Liam Brady is in the latter stages of his last journey in football.

It is the longest journey of all during the former Albion manager's illustrious career.

Appropriately for one of the most gifted players of his generation, it seems destined for a successful ending.

All the hard work by Dean Wilkins and Martin Hinshelwood with the Seagulls' youth set-up is beginning to bear fruit.

Dan Harding, Adam Virgo and Adam Hinshelwood are now established first team players, Dean Hammond, Adam El-Abd and Chris May regulars in the squad.

Similar evolution is taking place under head of youth Brady at his beloved Arsenal as they prepare for the FA Cup and a return to Champions League action away to Bayern Munich next week.

Justin Hoyte, Jermaine Pennant, Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie have all featured for the Gunners this season.

Arsenal were heavily criticised this week for fielding an entire squad of foreign players for Monday's game against Crystal Palace, the first time this has happened in Premiership history.

But many were brought through the youth system from a young age and in years to come a significant chunk of Arsenal's first team could become known as 'Brady's Bunch'.

"I'm only part way through the journey," Brady said. "I've been here eight years now and I'd like to see Arsenal being successful with 30 or 40 per cent of the team home-grown. We haven't got to that stage yet. That is what we want to do and that is what the club are committed to do. I see this as being my last job in football.

"I don't know how long it is going to take. I'll be 50 in 2006 and that will be 35 years in the game. I don't know if you want to go on much longer than that, but I'm enjoying it so I'll keep going."

Brady's return to the club he served with panache as a player followed a turbulent two years as Albion's manager. His reign coincided with the controversial sale of the Goldstone Ground.

"I knew they were struggling financially, but I didn't know there was a plan to get out of the financial problems by selling the stadium," he said. "It's difficult to have enthusiasm when you have got to work for Bill Archer and David Bellotti. They say the vital relationship at any club is between the chairman and the manager.

"I didn't have anything in common with any of them. Greg Stanley liked his football, but he liked Chelsea more than Brighton and I think he was well aware of what was going on, to asset-strip the club."

Brady was fronting a consortium hoping to take control of Albion when Arsenal came calling. Once he departed for Highbury, somewhat reluctantly, it was current chairman Dick Knight who became the consortium's mouthpiece.

"It wasn't a straightforward decision for me to go back to Arsenal," Brady revealed. "I was very active with Dick at the time to try to get Archer and Bellotti out and to do something with the club.

"He (Knight) obviously had the business acumen and I had ideas on how we could improve the club playing-wise, the staff and the scouting system, which is very important for a club like Brighton.

"At the same time this job came up at Arsenal which David Dein (vice-chairman) encouraged me to apply for.

"He said it was tailor-made for me. It was security, an income I certainly wasn't going to have at Brighton and the call of my old club was too much. I was installed in the job the day that Bruce Rioch got the sack, which wasn't the most auspicious way to start. It felt very awkward. I think a few people at the club thought I might have had something to do with it.

"People seemed to be looking over their shoulders at that time but I was just coming in as head of youth, trying to improve a situation which the Board recognised had deteriorated so that we weren't getting the right kind of players coming through.

"Arsene Wenger came a couple of months later. Nobody knew anything about him. The headline in The Sun was 'Arsene Who'. I got to know the man and how he works. He is a very quiet but determined guy.

"He wasn't going to let that kind of welcome stop him in any way. He stuck to his game plan, brought players in that nobody had heard of like Vieira and Emmanuel Petit, got another few years out of Adams, Winterburn, Bould, Keown, Seaman and Dixon, and improved what was around them.

"My job whilst he was doing this was trying to improve the youth to make sure we had players coming through. That is not something you can do in one or two seasons.

"You have got to go out and find the players. We had to set up a scouting network abroad that was going to bear fruit. It was very much trial and error but Arsene was very keen for that to happen.

"I remember him saying to me 'why should we go and pay £20 million for a player, English or foreign, if we put the work in, find these players and coach them properly?' That suits me. I don't want to be encouraging the club to spend millions. "

Brady retains a deep affection for Albion. He still lives in Hove and son Michael goes to games at Withdean. When the conversation returns to his old club he cannot resist one last swipe at the men who came so close to destroying it.

"It's remarkable how the club have kept going really. That is credit to Dick and the people helping him. At least we have now got people who really have the club at heart."