David Byrne is an English-born South African soccer coach and former professional player. He was in 1982 and 1984 a top ten scorer in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

Player

Professional

The son of former England international and West Ham United star Johnny Byrne, Byrne was born in England, but raised in Cape Town. In 1979, Byrne moved to the United States where he joined the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1973 and again from 19 ...

just in time for the 1979–1980

indoor season. He continued to play for the Chiefs until 1981 when he moved to the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

where he played one indoor and three outdoor seasons. He finished the 1982 season ninth on the scoring list with 39 points in 32 games. He led the league in assists as Blizzard teammates (and fellow South Africans) Neill Roberts and Ace Ntsoelengoe finished seventh and eighth respectively in scoring. He finished 1983 sixth with 44 points in 29 games and 1984 seventh with 37 points in 20 games. Bryne was named to the NASL All-League Second Team in both 1983 and 1984. He was the league's 35th all time scorer with 142 points in 135 games. Byrne also played briefly in Portugal. He played 14 times for Estoril in 1983–1984 scoring once, and 19 games and 1 goal for

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Reste ...

in 1984–1985. In 1985, Byrne signed with the Minnesota Strikers of the Major Indoor Soccer League and was the league's 11th leading scorer for the 1987–88 season. In 1987, he played for the

Toronto Rockets The Toronto Rocket (TR) train is the fifth and latest series of rolling stock used in the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the trains were built by Bombardier Transpo ...

, but quickly moved to the

of the

CSL CSL as an abbreviation may stand for: Places * Coordinated Science Laboratory, at the University of Illinois * Liège Space Center (Centre spatial de Liège), at the University of Liege in Belgium * Central Science Laboratory, a former UK DEFRA ...

and spent two summers in the APSL with the Tampa Bay Rowdies. During that same time he played for the Baltimore Blast and

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of the MISL, which played during the winter months. He later played in South Africa with Hellenic in 1994 and then joined Santos in 1998–1999.

National team

In 1994, Byrne earned a South Africa U-23 cap as an overaged player and was twice called up to the national side but failed to win any caps.

Manager

For the past decade Byrne has been an assistant coach with South African clubs. He has his first stint with

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

side

Michau Warriors Michau Warriors were a South African football club who played in the Premier Soccer League. They were relegated in the competition's inaugural season finishing in 17th place. The following season they finished second in the National First Divisi ...

, in 1997. He 1998–99 he was player-coach of Santos. In 2001, he became assistant coach of

Black Leopards Black Leopards FC is a South African football club based in Thohoyandou, Vhembe Region, Limpopo that plays in the National First Division. History The club was founded in 1983 by business people in the Vhembe Region. In 1998 the club was tak ...

and then in 2003 the club's caretaker manager. After that he managed

Avendale Athletico Avendale Athletico is a South African football club from Cape Town. They were relegated from the National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the ...

before being dismissed in November 2004. David's brother

Mark Byrne Mark Byrne (born 9 November 1988) is an Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Crumlin United. Club career Nottingham Forest Byrne signed for Nottingham Forest in July 2007 from Dublin schoolboy side, Crumlin United after unsuccessful ...

is a former pro player, manager in South Africa and former head coach of Italian club Udinese's coaching academy.

References

External links

NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, David 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Guildford American Professional Soccer League players Atlanta Chiefs players Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players C.F. Os Belenenses players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States G.D. Estoril Praia players Hellenic F.C. players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Naturalised citizens of South Africa North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Primeira Liga players Santos F.C. (South Africa) players Sportspeople from Cape Town South African expatriate soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in Canada South African expatriate sportspeople in Portugal South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States South African soccer managers South African soccer players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players Wichita Wings (MISL) players White South African people Association football forwards North York Rockets players