Jason Byrne

Jason Byrne (born 23 February 1978) is an Irish retired footballer who played as a forward. He is the second highest ever goal scorer in the history of the League of Ireland.

Club career

Bray Wanderers Byrne scored in his first competitive game for Bray Wanderers coming on as a substitute in a League of Ireland Cup game on 16 August 1998. He made his League of Ireland debut on the opening day of the 1998–99 League of Ireland Premier Division season on 30 August. Byrne scored his first league goal against Shamrock Rovers on 4 September 1998. His exploits earned him the Player of the Month award for his first month in senior football. That season, he scored 7 goals from 15 appearances.

Over the next four seasons, Byrne increased his reputation as a striker that struck fear into the heart of opposition defences, scoring 49 league goals in 128 league appearances.

2004 saw him pick up where he left off, forging a good partnership with new signing Glen Fitzpatrick, and firing home 25 times in 33 league games, again helping Shelbourne to the league title.

2005 saw him hit 30 goals across all competitions, including 5 in the Champions League qualifiers and 22 in the league, and once again scoop the PFAI Player of the Year Award. During this time he courted the attention of foreign clubs, such as Brighton & Hove Albion and the Swedish champions Djurgårdens IF. It was widely assumed he would join Djurgården, however, the clubs could not agree a fee. for a fee of £75,000 on 17 January 2007, and scored on his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers, after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute. He made several appearances for Cardiff, alongside Michael Chopra, toward the end of the season as their promotion push stalled and they found themselves struggling to maintain form. During the summer it was widely reported that Cardiff had cancelled his contract, even being confirmed by Sky Sports that he had left the club, however this was soon revealed to be false. At the start of the 2007–08 season he found his first team chances to be limited due to the arrivals of Robbie Fowler, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Steve MacLean and found himself in the reserve side, where he was the leading scorer by January.

Bohemians After being linked with the move for some time, he rejoined his former manager Pat Fenlon and signed for Bohemians on 8 January 2008 on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal. Byrne made his debut for Bohs as a substitute against St Patrick's Athletic on 14 March 2008, and scored his first goal for the club from the penalty spot against Finn Harps on 28 March 2008. He scored twice in two wins over Rhyl F.C. in the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Byrne wrote himself into Bohemian folklore by scoring the goals that clinched the 2008 title against Drogheda United on 10 October.

On his first start of the 2009 season, Byrne netted a brace as Bohs beat arch-rivals Shamrock Rovers 2–0 on 20 March. He continued this good form throughout the season as Bohs won their second league title in a row, with Byrne netting 22 times in the league. This included an incredible 4 goals against Dundalk on 1 May. Byrne had an injury-hit 2010 campaign as he struggled for fitness and form. Despite a good run towards the end of the season where he scored an important winner against big rivals Shamrock Rovers, Byrne and Bohs just came up short losing the league title on goal difference. Due to the Gypsies' financial difficulties, he was released from the club when his contract expired at the culmination of the 2010 season.

Dundalk On 4 December 2010, Byrne signed for Dundalk along with fellow Bohemians teammate Mark Quigley on a one-year deal.

Return to Bray Wanderers On 24 January 2012, Byrne rejoined Bray Wanderers on a one-year deal. He returned to the club where he began his career, after a nine-year absence. On 30 March, he equalled Pat Morley's record of 182 League of Ireland goals. On 13 April, Byrne became the second highest goalscorer in the history of the League. For his exploits in May 2012 he was awarded the Airtricity/SWAI Player of the Month.

On 8 June 2013, Byrne scored four goals at UCD to become the second player to score more than 200 League of Ireland goals. He also became Bray's leading all-time league goalscorer.

Later career On 6 January 2014, Byrne rejoined Bohemians. Limited game time in the 2015 season saw Byrne drop a division to join First Division side UCD in 2016. After signing for UCD, and having amassed a total of 217 league goals, he stated his aim was to break the League of Ireland goalscoring record. He spent one year at the club. In January 2017, Byrne joined First Division side Cabinteely. On the final day of the season, coming on as a substitute, he scored a consolation goal in the 90th minute against Shelbourne to make it 3–1.

He departed Cabinteely at the end of the 2017 season to bring to an end his professional career. Byrne finished his League of Ireland career with a total of 222 league goals scored, making him the second highest all-time goal scorer in the league's history, 13 goals behind Brendan Bradley's record of 235.

International career Byrne's form won him a call up to the Ireland team for a friendly against Poland on 28 April 2004. Manager Brian Kerr opted only to bring him on for the final few seconds of the goalless away draw.

Byrne was called up to the Ireland squad to face Chile on 24 May 2006 by Kerr's successor, Steve Staunton. Ireland lost 1–0 at home, with Byrne a late substitute and setting up chances for Damien Duff and cousin Robbie Keane.

Personal life Byrne is married with three children. He is the first cousin of all time Ireland leading goalscorer Robbie Keane. League of Ireland Premier Division Player of the Month (5): September 1998, April 2004, October 2005, May 2012, June 2013