A bargain buy from across the Irish Sea in 2009, Keith Fahey arrived at Birmingham City with little expectation.

Then a 25-year-old, Fahey had starred for St. Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland in the 2008 season and scored eight goals from midfield, prompting Alex McLeish to take a punt on him.

The Scotsman told fans not to expect too much from Fahey straight away as he acclimatised to the level, but soon enough the Irishman was given his chance to shine.

Fahey played a big part in the Blues' automatic promotion to the Premier League, scoring four times in the league including in the promotion-clinching encounter away at Reading on the final day of the season.

He made 144 appearances for Birmingham between 2009 and 2013, scoring nine goals in the process - but what has Fahey got upto since? Let's take a look...

 

 

 

 

Fahey departed St Andrew's in 2013 and it took him until the end of the year to get fixed up with another club, as he returned to his homeland and his former club St. Patrick's Athletic for the 2014 LoI season.

He spent just a season at the Pats before switching to Shamrock Rovers the following season, but it ended up being a brutal one - he suffered a bad knee injury in May 2015 and it forced him into retirement in August of that year.

A brief comeback was made by Fahey though in 2017 for Bluebell United in the Leinster Senior League, but he suffered a knee problem once again and admitted that he was completely done with football following that.

Recently, Fahey took part in a tell-all interview with The Echo newspaper, where he reveals that he has been through counselling and therapy for his struggles in the past, which include substance abuse.

Now Fahey wants to undertake a degree in Social Care to give him a new, proper life post-football, and it's something we rarely hear of from ex-international footballers by going down this route.

It's good to hear though that Fahey is moving on with his life after retirement in a positive way, and Birmingham fans will also be comforted at the fact that their former player is looking to make a real difference.