He most notably played for Ipswich Town, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, and represented Scotland in international football.
Born in 1959 in the Govan district of Glasgow,[2] Brazil started his career in England with Ipswich Town in 1977, where he stayed until 1983, appearing a total of 210 times and scoring 80 goals.
He made his Ipswich debut in a league match against Manchester United on 14 January 1978, and also contributed to their victorious 1977–78 FA Cup run when he played against Bristol Rovers in the fifth round replay.
Competition for places at Old Trafford was very fierce, with Irish International Frank Stapleton, Mark Hughes and (initially, before his move into midfield) Norman Whiteside all in contention.
Brazil scored 16 goals during his 18 months with Manchester United, but by the time his second season got underway, he was no longer a regular member of the first team, with most his final appearances for the club coming as a substitute.
He made 15 league appearances, scoring twice, and was given a free transfer at the end of the season, with his back problems becoming more evident.
Joining Queens Park Rangers, he made a total of four appearances, scoring once (the winner against Blackburn in the League Cup), and went on to play for Bury Town, Chelmsford City and Stambridge United.
[11] Brazil later played under Garry Hill at Chelmsford Sunday League side Priory Sports, alongside Micky Droy and Paul Parker.
[14] His international appearances were limited as Scotland had a number of other strikers at this time such as Kenny Dalglish, Charlie Nicholas, Mo Johnston, Steve Archibald, Paul Sturrock, Joe Jordan, Frank McAvennie, Davie Dodds, Frank McGarvey and Andy Gray who were preferred to Brazil.
Since Irani left the show in 2013, there has been a variety of co-presenters including Matt Holland, Ray Parlour, David Ginola, Dominic Cork, Neil Warnock and Brian Moore.
[15] While reacting to the death of actor Robin Williams in August 2014, Brazil said on his talkSPORT show that he did not have a lot of sympathy for people who commit suicide as it leaves their families in a "diabolical" situation.
[17][18] Starting from December 2023 following the arrival of Jeff Stelling at Talksport, Brazil began hosting Talksport's main breakfast show for three days a week (up from two) from Wednesday to Friday alongside rotating co-hosts whilst Stelling serves as host of the breakfast show on Monday and Tuesdays.
[21] Having retired from English league football aged 27 due to injury, for several years in the 1990s Brazil ran the Black Adder pub in Ipswich.