Jason Byrne (born 23 February 1978) is an Irish football player, currently playing as a striker for Bluebell United in the Leinster Senior League. He is the second highest ever goal scorer in the history of the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

Club career

Bray Wanderers

Byrne scored in his first competitive game for Bray Wanderers coming on as a substitute in a

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

game on 16 August 1998. He made his

debut on the opening day of the

1998–99 League of Ireland Premier Division The 1998–99 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 14th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. St Patrick's Athletic F.C. won the title. For sponsorship purposes, it was known as the FAI Harp ...

season on 30 August. Byrne scored his first league goal against Shamrock Rovers on 4 September 1998. His exploits earned him the Player of the Month award for his first month in senior football. That season, he scored 7 goals from 15 appearances. Over the next 4 seasons, Byrne increased his reputation as a striker that struck fear into the heart of opposition defences, scoring 49 league goals in 128 league appearances. Despite breaking his ankle in November 1998, he recovered to score twice in the 1999 FAI Cup replay win. The 2001–02 season at Bray saw his most successful goals return, netting 14 league goals during the course of the season.

Shelbourne

On 12 January 2003, he signed for Shelbourne for a reported €75,000, scoring twice on his league debut against

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

in April. He made an immediate impact, scoring 21 league goals in his first season, and helping Shelbourne to the summit of the league table. He was named

PFAI The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) is the representative body for professional and semi-professional footballers in Republic of Ireland. Players from all nationalities in the League of Ireland are represented, not just Iri ...

Player of the Year for his efforts. 2004 saw him pick up where he left off, forging a good partnership with new signing Glen Fitzpatrick, and firing home 25 times in 33 league games, again helping Shelbourne to the league title. 2005 saw him hit 30 goals across all competitions, including 5 in the Champions League qualifiers and 22 in the league, and once again scoop the

Player of the Year Award. During this time he courted the attention of foreign clubs, such as

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and the

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champions

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is name ...

. It was widely assumed he would join Djurgårdens, however, the clubs could not agree a fee. The Swedes offered in the region of €400,000, a record for a

player. This was turned down because, reportedly, as much as 50% would have gone to his previous club, Bray Wanderers. Byrne was a key player for ''Shels'' in the title winning 2006 season, topping the scoring charts again with 15 goals in 26 league appearances, including a crucial last-minute winner against Derry City. This brought his tally of goals to 83 in 122 league appearances for the Reds. In the

2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup was the first edition after a major change of the competition format. There were only three rounds instead of five, and eleven tournament co-winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup (instead of ...

he missed a penalty at

Odense BK Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

and was yellow carded which meant he missed the return leg. Byrne scored his 100th goal for Shelbourne in a

game against

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

during the 2006 season.

Cardiff City

Following the break-up of the Shelbourne team due to tax irregularities, which saw the club demoted to the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

, Byrne signed for Cardiff City for a fee of £75,000 on 17 January 2007, and scored on his debut against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

, after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute. He made several appearances for Cardiff, alongside

Michael Chopra Rocky Michael Chopra (born 23 December 1983) is an English former professional footballer who plays as a striker for West Allotment Celtic. A product of the Newcastle United youth system, he spent six years at the club without managing to se ...

, toward the end of the season as their promotion push stalled and they found themselves struggling to maintain form. During the summer it was widely reported that Cardiff had cancelled his contract, even being confirmed by ''

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

'' that he had left the club, however this was soon revealed to be false. At the start of the 2007–08 season he found his first team chances to be limited due to the arrivals of Robbie Fowler,

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to t ...

and Steve MacLean and found himself in the reserve side, where he was the leading scorer by January.

Bohemians

After being linked with the move for some time, he rejoined his former manager

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland tit ...

and signed for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

on 8 January 2008 on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal. Byrne made his debut for Bohs as a substitute against St Patrick's Athletic on 14 March 2008, and scored his first goal for the club from the penalty spot against

on 28 March 2008. He scored twice in two wins over

Rhyl F.C. Rhyl Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Y Rhyl) was a Welsh football club based in Rhyl in Denbighshire. It withdrew from footballing activities in April 2020 and had its entire footballing record for the 2019/2020 season expunged. It was fo ...

in the

2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup was the last UEFA Intertoto Cup football tournament, the 14th to be organised by UEFA and the third since the competition's format was given a major overhaul. Fifty teams were invited, with the eleven winners after the ...

