Bryan Byrne (born 26 August 1982) is an Irish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He played in Europe and the United States.

Early life and education

Byrne was born on 26 August 1982, in

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

, Ireland, and was raised in

Castledermot Castledermot () is an inland village in the south-east of Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The N9 road from Dublin to Waterford previously passed through the village but upon completion of a motorway ...

. He started his career at local club Castle Villa A.F.C., where he played from U-10's through U-18's. Byrne was signed by

Dermot Keely Dermot Keely (born 8 March 1954) is an Irish former manager and player. He was a schoolteacher by profession. Family Keely's family have played League of Ireland football at various levels. His late father Peter Keely played for Shelbourne., hi ...

to play senior level soccer for

Kildare County F.C. Kildare County F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Chontae Chill Dara) was an Irish association football club based in Newbridge, County Kildare. Between 2002–03 and 2009 they played in the League of Ireland First Division. During this time they also ...

for the 2002–03 season. Byrne's stay was short, as Keely's son,

Alan Keely Alan Vincent Keely (10 May 1982 – 3 May 2021) was an Irish association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender for several League of Ireland teams between 2001 and 2009, including Shelbourne F.C., Finn H ...

, was returning from playing

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

in Santa Barbara and Dermot recommended Byrne as a player to target. He appeared 7 total times for the club. UCSB men's soccer team at the White House 2007-06-18

UCSB men's soccer team at the White House 2007-06-18

Byrne moved to the USA and enrolled at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, where he was a student-athlete for the

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team is an NCAA Division I college soccer team composed of student-athletes attending the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Gauchos play their home matches at Harder Stadium. Like most of the ...

team. He appeared in 77 games for UCSB throughout his four-year career, scoring 11 goals and assisting on 19 others. Byrne and UCSB won the

2006 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship The 2006 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament was a tournament of 48 teams from NCAA Division I who played for the NCAA Championship in soccer. The College Cup Final Four was held at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. All the other games w ...

and he was selected to the all-College Cup team. While enrolled at UCSB, Byrne also played with

San Fernando Valley Quakes San Fernando Valley Quakes was an American association football, soccer team based in Calabasas, California, Calabasas, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of th ...

of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, scoring two goals in four appearances.

Playing career

Byrne was drafted in the third round (38th overall) of the

2007 MLS SuperDraft The 2007 MLS SuperDraft was held in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 12, 2007. It was the eighth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection belonged to expansion team Toronto FC. The SuperDraft was followed by the 2007 MLS Supp ...

by the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

and manager

Steve Nicol ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, a former

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

player. There had been talk before the draft that Byrne would be drafted and sign with

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

, but a disagreement over his playing position and the signing of

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...

resulted in the team passing on him. Byrne signed a contract with the Revolution in April 2007, after the Revolution cleared roster space by waiving former UCSB teammate

Tony Lochhead Tony James Lochhead (born 12 January 1982) is a New Zealand former professional footballer who appeared with the New Zealand national football team. Early life and education Lochhead was born on 12 January 1982 in Tauranga, New Zealand. He w ...

. He would mainly feature for the New England Reserves team, but made his MLS debut against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

on 2 June 2007. Byrne left New England Revolution at the end of the year and subsequently signed for

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on the ...

. Byrne went on to play two seasons with Fusion, helping them to the

championship in 2009. He was released by Fusion at the end of 2009 as a result of the PDL's age restrictions.

Post-professional career

Byrne has appeared for a number of amateur teams including

Hollywood United F.C. Hollywood United is an American amateur soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1988, the team plays in Region IV of the United States Adult Soccer Association, a network of amateur leagues at the fifth tier of the ...

, Los Angeles Celtic, and Doxa Italia. Byrne was Doxa Italia's first ever goal scorer in the Lamar Hunt Open Cup. Byrne owns and runs a website where he talks about soccer cleats, SoccerCleats101.

Honors

Ventura County Fusion

Champions (1): 2009

UC Santa Barbara

NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate College soccer, soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the NCAA Division I, ...

(1):

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

References

External links

* * *
Kildare County player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Bryan 1983 births Living people Republic of Ireland association footballers Kildare County F.C. players League of Ireland players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players San Fernando Valley Quakes players New England Revolution players Ventura County Fusion players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players New England Revolution draft picks Association footballers from County Kilkenny Association football midfielders