Pat Byrne

Football player infobox| playername= Pat Byrne


fullname = Pat Byrne
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1956|5|15|mf=y
cityofbirth = Dublin
countryofbirth = Republic of Ireland
height =
position = Midfielder
years = 1974-1978
1978-1979
1979-1981
1981-1983
1983-1988
1988-1993
1993
1994
clubs = Bohemians
Philadelphia Fury
Leicester City
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
Shelbourne F.C.
Cobh Ramblers
St James's Gate F.C.
caps(goals) = 98 (?)
19 (3)
36 (3)
65 (11)
? (?)
? (?)
4 (?)
? (?)
nationalyears = 1984-1987
1984-1986
nationalteam = League of Ireland XI
Republic of Ireland
nationalcaps(goals) = 3 (1)
8 (0)
manageryears = 1988-1993
1995-1996
1996-1997
1999-2000
managerclubs = Shelbourne F.C.
St James's Gate F.C.
Shamrock Rovers
Kilkenny City F.C.

Pat Byrne (born 15 May 1956, in Dublin) is a former Irish football player and manager.

A central midfielder, Byrne's playing career started with Bohemians in his native Ireland, his debut coming against St Patricks Athletic on August 25 1974. He made 162 appearances in all competitions for Bohs (98 in the league, 10 in European competition) [Bohemian FC match programme, Vol. 46, no. 5] before he moved to the USA in 1978, for a year with the Philadelphia Fury of the North American Soccer League where he played alongside fellow Irishman Fran O'Brien. He played in eighteen matches plus one play-off game and scored three goals. Pat's team mates included Alan Ball, Peter Osgood and John Giles. He played against the likes of Rodney Marsh, Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia and Bobby Moore.

He returned to Europe in 1979, playing for Leicester City until 1981, then Heart of Midlothian until 1983. While playing for the Tynecastle side he was based in Dublin, and would regularly commute for weekend fixtures. When this became too much of a burden, he was granted a free transfer and joined League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers. At Glenmalure Park he had extraordinary success winning 4 league titles in a row and the FAI Cup 3 times between 1984 and 1987. He was the clubs Player of the Year in 1984/85 and also picked up the SWAI Personality of the Year award for that season. During this time he also won 8 full international caps and 3 Inter League caps scoring once. He made 7 appearances for Rovers in European competition.

His distinguished career in the green and white came to an end at the end of the 1987/88 season when he was installed as player-manager of Shelbourne F.C. in 1988 [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/archive/1988/0415/Pg003.html#Ar00305:21E45526C4AA2A84A62B94B922C51D23D5302984553324AA2C14A62E34B921E4E82414FB24751D26A530] . By 1992 he had guided Shels to their first League of Ireland title in thirty years and the following year, he guided them to their first FAI Cup success in thirty years, when they beat Dundalk 1-0 in the cup final at Lansdowne Road. In the Cup Winners' Cup that autumn, Byrne brought Shels their first European victory since 1964 when they knocked out Ukrainian side Karpaty Lviv 3-2 on aggregate. Byrne was sacked along with his assistant Jim McLaughlin shortly afterwards, [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/archive/1993/1013/Pg018.html#Ar01803:6021BD6251D669C3AC6B23C162409170411062D1BD6391D66381BE6411D66411BD6591D660127662828B6B83AC6DE3C16873E76AE3FC60F4966374AC7971EC7CD20670D3E77343FC] and was succeeded by Eoin Hand.

Pat became player/manager of St James's Gate F.C. in February 1994 before he came back to Rovers to manage the club for the 1996/1997 season. He later managed Kilkenny City to promotion to the Premier Division.

In September 2006 he became a Shamrock Rovers Legend. [http://www.shamrockrovers.ie/pressarchive/press_release_08_Sep_2006.php]

Honours

As a player

* League of Ireland Championship: 4
** Shamrock Rovers 1983/84, 1984/85, 1985/86, 1986/87
* FAI Cup: 3
** Shamrock Rovers 1985, 1986, 1987
* PFAI Player of the Year:
** Shamrock Rovers - 1983/84
* SWAI Personality of the Year
** Shamrock Rovers - 1984/85
**Player of the Year:
** Shamrock Rovers - 1984/85

As a manager

* League of Ireland Championship: 1
** Shelbourne F.C. 1992

* FAI Cup: 1
** Shelbourne F.C. 1993

Sources

* "The Hoops" by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins (ISBN 0-7171-2121-6)

References