A north-east actor is taking the lead role in a new play about the legendary football manager Sir Matt Busby.
Stephen Brady, who was born and educated in Aberdeen, has appeared in a wide range of TV programmes in recent years, including The Missing, Blue Murder, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell and Emmerdale.
Now, he is playing Busby, one of the greatest figures in Manchester United’s history, in a drama called Bishop Utd, which will open in the north of England next February.
The narrator of the work is George Courtney, the former World Cup referee who officiated at the 1986 and 1990 tournaments.
Mr Brady told the Press and Journal about his remarkable journey from Aberdeen to Lancashire in a journey encompassing sport, music, the stage and television.
He said: “I took part in athletics and cricket at Aberdeen Grammar and Aberdeenshire and I loved my time at Mannofield and Dyce and living in and around the city.
“But I’ve always been interested in acting and I really decided to pursue that after moving to Cheshire in 2000. I suppose it has been a strange career route in the last 20 years: when I first moved to England, I played drums in a local pipe band, then I started to appear in more acting roles and it has all built up from there.
“This new play has been co-written by Roy Cavanagh, MBE, and it tells the story of how amateur club Bishop Auckland helped out United in the aftermath of the Munich air disaster (which killed 23 people, including many players) in 1958.
“Busby helped so many of those who survived the crash and the way in which he responded to the tragedy is at the heart of this new work.
“It is a big honour to be involved in this production and, coming from Aberdeen, the play has added resonance for me because it was Sir Matt Busby who helped bring Alex Ferguson down to Old Trafford in the 1980s.”
The play’s opening night is already sold out and the BBC plans to record it.
Sir Matt, who died in 1994, was inducted into the SFA Hall of Fame in 2004.