Jim Beglin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jim Beglin | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Martin Beglin | |
| Date of birth | July 29, 1963 | |
| Place of birth | Waterford, Ireland | |
| Position | Left-back | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
| 1980-83 1983-89 1989-91 1989 1990 |
Shamrock Rovers Liverpool Leeds United Plymouth Argyle Blackburn Rovers |
?? (??) 64 (2) 17 (0) 5 (0) 6 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1984-87 | Republic of Ireland | 15 (0) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
James Martin Beglin (born County Waterford, Republic of Ireland, July 29, 1963) was a talented full back with Liverpool F.C. during their historic "double" year of 1986 whose career was cruelly cut short by injury.
Beglin was the last signing made by legendary Liverpool manager Bob Paisley when he joined from Shamrock Rovers F.C. in 1983. He was gradually introduced to the first team picture over the next 18 months, before being given regular games in the left back slot by Kenny Dalglish as a replacement for Alan Kennedy.
In his first season he established himself as a competent and confident, forward-thinking full back and Liverpool won the League championship and FA Cup, 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. In a derby League Cup tie against Everton F.C. in early 1987, he went into a fairly straightforward 50-50 tackle with full back Gary Stevens and suffered a horrific leg break. Though the injury was very serious, nobody - including Beglin himself - blamed Stevens, with the watching football world accepting that the tackle was fair and without malice and Beglin was just extremely unlucky. However, at the time, Liverpool's Alan Hansen described the tackle as "a foot high and an hour late".
Liverpool reached the final of that competition - they lost 2-1 to Arsenal F.C. - but Beglin could do no more than watch as he tried to recuperate from the injury. Dalglish had reshuffled his defence to cater for his absence, moving Steve Nicol across to the left flank and introducing new signing Barry Venison. As Beglin hoped to make progress the next season, local lad Gary Ablett came through the ranks to take the left back slot. Beglin tried to make a comeback in the Liverpool reserve team but only succeeded in damaging cartilages in his knee. His days at Anfield were over.
In 1989 he joined Leeds United F.C. but his form and fitness, not to mention the health of his leg, was never quite the same and he quit playing at the age of 27.
Beglin is now a pundit on the game, working for ITV in England, and currently for RTÉ on both club matches and Ireland internationals. He has also been employed by Liverpool as a voice-over artist for the club's official DVD and video releases.
[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)
