Luke Kelly on the Arsenal bus: Six things we learned in Liam Brady film

Paddy Reilly even played Arsenal's cup final banquets, Jennings revealed. And the greening for north London was complete with the Gunners won the cup. 

Brady said: "I remember when we won the cup in 1979 there was a tricolour on the front of the bus. It was very unusual."

2. It wasn't straightforward being an Irishman in London in those times. 

Frank Stapleton recalled how he was always stopped and questioned on returns from international duty in Dublin. And Brady suffered violence on the Tube when his Irish accent was detected.

"These guys were getting a bit forward with the girl I was with. I told them to leave it out and they recognised my Irish accent. They turned out to be from Birmingham and I became the subject of their temper over what had happened in Birmingham. It wasn’t too bad a beating.”

3 Brady was a hard taskmaster during his days in charge of the Arsenal academy, according to former charge Wojciech Szczęsny, the current Juve keeper who meets Liam on his return to the club where he won two Scudettos. 

“Liam was cold. You were strict, you weren’t one of these guys who put their arms around you. You were cold,’’ said Szczesny. “People were scared of you."

"Imagine scared of me," Brady protests, laughing. 

"The coaches were Steve Bould and Neil Banfield, both tough, but people were scared of you, not of them two."

Still, there was a soft spot for the Pole.

“But I always felt that Liam liked me, I could tell. Remember you’d give me 20 pounds a month for my phone?” 

“Shhhh, I wasn’t supposed to do that.” 

“Ah, you’re not working there anymore. And I didn't pay tax on it. That made a difference to me. That 20 pounds was me talking to my family, so thank you for that.”

4 Many know Brady's Ireland debut came in the famous victory over USSR in 1974. But fewer are aware he played that day, aged 18, with "a perm that went wrong".

5 Brady reckons he was born to be a footballer but music is the love of his life.

"I didn't read the newspaper, I read the NME," he recalls of his early Arsenal days. The great joy in turning pro was a wage of £75 that allowed him to buy an LP every week.  

6. Jack Charlton didn't often say sorry and didn't quite say it to Liam either.

But he did write a touching letter to build some bridges after he famously ended Brady's Ireland career by hauling him off early in a friendly with West Germany.

“I hope next time we meet you will still have a little time for me, and we might find time to repair some of the damage. This is just a quick note I felt I had to send you. All the best Liam, I hope things work out for you. Jack.”