. Byrne wrote himself into Bohemian folklore by scoring the goals that clinched the 2008 title against

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

on 10 October. On his first start of the 2009 season, Byrne netted a brace as Bohs beat arch-rivals Shamrock Rovers 2–0 on 20 March. He continued this good form throughout the season as Bohs won their second league title in a row, with Byrne netting 22 times in the league. This included an incredible 4 goals against Dundalk on 1 May. Byrne had an injury-hit 2010 campaign as he struggled for fitness and form. Despite a good run towards the end of the season where he scored an important winner against big rivals Shamrock Rovers, Byrne and Bohs just came up short losing the league title on goal difference. Due to the Gypsies' financial difficulties, he was released from the club when his contract expired at the culmination of the 2010 season.

Dundalk

On 4 December 2010, Byrne signed for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

along with fellow Bohemians teammate Mark Quigley on a one-year deal.

Return to Bray Wanderers

On 24 January 2012, Byrne rejoined Bray Wanderers on a one-year deal. He returned to the club where he began his career, after a nine-year absence. On 30 March, he equalled Pat Morley's record of 182 League of Ireland goals. On 13 April, Byrne became the second highest goalscorer in the history of the League. For his exploits in May 2012 he was awarded the Airtricity/SWAI Player of the Month. On 8 June 2013, Byrne scored four goals at UCD to become the second player to score more than 200 League of Ireland goals. He also became Bray's leading all-time League goalscorer

Later career

On 6 January 2014, Byrne rejoined

. Limited game time in the 2015 season saw Byrne drop a division to join First Division side UCD where he spent one year. In January 2017, Byrne joined First Division side

Cabinteely Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. Geography Cabinteely lies around the crossroads of Johnstown Road / Brennanstown Road and the Old Bray Road, and on either side of ...

. On the final day of the season, coming on as a substitute, he scored a consolation goal in the 90th minute against Shelbourne to make it 3-1. He departed Cabinteely at the end of the 2017 season to bring to an end his

career. A career which saw him score 222 league goals leaving him as the second highest ever goal scorer in league history, just 13 goals behind Brendan Bradley's record of 235.

International career

Byrne's form won him a call up to the

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

team for a friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in April 2004. The manager at the time, Brian Kerr, opted only to bring him on for the final few seconds. This move was not appreciated by Shelbourne supporters, who already had a strong dislike for Kerr due to his association with their rivals St Patrick's Athletic. Despite a relatively poor start to the 2006 season, Byrne was called up to the Ireland squad to face

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

on 24 May 2006 by Brian Kerr's successor,

Steve Staunton Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969) is an Irish football manager, scout and former professional footballer. He played as a defender with two separate spells each with Premier League sides Aston Villa and Liverpool. He also played in the Fo ...

. The game was a disappointing one for Ireland as they were defeated 1–0 at home. Byrne, unlike his previous international encounter, earned a reasonable amount of time on the park as he played the final 20 minutes of the game, setting up several gilt-edged opportunities for his teammates. Byrne was again called up to the Ireland squad by Staunton in 2006, for a friendly against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, but was unable to take his place in the squad due to injury.

Personal life

Byrne is married with three children. He is the first cousin of all time

leading goalscorer Robbie Keane.

Honours

Club

Bray Wanderers * FAI Cup:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

Shelbourne * League of Ireland Premier Division: 2003, 2004, 2006 Bohemians * League of Ireland Premier Division:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2009 * FAI Cup:

: 2009 *

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of I ...

: 2009–10

Individual

PFAI Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Irish Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer the Le ...

: 2003, 2004 * League of Ireland Premier Division Top Scorer (4): 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 *

League of Ireland Premier Division Player of the Month The League of Ireland Player of the Month is awarded monthly to the best player in the League of Ireland. The winners are selected by Soccer Writers' Ireland, commonly known as the SWI (formerly known as Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland). Win ...

(5): September 1998, April 2004, October 2005, May 2012, June 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Jason 1978 births Living people Association football forwards Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Association footballers from Dublin (city) League of Ireland players Bray Wanderers F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England Bohemian F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players University College Dublin A.F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland XI players A Championship players