Editing Jim Beglin

{{Short description| Irish Footballer}}
{{BLP sources|date=January 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Jim Beglin
| image          = Jim Bglin.PNG
| caption        = Beglin in Loch Lomond, 2015
| fullname       = James Martin Beglin
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1963|7|29}}
| birth_place    = [[County Waterford]], Ireland
| height         = {{convert|5|ft|11|in|order=flip}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rollin |first=Jack |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1990–91 |date=1990 |publisher=Queen Anne Press |isbn=978-0-356-17911-7 |location=London |pages=304 |oclc=655598315}}</ref>
| position       = [[Defender (association football)#Full-back|Left back]]
| youthyears1    = {{0|0000}}–1980
| youthclubs1    = Waterford Bolton
| youthclubs2    = Waterford Bohs. 
| years1         = 1980–1983
| clubs1         = [[Shamrock Rovers F.C.|Shamrock Rovers]]
| caps1          = 58
| goals1         = 1
| years2         = 1983–1989
| clubs2         = [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]
| caps2          = 98
| goals2         = 2
| years3         = 1989–1991
| clubs3         = [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]]
| caps3          = 19
| goals3         = 1
| years4         = 1989–1990
| clubs4         = → [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]] (loan)
| caps4          = 5
| goals4         = 0
| years5         = 1990–1991
| clubs5         = → [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] (loan)
| caps5          = 6
| goals5         = 0
| totalcaps = 186 | totalgoals = 4
| nationalyears1 = 1982
| nationalteam1  = [[League of Ireland XI]]
| nationalcaps1  = ?
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 1982–1983
| nationalteam2  = [[Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team|Republic of Ireland U21]]
| nationalcaps2  = 4
| nationalgoals2 = 0
| nationalyears3 = 1990
| nationalteam3  = [[Republic of Ireland B national football team|Republic of Ireland B]]
| nationalcaps3  = 1
| nationalgoals3 = 0
| nationalyears4 = 1984–1986
| nationalteam4  = [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]]
| nationalcaps4  = 15
| nationalgoals4 = 0
}}

'''James Martin Beglin''' (born 29 July 1963) is an Irish former professional [[association football|footballer]] who played as a [[Defender (association football)|defender]], and a current co-commentator for [[RTÉ]], [[CBS Sports]], [[TNT Sports (United Kingdom)|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 F.C.|Shamrock Rovers]] in 1980. He went on to spend three years at [[Glenmalure Park|Milltown]], making four appearances in Europe and scoring one goal.<ref>[http://www.shamrockrovers.ie/history/european-results#1982] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625194032/http://www.shamrockrovers.ie/history/european-results |date=25 June 2012 }}</ref>

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 F.C.|Liverpool]] manager [[Bob Paisley]] when he joined from [[Shamrock Rovers]] for {{£|20,000}} in May 1983.<ref>[http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1983/0517/Pg016.html#Ar01603 Tuesday, 17 May 1983 – Page 016]. The Irish Times (17 May 1983). Retrieved 2 May 2012.</ref> 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 in English football|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 F.C.|Southampton]] at [[Anfield]]. He scored his first goal for the club 5 months later on 10 April 1985 in the 4–0 [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] Semi-final first leg victory over [[Greece|Greek]] side [[Panathinaikos F.C.|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|Juventus]] at the [[King Baudouin Stadium|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 [[Football League First Division|League championship]] and [[FA Cup]], pipping [[Merseyside]] rivals [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] to both, with Beglin picking up medals for each. He also began playing for the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]], picking up the first of 15 [[cap (football)|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 [[1986–87 Football League Cup|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".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4938438.stm | title=Alan Hansen's column |publisher=BBC Sport | date=24 April 2006 | access-date=7 August 2011 | author=Hansen, Alan}}</ref> 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.

=== Leeds United ===
In June 1989, he joined [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]], where he helped the club to become Second Division champions and spent periods on loan with both [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|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 national football team|Republic of Ireland]] in 1984, earning 15 [[cap (football)|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|ITV]] and a sports journalist on [[Granada Television]]. He commentated for [[RTÉ]] in the [[2014 FIFA World Cup|2014]] and [[2018 FIFA World Cup]]s. 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 (series)|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 [[2020-21 UEFA Champions League|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.<ref>{{cite web | last=Bumbaca | first=Chris | title=CBS announcer Jim Beglin apologizes for blaming Ángel Di María red card on 'Latino temperament' | website=USA Today | date=4 May 2021 | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/europe/2021/05/04/jim-beglin-cbs-angel-di-maria-latino-temperament/4946082001/ | access-date=5 May 2021}}</ref>

==Honours==
'''Liverpool'''
*[[Football League First Division]]: [[1985–86 Football League|1985–86]]  
*[[FA Cup]]: [[1986 FA Cup Final|1985–86]]
*[[FA Charity Shield]]: [[1986 FA Charity Shield|1986]]

'''Leeds United'''
*[[Football League Second Division]]: [[1989–90 Football League Second Division|1989–90]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101205012848/http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/history/past-players/jim-beglin Official past players at Liverpoolfc.tv]
* [http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=265 Player profile at LFChistory.net]
* [http://www.sporting–heroes.net/football–heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=7435 Biography at sporting–heroes.net]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{UEFA player}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beglin, Jim}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Association footballers from Waterford (city)]]
[[Category:Association footballers from County Waterford]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's association footballers]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:Shamrock Rovers F.C. players]]
[[Category:Liverpool F.C. players]]
[[Category:Leeds United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Plymouth Argyle F.C. players]]
[[Category:Blackburn Rovers F.C. players]]
[[Category:League of Ireland players]]
[[Category:League of Ireland XI players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Men's association football fullbacks]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen]]