Liverpool’s Conor Bradley has spoken about his pride at being named Northern Ireland’s captain for Saturday’s Nations League game against Belarus in Hungary.
It is a huge honour for the 21-year-old from county Tyrone who, since making his senior international debut in 2021, has become one of the country’s most important players.
“I’m really excited. It’s an honour. I’m going to be very proud when I walk out with the armband. I’m really happy and really looking forward to it,” said Bradley.
With Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas and Jonny Evans no longer playing international football, Bradley, thanks to a number of outstanding performances for Liverpool, has become Northern Ireland’s most high profile player and is a popular figure with his team-mates.
In last month’s Nations League matches versus Luxembourg and Bulgaria, manager Michael O’Neill gave the armband to Sunderland defender Trai Hume after Manchester United’s Jonny Evans announced his retirement from the scene.
At the time O’Neill said he intended to have different skippers throughout the Nations League campaign and confirmed that was still the plan when naming his squad for the October fixtures against Belarus and Bulgaria who visit Belfast on Tuesday.
What a moment it will be for Bradley and his family when he leads the team out at the weekend at the ZTE Arena stadium in Zalaegerszeg.
The Castlederg man has history in captaining a Northern Ireland side – he was an inspirational skipper for the Under-16s when they won the Victory Shield in 2018 – and will relish this opportunity.
“I captained youth teams before,” said Bradley.
“I think I was captain all the way from Under-13s to 16s or 17s so I have previous with being Northern Ireland captain and I’m really proud.”
Bradley joined Liverpool from Dungannon United Youth in 2019 and quickly made a positive impression at the club.
By 2021 he had made his debut for the first team under Jurgen Klopp becoming the first Northern Ireland player to feature in a competitive fixture for the Reds since Sammy Smyth in 1954.
Also in 2021 former Northern Ireland boss Ian Baraclough gave him his first appearance at international level bringing him off the bench for Dallas in a 3-0 friendly win over Malta.
He enjoyed a fabulous season on loan at Bolton in 2022/2023 winning a host of Player f the Year awards and the EFL Trophy final at Wembley playing a starring role in a 4-0 victory over Plymouth.
Returning to Liverpool last season he became a regular in 2024 when Trent Alexander Arnold was injured and excelled, scoring his first goal for the club in the Premier League against Chelsea, producing assists and delivering dynamic displays.
One of those came when Klopp’s side overcame Chelsea 1-0 in the Carabao Cup final.
On the international front in 2024 there have also been magic moments such as scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 triumph over Scotland at Hampden Park in March and netting twice in the 2-0 win against Andorra in June.
This season he has played several times under new Liverpool boss Arne Slot continuing his development as a footballer.
A brilliant player, Bradley is a class act off the field and a credit to his family, his football club and Northern Ireland. He can now add captain at senior international level to his list of achievements and at 21 there are many more to come.
Northern Ireland beat Luxembourg 2-0 in Belfast and lost 1-0 in Bulgaria in last month’s Nations League games and are aiming for six points out of six this time around versus Belarus and at home to the Bulgarians on Tuesday.
On facing Belarus, Bradley said: “It’s going to be a tough game. They are an aggressive team and a good team but we have prepared right and hopefully we can get the result.
“The mood in the camp is good. All the boys are really up for it. We have had a good week’s preparation. Michael (O’Neill) has been showing us stuff from Bulgaria where we can improve and hopefully we can go and show that.”