Pat Byrne

Born in Dublin in May of 1956, midfielder Pat Byrne made his League of Ireland debut for Bohemians against St. Pat’s at the age of 18. Despite his tender years, he quickly became a key part of a very successful Dalymount Park side, winning league medals in 1975 and 1978, a League Cup medal in 1975, and playing in the F.A.I. Cup-winning team of 1976. Byrne transferred to N.A.S.L. team Philadelphia Fury in March 1978, but returned to Ireland to join Shelbourne some months later, before being signed by English Second Division club Leicester City the following year.

Byrne helped the Foxes to the Second Division championship in 1980, and made several appearances for them in the English First Division in the 1980-81 season. When Leicester were relegated after just one year in the top flight, Byrne was offloaded to Heart of Midlothian in Scotland, but despite helping them to promotion back to the Scottish Premier Division, he had begun commuting between Dublin and Edinburgh, and was granted a free transfer to Shamrock Rovers in 1983.

Byrne was immediately handed the captaincy of Jim McLaughlin’s newly-assembled team, and as P.F.A.I. Player of the Year, the midfielder was central to Rovers capturing a first League of Ireland title in 20 years in 1984. Although beaten in a cup final replay by U.C.D. at the end of that season, Byrne himself could take great consolation from being handed his first Republic of Ireland international cap, starting at midfield in a friendly against Poland at Dalymount Park, and two more starts in games against China and Mexico followed later in the year.

Rovers made no mistake on the double front in 1985, and Byrne’s enormous contribution was reflected in his receipt of the Irish Soccer Writers’ “Personality of the Year” award. He made a late appearance as a substitute in an international friendly against Spain at Flower Lodge in May, before replacing an injured Tony Grealish after 30 minutes in a World Cup qualifier against Denmark (Eoin Hand’s last match in charge) at Lansdowne Road in November. Two more substitute caps were attained in friendlies against Wales (Jack Charlton’s first match as Republic manager) and Iceland, before starting at full-back for Ireland in another friendly match against Czechslovakia. In doing so, Byrne became the last League of Ireland player to start (or even feature in) a Republic of Ireland international match for the next 16 years, until Glen Crowe lined out against Greece in 2002.

Two more league and cup doubles followed for Shamrock Rovers in 1986 and 1987 (a possible move for Byrne to Cork City in 1985 never materialised), as the Hoops broke all kinds of League of Ireland records, but with the sale of their beloved Milltown ground and the near disintegration of the club just afterwards, Byrne joined Shelbourne as player-manager in 1988. Byrne was instrumental in restoring the Tolka Park club as a force in League of Ireland football, and with a little help from Jim McLaughlin, masterminded the Reds' first league championship success in 30 years in 1992. Byrne (who had made several telling contributions as a player) was rewarded with a second “Personality of the Year” award, and then another 30-year gap was bridged the following season, when Shels defeated Dundalk in the F.A.I. Cup final at Lansdowne Road. Despite going on to oversee Shelbourne's first European victory for almost three decades against Ukrainians Karpaty Lviv, Byrne and McLaughlin were forced out of the club in late 1993.

Byrne then joined Cobh Ramblers before being appointed player-manager of St. James’s Gate in February of 1994. He had his work cut out at the Dublin club, however, and was unable to prevent them finishing bottom of the First Division table at the end of the season. Byrne was appointed manager of Shamrock Rovers for the 1996-97 season (former teammate Mick Byrne was his assistant), but disillusioned by the club’s ongoing ground problems, he left the post the following year. With a successful season in charge of Kilkenny City (they won promotion to the Premier Division via the play-off) being his last managerial role to date, Byrne was inducted as a “Shamrock Rovers Legend” in 2006.