Stephen Bradley has revealed that he left an interview for the Republic of Ireland manager's job after FAI bosses were late for the meeting.

The 40-year-old, who has led Shamrock Rovers to four League of Ireland titles, interviewed for the vacant national team role after the departure of Stephen Kenny.

Bradley told Off The Ball: "I was approached through back channels at the start, asking if this was something that I would be interested in, and having that conversation.

"Obviously the answer was yes. So a meeting was set up between myself and Mark Canham and Jonathan Hill, and unfortunately both Mark and Jonathan were late for the meeting, 15 minutes late, so I left."

He added: "That probably summed up how serious the interest was for me to have the job, which I found disrespectful and not good enough, to be honest with you.

"If I was someone who they were really serious about having that job, they would not have been late for that meeting."

Bradley's long-time assistant manager Glenn Cronin offered his own perspective on the incident.

Cronin said: "When he [Bradley] spoke to me about it, initially he said, 'You're going to kill me.' And I said, what? He said, 'I came off the call.'

"I asked him why. He said, 'They left me waiting, whatever amount of time it was'. And I thought, good, that's how I felt really.

"It's not an arrogance, it's respect. They wouldn't leave Jose Mourinho waiting 10 minutes. He was there on merit, and deserved to be respected the same as everyone else, but he wasn't.

"He's no less valuable than anyone else, so I think it was the right thing to do."

Despite ultimately seeing Icelander Heimir Hallgrimsson be given the Ireland job, Bradley has not been deterred from his ambition to manage at the highest level.

Although his biggest priority remains the health of his son, Josh, who was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of eight in 2022.

"I've made no secret of the fact that I want to manage at the highest level. I want to manage at the highest level possible, and that's my ambition, that's my hunger, that's my desire.

"Has there been opportunities in the last few years? Yeah, there have been opportunities, but the personal circumstances don't allow for that.

"Please God, in the future we get good news and the whole picture becomes clearer. In the last two and a half years, there's no job in the world that would have taken me away from my family situation."

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