Paul Byrne (footballer, born 1972)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Peter Byrne | ||
| Date of birth | 30 June 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Bluebell United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1991 | Oxford United | 6 | (0) |
| 1991 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 1991–1993 | Bangor | 26 | (8) |
| 1993–1995 | Celtic | 28 | (4) |
| 1995 | → Brighton (loan) | 8 | (1) |
| 1995–1998 | Southend United | 71 | (13) |
| 1998–1999 | Glenavon | 15 | (6) |
| 1998–1999 | Shelbourne | 1 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | Bohemians | 26 | (6) |
| 2000 | Philadelphia Union | 10 | (4) |
| 2000–2001 | St. Patrick's Athletic | 29 | (7) |
| 2001–2002 | Bohemians | 12 | (2) |
| 2002–2003 | Kilkenny City | 14 | (2) |
| 2003 | Dundalk | 9 | (2) |
| National team | |||
| 1992 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 1988 | Republic of Ireland U17 | 1 | (0) |
| – | Parkvilla | ||
| 2016–2017 | Dublin Celtic F.C. | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
|||
Paul Peter Byrne (born in Dublin on 30 June 1972) is an Irish former football player, who played as a midfielder during the 1990s and 2000s.
Paul grew up in Bluebell and played for Bluebell United as a youngster before being snapped up by Oxford United. He made his league debut as a 16-year-old against Barnsley alongside the likes of Ray Houghton. Byrne played 30 or so games for Oxford but moved to Arsenal where he spent 6 months in the reserve team under George Armstrong without making a first team appearance.
He returned home to Ireland and signed for Bangor in the Irish League. He entered Bangor folklore by scoring the winner against Ards in the 1993 Irish Cup Final. This was his 21st goal that season.
This sort of form attracted Liam Brady who took him to Celtic and gave him his debut on 6 October 1993 as a substitute against St Johnstone. He made 28 league appearances in 2 seasons at Celtic and scored 4 goals including two of them in the Old Firm derby. He went out on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion and scored once in 8 appearances for them before returning to Celtic.
In August 1995 he left Celtic and signed for Ronnie Whelan's Southend United side for a fee of £80,000. He began well initially at Southend and impressing Birmingham City enough for them to make a £750,000 bid for him. It was downhill from then on for Paul at the club and they were relegated at the end of his 2nd season at Roots Hall.
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