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Pass Master: Football, Fergie, Big Jack and My Life in the Beautiful and Sometimes Brutal Game
Hardcover
Publisher Price: $39.99
ISBN13: 9781836801894
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: Oct 27 2026
Pages: 288
Language: English
Former Newcastle, Manchester United and Ireland midfielder Liam O'Brien lifts the lid on his eventful playing career and shares previously untold behind-the-scenes stories.
Written with veteran journalist Jimmy Geoghegan.
Liam grew up in working-class Dublin, but he didn't become a full-time professional until signing for Manchester United at age 22. Two years later, despite being offered a new contract by Alex Ferguson, Liam made the brave call to leave Old Trafford and join struggling Newcastle United instead.
Read this gripping memoir to discover:
- What life was like at Manchester United in the 1980s
- What it was like to play under Sir Alex Ferguson as he rebuilt Manchester United
- What it was like to play for the Magpies as Kevin Keegan sparked a dramatic change in the club's fortunes - to this day, Newcastle fans still sing a song about Liam and the famous goal he scored against Sunderland
- An insider account of playing under Jack Charlton, Jim McLoughlin and Johnny King as well as Ferguson and Keegan
- The story of his spells playing for Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Tranmere Rovers and the Republic of Ireland
- What day-to-day life in football was like for a player in the 1980s, before the game was flooded by money
- How Liam fought back from a serious leg injury that threatened his career, and how he made a new life for himself, in and outside football, after his playing days were over
A must-read for Manchester United and Newcastle fans, this is a story of 1980s and 90s football, of exhilarating highs but also crushing lows.
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