Sean Patrick Byrne (23 August 1955 – 11 August 2003) was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a defender. Born in Ireland, he represented the

New Zealand national team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

at international level. Byrne was a highly regarded player at Dundalk, forming an outstanding combination in central midfield with Leo Flanagan. Perhaps the highlight of his career was in Dundalk's

1981–82 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1981–82 European Cup Winners' Cup was the 22nd season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, a club football competition organised by UEFA for the national cup winners from each of its member associations. Spanish club Barcelona won the title for a se ...

tie against Tottenham Hotspur when Byrne successfully curtailed the influence of English superstar Glenn Hoddle and Argentinian international Ossie Ardiles - despite Spurs claiming a 2-1 aggregate victory. A move to New Zealand club

Gisborne City Gisborne City AFC was an association football club in Gisborne, New Zealand. Founded in 1939 as Eastern Union, the club changed its name to Gisborne City after winning the Central Districts League at the first attempt in 1967. As Eastern Union, ...

followed and it was there after some outstanding performances in the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

that Byrne was called up for the

New Zealand men's national football team The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa; recognized as Aotearoa New Zealand by FIFA) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for ...

. Byrne made his full ''All Whites'' debut in a 2–1 win over

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

on 18 October 1984 and ended his international playing career with five A-international caps to his credit, his final cap an appearance in a 5–1 win over

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

on 5 October 1985. At the age of 34, Byrne moved to Victorian State League club

Morwell Falcons Morwell is a town in the Latrobe Valley area of Gippsland, in South-Eastern Victoria, Australia approximately 152 km (94 mi) east of Melbourne. Morwell has a population of 14,389 people at the . It is both the seat of local governme ...

in 1989, where he soon proved to be one of the league's finest midfielders over two outstanding campaigns. Byrne played a pivotal role in the Falcons' 1989 Championship winning run. He was named in the midfield of the Falcons' "Team of the State League era" squad, which was announced in 2011. Byrne remained in the Latrobe Valley for the remainder of his life, and took on the role of manager at Morwell Pegasus in 1995, leading the club to a string of promotions in the subsequent years as they rose from the Latrobe Valley Soccer League and quickly progressed up the Victorian State League pyramid. However, Byrne fell victim to motor neuron disease and died in 2003, aged 48. In 2008, Morwell Pegasus decided to honour Byrne's legacy by announcing that the club's Player of the Year award would be renamed in his honour.

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* 1955 births 2003 deaths New Zealand men's association footballers Men's association football defenders New Zealand men's international footballers League of Ireland players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand {{NewZealand-footy-bio-stub