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 West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

star Johnny Byrne, Byrne was born in England, but raised in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. In 1979, Byrne moved to the United States where he joined the Atlanta Chiefs 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 Neill Roberts is a retired South Africa soccer forward who spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League and four in the Major Indoor Soccer League. Roberts spent seven years as a professional in South Africa. In 1979, Roberts signe ...

and

Ace Ntsoelengoe Patrick Pule "Ace" Ntsoelengoe OIS (26 February 1952 – 8 May 2006) was a South African soccer player who is widely considered as one of the greatest the country has ever produced. Early life Ntsoelengoe was born to Daniel Ndimande and Marga ...

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 Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...

in 1983–1984 scoring once, and 19 games and 1 goal for Belenenses in 1984–1985. In 1985, Byrne signed with the

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/St. Paul metropol ...

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 The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. During that same time he played for the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with ...

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 A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

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 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 before being dismissed in November 2004. David's brother Mark Byrne is a former pro player, manager in South Africa and former head coach of Italian club

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

'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