The lifelong City fan has already done a Jack Grealish-style closed eyes and fingers in the ears celebration at this year’s event and now has the Norwegian goal-machine in his sights for 2024.
If he does adopt the meditation pose made famous by our No.9, expect to see the Stockport-born Broady on the back of sports pages around the world.
“A lot of people wanted me to do the Haaland celebration if I won on Centre Court, but I got a bit carried away and forgot to do it!” said Broady, referring to his second round win over Norwegian Casper Ruud.
“Maybe it will be next year for that, especially if I get a little message from him!”
Though there was no British presence in either the men’s or women’s singles after the first week of Wimbledon, Broady was justifiably proud of equalling his best performance at the world’s premier grass championship.
“I think myself and Katie Boulter were the last Brits at Wimbledon in the third round, and it put a bit of a dampener on the tournament overall for the home support, but for me it was a career-equalling best to get to that stage,” he said.
“Going into Wimbledon, I didn’t expect it to pan out the way it did, so it was an incredible experience.
“I did really well in my first match which sort of upped my confidence a bit, and then to beat Casper Ruud - who was seeded No.4 - was fantastic, but I had the feeling he wasn’t that comfortable on grass, plus I had the fans with me which is a big advantage at Wimbledon, and it turned out well in the end.”
Broady was also pleased to discover he had some new followers after his first round success – two City players!
After seeing off Frenchman Constant Lestienne in the first round, he was congratulated by two Treble winners – much to his delight.
“Yeah, I saw I’d gotten a follow from Phil Foden and Kalvin Phillips as well as some messages from the boys and it was just immense,” he said.
“I’ve spent my entire life following City and much of my time watching these lads play on TV and been impressed with how good they are at what they do, so to have them take time out of their days to wish me good luck or watch me play is a class touch and very personal for me – but I think that’s what our Club is all about.”
And what of his second Grealish celebration, having also grabbed the headlines for doing a ‘Jack’ last year?
“Yes I did it again,” he smiled.
“It was just the fingers in the ears celebration that Jack did when he scored his first City goal and was blocking out what the critics were saying because he probably wasn’t playing as well as he wanted to at that point.
“That went down really well last year, so I thought I’d do it again this time.”
So, how was City’s 2022/23 season for Liam?
He started following the Club as a kid when Shaun Goater was banging in the goals, and he admits he is still finding it hard to absorb the events of the last 12 months.
“When we completed the Treble, it was just a bit surreal because when I first started supporting the Blues, we weren’t very good – which is a nice way of putting it – now it’s an insane time to be a City fan and I’m just trying to soak it all in,” he said.
“I kept telling everyone we wouldn’t do it, which was my reverse psychology to protect myself – and it worked!”
Stockport-born Broady, ranked 5 in Great Britain, made it to the third round at Wimbledon this year – no mean feat – before losing to Canadian Denis Shapovalov in a match that could have gone either way.
He is now preparing for a competition in Rhode Island, USA and in September, he will have the chance of realising a boyhood dream by representing Great Britain in his home city as the Davis Cup finally comes to Manchester.
It’s the first major tennis event in Manchester for almost three decades, and the Davis Cup hits town this September at the AO Arena – with Broady hoping it is just the beginning.
“The two things I care about most in my life is tennis and where I’m from, so it’s a nice way for those two things to mesh together,” he said.
“The north of England has been a real powerhouse for producing talent over the years, but for the last decade it’s sort of fallen off a cliff and I reckon that’s down to a lack of funding compared to other places, so I’m hoping we can see a lasting change for the future of tennis in Manchester.
“The Davis Cup could be a fantastic vehicle for bringing about some change, because we could have Andy Murray in the team, Dan Evans, Jamie Murray, Cam Norrie, Jack Draper who are all pretty much legends of British tennis.
“I think it’s £20 for an adult and a fiver for Under 18s and this is the first time in 28 years we’ve had the Davis Cup in Manchester, which is insane for a city as big as ours with such a rich sporting heritage.
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“I think we’ve been overlooked over the years and that’s why I wanted to get out there and push the message because the more people that go, the more chances we have of staging future tournaments.
“And if some fellow City fans want to come along and cheer us on, that would be incredible, too.”
From the 12 to 17 September, Great Britain will compete in Group B of the competition against Australia, France and Switzerland in a round-robin, with the top two teams in each group fighting for a place in the Final Eight which will take place in Malaga in November.
