James Martin Beglin (born 29 July 1963 in County Waterford) is a former Irish professional footballer.

His first senior club was Shamrock Rovers whom he joined in 1980. He went on to spend 3 years at Milltown, making 4 appearances in Europe and scoring one goal[1].

Beglin was the last signing made by Liverpool manager Bob Paisley when he joined from Shamrock for £20,000 in May 1983. He was gradually introduced to the first team picture over the next 18 months by Joe Fagan, before being given regular games in the left back slot by Kenny Dalglish as a replacement for Alan Kennedy. 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 1st leg victory over Greek 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 at the Heysel Stadium in Belgium. Hooligans rioted before the beginning of the game causing a retaining wall to collapse which killed 39, mainly, Juventus supporters, in what came to be known as the Heysel Stadium Disaster.

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. Then it all went horribly wrong for Beglin, just seven months after lifting the league and cup double, his leg was badly broken following a mistimed challenge from Everton's Gary Stevens. Liverpool's Bob Paisley said that it was one of the worst leg breaks he had ever seen. Furthermore, Paisley stated that it was one of the worst tackles he had ever seen and was quickly joined by Alan Hansen, who said in an interview that the tackle was "a mile high and an hour late", but Hansen later admitted that he regretted making such comments. Recovering from the break, Beglin sustained a knee cartilage injury playing for Liverpool's reserves in October 1988 which effectively finished his time at Anfield.

In June 1989, he joined Leeds United, where he helped the club to become 2nd 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 April 1989, shortly before he left Liverpool, Beglin, along with his team-mates, rallied round the bereaved families of the Hillsborough disaster.

Beglin is now a media pundit. He currently works for RTÉ on coverage of F.A. Premier League, UEFA Champions League matches and Republic of Ireland internationals. He also works for ITV television in the UK. He has also been employed by Liverpool as a voice-over artist for the club's official DVD and video releases.

[edit] External links

• Official past players at Liverpoolfc.tv
• Player profile at LFChistory.net
• Biography at sporting-heroes.net

[edit] Honours

• 1985/86 Football League First Division (Level 1)
• 1985/86 FA Cup
• 1986/87 Charity Shield Shared
• 1989/90 Football League Second Division (Level 2)

• Leinster Senior Cup (football): 1
  • Shamrock Rovers 1982