Neill Byrne (born 2 February 1993) is an Irish

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 ...

who plays as a defender for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Stockport County.

Career

Early career

Byrne was born in

Portmarnock Portmarnock () is a coastal suburban settlement in Fingal, Ireland, with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. , the population was ...

, Ireland. He started his career with Irish sides Portmarnock and

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa *Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zim ...

before joining the Nottingham Forest Youth Academy at the age of 14. Despite interest from other clubs, two years later he signed apprentice terms with the club until 2011. Byrne was released by Forest in December 2011 and joined

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on trial, scoring in a reserve game against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. After impressing on trial, Byrne signed an 18-month contract with the League One club on 1 January 2012. He made his debut for the Dale on 31 March 2012, in a 3–3 draw with relegation rivals

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

. In November 2012, he joined Football Conference side

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

on a one-month loan deal.

AFC Telford United

He joined AFC Telford United in June 2013 after being released by

. On 26 April 2014, he won promotion to the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

with Telford after they clinched the Conference North title on the final game of the season.

Macclesfield Town

After his impressive season with Telford, he signed for

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

. During his 2 year spell, he made 59

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

appearances and 3

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

appearances. He scored 4 goals in the National League and started the majority of games, helping Macclesfield to 10th in the 2015–16 season. In the 2016–17 season, Macclesfield finished 9th in the National League. They also reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the FA Trophy in 2016–17, however they lost 3–2 against York City.

Gateshead

Byrne agreed to join

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

on 26 May 2017 until the end of the season. He made his debut on the opening day of the season in a 1–2 defeat against

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, scoring his first, and only, goal for the club three days later in a 1–0 victory over Guiseley.

AFC Fylde

In May 2018, Byrne signed for

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

on a two-year deal. In his first year, he played 44 games in the

and scored 2 goals as Fylde finished fifth in the table. In the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, Fylde reached the

, but lost 3–0 to Salford City. Byrne also managed to help Fylde reach the

of the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

, while he did start the final, he was substituted off due to a head injury. Fylde won 1–0 against Leyton Orient. In Byrne's second season for Fylde, he played 37 games in the National League and scored 2 goals. Unfortunately, his contributions were not enough, as Fylde were relegated after finishing in 23rd. Fylde managed to reach the third round of the

, before losing 2–1 to, then,

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side, Sheffield United.

FC Halifax Town

On 23 September 2020, Byrne signed for

side FC Halifax Town. In Byrne's first, and only, year at Halifax, he played 40 games and scored 1 goal in the National League. Halifax finished the season in tenth position.

Hartlepool United

On 16 July 2021, Byrne signed for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

for an undisclosed fee. Byrne made his Hartlepool debut in a 1–0 victory against Crawley Town. In 2021–22, Byrne played 51 times for Hartlepool, scoring once.

Tranmere Rovers

In July 2022, Byrne signed for

club Tranmere Rovers for an undisclosed fee.

Stockport County

On 6 January 2023, Byrne signed for League Two rivals Stockport County for an undisclosed fee on a deal until the end of the season. The move would see Byrne play under manager

Dave Challinor David Paul Challinor (born 2 October 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back in the Football League for Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County and Bury. He is the manager of club Stockport C ...

for a third time having also worked with him at AFC Fylde and Hartlepool United.

Career statistics

Honours

Macclesfield Town *

runner-up: 2016–17 AFC Fylde *

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Neill 1993 births Living people People from Portmarnock Sportspeople from Fingal Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Nottingham Forest F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players AFC Telford United players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players AFC Fylde players FC Halifax Town players Hartlepool United F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Belvedere F.C. players Association footballers from County Dublin