Liverpool’s Conor Bradley has been 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 Co Tyrone who, since making his senior international debut in 2021, has become one of the country’s most important players.
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 Evans announced his retirement from the international 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.
Bradley joined Liverpool from Dungannon United Youth in 2019.
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 that year, 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.
The full-back enjoyed a fabulous season on loan at Bolton in 2022/2023, winning a host of Player of 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 a series of 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.