John Byrne (born 24 February 1956) is a former

Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

footballer who played with

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

in the

VFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

. Byrne first came under notice when he starred in

Wangaratta Rovers The Wangaratta Rovers, officially known as the Wangaratta Rovers Football & Netball Club, is an Australian rules football club based in Wangaratta, Victoria and play in the Ovens & Murray Football League. Their nickname is the Hawks. Their hom ...

br>1972

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray are ...

premiership as a 16 year old and headed to North Melbourne in 1974, then made his senior VFL debut in 1975. He also won North Melbourne's 1975 reserves best and fairest. Byrne played mostly as a ruck-rover and in defence for North Melbourne. He started his career with them in 1975 and went on to star in their 1977 premiership as well as playing in their

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

losing grand finals. Byrne represented Victoria in 1977 against Western Australia at Subiaco. His VFL career ended prematurely, when he first broke his leg in round 8 against Fitzroy, in May 1979 at the age of 23. Byrne later broken the same leg in 1980 and eventually retired at 26 years of age, in 1982. Byrne returned home to the family farm and was also North Melbourne's Development & Recruiting officer for the Ovens & Murray region. Byrne later coached the

to 1985 and 1987 VCFL Country Championship wins. Byrne also coached the VCFL side in 1989.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, John 1956 births Living people North Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club Premiership players Wangaratta Rovers Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players