'I nearly died' - Stephen Bradley on horrific stabbing incident as a ...

Stephen Bradley has opened up on his brush with nearly dying during his teenage years as a player with Arsenal.

At the age of just 15, the young Bradley moved from Dublin across to London in order to try his luck with Arsene Wenger’s side.

This week sees the 40-year-old make a comeback of sorts when he leads Shamrock Rovers into a Conference League showdown away at Chelsea.

Stephen Bradley has opened up on his brush with nearly dying during his teenage years as a player with Arsenal. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Heralded as a very exciting talent as a youngster, the former midfielder even turned down Manchester United’s advances when Alex Ferguson came to his family home – but in the end he decided to join the Gunners.

Bradley was even on the cusp of the first-team squad by the time Arsenal’s famous 2003/04 Invincibles season came around.

His time in England, however, took a harrowing turn for the worse after in late 2003 when he was stabbed multiple times in a robbery that took place at his home when he was just 18.

Republic of Ireland and Arsenal’s Stephen Bradley at his home in Jobstown, Tallaght, Dublin. Pic: David Maher/Sportsfile

‘I went out for dinner with some team-mates. Within a minute of coming home, the door was getting kicked in,’ the Hoops boss told The Athletic.

‘They put a gun to my head. One was saying: “Shoot him, shoot him.” And the other stabbed me; three times. That’s all I remember.’

‘The surgeon said with the blood I was losing, I’d not have made it if they had not been there.’

Stephen Bradley and Shamrock Rovers head to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. Pic: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

‘He said: “You were millimetres away from the knife piercing your brain, which would have killed you. When you defended yourself, the knife went around, rather than down. They must have been kicking you when you were out cold.”

Despite the traumatic nature of the robbery – which all took place over an expensive watch – Bradley now sees the event as a positive turning point in his life.

‘I nearly died, but it’s one of the best things that happened to me,’ he continued.

‘I made bad decisions back then, and I paid for it. But it made me who I am today, as a person, and as a manager.’