation about it.

“We knew the situation was too serious to speculate on. If it did go on, you don’t want to see it going on in the game and if there’s people punished, fair enough but so far nothing has gone on with it.

“Nobody has been put under the thumb. I think that’s a credit to the squad we had. It was never mentioned at a training session or a game so when it came out, the management or players had no interest in talking about it.

“With all of that, they knew all we could do put in the best performances on the pitch. In fairness, we got a couple of really good results towards the end of the season and I think that shows how much character and class we had.

“You had Shaun Kelly, Shane Tracy, Robbie Williams and Jason Hughes. We stuck together and that’s something I’m proud to say I was a part of.”



From a club portrayed in a poor light, the Ballina native has made the move to an altogether different club in Shelbourne – which is a far cry from his previous spell with the Reds from 2014-16.

“When I was there (at Shelbourne) in 2016, the club were struggling financially and were trying to get back where they wanted to be in the Premier Division.

“That was ambitious for the backing that was there at the time and it was very difficult. It was just good, hard working and hungry players that wanted to do their best for the club, and I found myself in a similar position at Limerick last year.

“The people that were there were there because they wanted to play for the club and not for any financial gain, because that wasn’t an option really. If you look at Shels now, they’re unbelievably ambitious and what they’re doing is very interesting.

“I’ve had conversations with Ian Morris and members of the board over the last couple of weeks and what they’re trying to do is phenomenal. They’re building properly which is something we haven’t seen in the League of Ireland in a long time.

“We see things in the League of Ireland where teams become overly ambitious in their first year or two in the Premier Division and then the club has to change their way of doing things.



“It looks as if Shels are trying to build properly with young players, to build a squad with young players that they want to hold onto.”

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