Career
Nicknamed Babby as he was the youngest of 11 and born in Dublin, he joined in 1926 and had four spells at Glenmalure Park. He also played for Bradford City,, Sheffield United, Manchester United, Coleraine, Glentoran and Larne. As a Rovers player he played against Spain at the same venue on 13 December 1931.
His last cap was as a Coleraine player in a World Cup qualifier against Belgium, also at Dalymount, on 25 February 1934.
He was top scorer in the League with 17 goals when Rovers went unbeaten capturing their third League Championship in 1926-1927. This was his and the club"s first season at Glenmalure Park.
He was Rovers" top scorer the following season and in his second spell in 1929-1930 and 1930-1931. In between, he had a spell with where he again finished top scorer with 15 goals in their second League winning season.
In all he scored 85 League and 13 FAI Cup goals for the Hoops.
He is the sixth-highest goalscorer in Rovers" history. He was also the first League of Ireland player to transfer to Manchester United and the first League of Ireland player to score 100 league goals. He transferred to Sheffield United in October 1932.
Despite impressing he was released due to economic pressures and returned to Milltown the following month.
He joined Manchester United in September 1933 with fellow Irish player Billy Behan – the pair were the club"s first Irish players for more than a decade. He scored on his debut for Manchester United on 21 October 1933 and scored a total of three goals in four league appearances.
He also scored on his debut for Bradford City. Byrne is the only player to be capped for Ireland while playing for and
He was surprisingly small (5 feet 5 inches in height) in an era of big centre forwards, yet he was a prolific goalscorer.
He was fast, effective in the air as well as on the ground, and forced goalkeepers to make mistakes.