Paul Peter Byrne (born 30 June 1972) is an Irish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

during the 1990s and 2000s.

Club career

Early career

Byrne grew up in

Bluebell, Dublin Bluebell () is a small suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated approximately 6 kilometres south-west of the city centre, on the Camac, a River Liffey, Liffey tributary, the suburb borders the Grand Canal and Ballyfermot to the ...

, and played for Bluebell United as a child before being recruited by

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

. He made his league debut as a 16-year-old against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

alongside the likes of

Ray Houghton Raymond James Houghton (born 9 January 1962) is a former professional Association football, footballer and current sports analyst and commentator with RTÉ Sport. As a player, he was a midfielder, notably playing for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool w ...

. Byrne played about 30 games for Oxford and moved to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, where he spent six months in the reserve team under George Armstrong without making a first team appearance.

Bangor

He moved to Northern Ireland and signed for Bangor in the Irish League. He entered Bangor folklore by scoring the winner against

Ards Ards (or ARDS, ARDs) may refer to: Medical * ARDS, Acute respiratory distress syndrome * ARDs, age-related diseases Places * Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland ** Ards (territory), several historical territorial divisions on the Ards Peninsula ...

in the 1993

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

Final. This was his 21st goal that season.

Celtic

This sort of form attracted

Liam Brady William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer and pundit. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for ...

who took him to

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and gave him his debut on 6 October 1993 as a substitute against

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

.Football Heroes
/ref> He made 28 league appearances in two seasons at Celtic and scored four goals, two of them in the

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

derby. He went out on loan to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

and scored once in eight appearances before returning to Celtic.

Southend United

In August 1995 he left Celtic and signed for

Ronnie Whelan Ronald Andrew Whelan (; born 25 September 1961) is an Irish former professional football player who played as a midfielder and sometimes as a defender. He played an integral role in the dominant Liverpool side that won a wealth of titles in ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

side for a fee of £80,000. He began well initially at Southend and impressed

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

enough for them to make a £750,000 bid for him. It was downhill from then on for Byrne at the club, and they were relegated at the end of his second season at

Roots Hall Roots Hall is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium located in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The stadium is the home ground of the National League (English football), National League team Southend United F.C., Southend United. With a ...

Glenavon

Byrne returned to Northern Ireland and signed for Glenavon, where he won another

winners' medal.

Bohemians

After playing a few reserve games for Shelbourne, Byrne signed for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

in January 1999. Bohs had a disastrous season and escaped relegation only by beating

Cobh Ramblers Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colman's Park. The club's colours are clare ...

in a relegation play-off. The next season was a different story as Bohs challenged Shelbourne all the way before fading away and finishing third. They also reached the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

Final under the captaincy of Byrne but lost 1–0 to Shels.

Philadelphia

With Byrne's contract having expired at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

, he went off to America for the summer months and played in Philadelphia.

St Patrick's Athletic

He returned to Ireland in time for the beginning of the 2000/01 season and signed for home town club

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

Back to Bohemians

He spent only a few months at

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

before

Roddy Collins Roderick Collins (born 7 August 1960) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. During a playing career of 18 years, Collins played for many sides across England, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. While towards the ...

arrived, and Byrne returned to Bohs just before the transfer deadline. He scored with his first touch on his return (a 20-yard free kick) in a 2–2 draw with

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

in February 2001. Byrne went on to play a bit part as Bohs won the league title, their first in 23 years. A week later, they completed the Double by winning the

, but Byrne didn't take part, being cup-tied for playing in an earlier round for St. Pats. Collins controversially departed in the wake of their success, and Pete Mahon became the new man in charge. After getting to the second round of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifiers, they had a disastrous run of league form which cost Mahon his job. Stephen Kenny came in, and Byrne was in and out of the side. Byrne played in the

final that season but once again finished on the losing side as

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

won 2–1. Kenny had a clear-out of players after that, and Byrne was surplus to requirements.

Later career

Byrne went on to play for Kilkenny City,

St James' Gate and

Houston Hurricanes FC Celtic FC America was an American soccer club based in Houston, Texas. Originally known as Houston Hurricanes FC, the club was established in December 1992 when owner Brendan Keyes announced he was moving his Galveston Pirate SC franchise to Ho ...

.Boxscorenews
/ref>

International career

Byrne was capped at Under-15, Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, Under-21 level and "B" level for Ireland and was included in numerous full international squad but never made an appearance. Byrne played in two qualifiers in the

1990 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship qualifying This article features the 1990 UEFA European Under-18 Championship qualifying stage. Matches were played 1988 through 1990. Eight group winners qualified for the main tournament in Hungary. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 ...

campaign and in the

1990 UEFA European Under-18 Championship The 1990 UEFA European Under-18 Championship final tournament was held in Hungary. It also served as the European qualification for the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship. Players born on or after 1 August 1971 were eligible to participate in this ...

Legacy and awards

One of the most talented players to come out of Ireland in the last 25 years, Byrne is remembered for his time at Celtic and Bohemians. He often appears in the

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

Masters Football Masters Football was a six-a-side Indoor soccer, indoor football competition in the United Kingdom, where players over the age of 35 were chosen by the Masters Football Selection Committee to represent a senior club for which they played. Regiona ...

for his former club

alongside other legends, such as

Paul McStay Paul Michael Lyons McStay, (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer who spent his entire career with Celtic, making his senior debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained both Scotland and Celtic at all age lev ...

and Tom Boyd. Byrne won

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

PFA Player of the Year and

Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Player of the Year The Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Player of the Year (often called the NIFWA Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in the NIFL Premiership. It is one of two a ...

in 1993 while playing for Bangor F.C.

Personal life

In September 2024, Byrne appeared in court, accused of assaulting a woman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Paul Arsenal F.C. players Bangor F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Bohemian F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players League of Ireland players Kilkenny City A.F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Shelbourne F.C. players Southend United F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Living people 1972 births Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Players of the Year St James's Gate F.C. players Association footballers from County Dublin Bluebell United F.C. players Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Philadelphia Union players