James Martin Beglin (born 29 July 1963) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender, and a current co-commentator for RTÉ, CBS Sports, TNT Sports, and Premier League Productions.
Playing career
Shamrock Rovers
Beglin played schoolboy football in his native city with Bolton and Waterford Bohs before joining Shamrock Rovers in 1980. He went on to spend three years at
Glenmalure Park, making four appearances in Europe and scoring one goal.
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In 1982 Beglin was part of the League of Ireland XI that toured New Zealand where they played the New Zealand men's national football team.
Liverpool
Beglin was the last signing made by Liverpool manager
Bob Paisley when he joined from
Shamrock Rovers for in May 1983.
[ Tuesday, 17 May 1983 – Page 016. The Irish Times (17 May 1983). Retrieved 2 May 2012.] He was gradually brought into the first team over the next 18 months by
Joe Fagan, before being given regular games in the left back slot by new player-manager
Kenny Dalglish as a replacement for
Alan Kennedy in the 1985–86 season. He made his debut in the left sided midfield position on 10 November 1984 in the 1–1 league draw with Southampton at
Anfield. He scored his first goal for the club 5 months later on 10 April 1985 in the 4–0 European Cup Semi-final first leg victory over
Greece side Panathinaikos at Anfield. Beglin's 85th-minute strike put the tie out of reach for the Greek club. Liverpool won the second leg 1–0 to set up a showdown in the final with Italian giants
Juventus FC at the Heysel Stadium in Belgium however a retaining wall collapsed during a riot at the "neutral" end, and 39 Juventus supporters died, in what came to be known as the Heysel Stadium Disaster. Liverpool also lost the final.
Liverpool won the League championship and FA Cup, pipping Merseyside rivals Everton to both, with Beglin picking up medals for each. He also began playing for the Republic of Ireland, picking up the first of 15 caps.
Seven months after lifting the league and cup double, his leg was badly broken following a mistimed tackle from Everton's Gary Stevens in the League Cup fifth round game in January 1987. Former manager Bob Paisley said that it was one of the worst leg breaks he had ever seen, joking that he would break his own leg to prove a point to the FA. Furthermore, Liverpool defender Alan Hansen stated that the tackle was "a mile high and an hour late".
Leeds United
In June 1989, he joined Leeds United, where he helped the club to become Second Division champions and spent periods on loan with both Plymouth Argyle and
Blackburn Rovers before a recurrence of his knee injury forced him into an early retirement in 1991, when still only 27.
International career
After caps with the Under-21 side, Beglin playing for the senior Republic of Ireland in 1984, earning 15 caps.
Media career
Beglin is a co-commentator for
BT Sport, Premier League Productions, and
CBS Sports, and was a co-commentator on
ITV Sport and a sports journalist on Granada Television. He commentated for RTÉ in the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups. In the past for RTÉ he has worked on coverage of
Premier League, UEFA Champions League matches and Republic of Ireland internationals. Beglin has also been employed by Liverpool as a voice–over artist for the club's official DVD and video releases. He has also been the co-commentator in the
Pro Evolution Soccer video game series since
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, alongside
Jon Champion and later
Peter Drury. On 4 May 2021, during a live broadcast of a UEFA Champions League semi-final, Beglin attributed Paris Saint-Germain's Argentine midfielder Ángel Di María's red card to his "Latino temperament", for which he later apologized.
Honours
Liverpool
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Football League First Division: 1985–86
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FA Cup: 1985–86
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FA Charity Shield: 1986
Leeds United
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Football League Second Division: 1989–90
External links
