Tag Archive | Jason Byrne

The Byrne Legacy

Jason Byrne

This is my fourth and presumably final update of the definitive record of Jason Byrne’s career.

Byrne’s quest to become the all-time leading goalscorer in the League of Ireland looks to be over as he turns 40 and drops down to amateur football with Bluebell United.

He only scored one league goal for Cabinteely last season, in just 4 starts, to bring his tally to 222 – that’s 13 off Brendan Bradley’s record.

All the statistics and analysis below has been fully updated up to the end of 2017. The FAI count playoff matches towards a player’s league record so I have done the same here.

To ensure accuracy I went through each and every league goal on http://www.soccerbot.com and then compared them to various sources, including European Football Yearbooks, National League Annuals, http://www.irishfootballonline.com (now closed down), http://www.braywanderers.com, http://www.extratime.ie and http://www.sseairtricityleague.ie.

I discovered only a few minor errors on Soccerbot; there was an incorrect date and two instances where they did not put a goal down as a penalty kick. However, there were many inconsistencies when it came to his total appearances (including the Airtricity League Media Guide) so they took a lot longer to finally get right. He fell just one short of 500 in the end.

As always, dedicated to Pat Morley.

League total – 413 (86) appearances, 222 goals
1998-99 – Bray Wanderers – 15 (2) appearances, 5 goals
1999-00 – Bray Wanderers – 26 (7) appearances, 7 goals
2000-01 – Bray Wanderers – 30 appearances, 11 goals
2001-02 – Bray Wanderers – 29 (1) appearances, 14 goals
2002-03 – Bray Wanderers – 20 appearances, 12 goals
2003 – Shelbourne – 34 appearances, 21 goals
2004 – Shelbourne – 33 (1) appearances, 25 goals
2005 – Shelbourne – 31 appearances, 22 goals
2006 – Shelbourne – 22 (4) appearances, 15 goals
2008 – Bohemians – 17 (12) appearances, 7 goals
2009 – Bohemians – 32 (2) appearances, 22 goals
2010 – Bohemians – 24 (6) appearances, 12 goals
2011 – Dundalk – 19 (5) appearances, 6 goals
2012 – Bray Wanderers – 25 appearances, 13 goals
2013 – Bray Wanderers – 33 (2) appearances, 15 goals
2014 – Bohemians – 16 (3) appearances, 9 goals
2015 – Bohemians – 2 (18) appearances, 1 goal
2016 – UCD – 1 (16) appearances, 4 goals
2017 – Cabinteely – 4 (7) appearances, 1 goal

League total – 499 appearances, 222 goals
Bray Wanderers – 190 appearances, 77 goals
Shelbourne – 125 appearances, 83 goals
Bohemians – 132 appearances, 51 goals
Dundalk – 24 appearances, 6 goals
UCD – 17 appearances, 4 goals
Cabinteely – 11 appearances, 1 goal

League
Premier Division – 208
First Division – 12
Playoff – 2

Halves
First half – 98
Second half – 124

When Byrne scored, his team…
Won – 116
Drew – 34
Lost – 20

Hat-tricks
4 goals – 2 times
3 goals – 9 times
2 goals – 28 times
1 goal – 131 times

Goals by club
St. Patrick’s Athletic – 22
Shamrock Rovers – 21
UCD – 21
Drogheda United – 21
Longford Town – 19
Waterford United – 15
Dundalk – 13
Bray Wanderers – 12
Derry City – 12
Bohemians – 9
Dublin City – 8
Cork City – 8
Galway United – 7
Sligo Rovers – 7
Shelbourne – 7
Finn Harps – 5
Athlone Town – 4
Limerick – 3
Home Farm – 2
Kilkenny City – 2
Cobh Ramblers – 2
Monaghan United – 1
Cabinteely – 1

Home/Away
Home – 138
Away – 84

Province
Leinster – 199
Munster – 12
Connacht – 6
Ulster – 5

Goals by venue
Tolka Park – 63
Carlisle Grounds – 53
Dalymount Park – 36
Hunky Dorys Park – 9
Richmond Park – 9
UCD Bowl – 8
RSC – 7
Oriel Park – 6
Flancare Park – 4
Terryland Park – 4
Turner’s Cross – 4
Morton Stadium – 2
The Brandywell – 2
Belfield Park – 2
Finn Park – 2
Tallaght Stadium – 2
The Showgrounds – 2
Buckley Park – 1
St. Mel’s Park – 1
Hogan Park – 1
Whitehall – 1
Century Holmes Park – 1
Lissywollen – 1
Stradbrook – 1

Months
September – 47
April – 33
October – 29
March – 25
May – 24
June – 19
August – 13
July – 12
November – 9
January – 5
February – 3
December – 3

Days
Friday – 141
Monday – 23
Tuesday – 18
Saturday – 18
Sunday – 15
Thursday – 4
Wednesday – 3

Note: Byrne started two games against Dublin City in 2006 and one against Monaghan United in 2012. He scored at Gortakeegan, which was wiped from the record when Monaghan withdrew from the league mid-season (à la Dublin City). These 3 appearances and 1 goal, while listed at the bottom of the post for completeness, are discounted from all facts and figures.

Debut, top scorer record, penalties, landmarks
Jason Byrne made his league debut for newly promoted Bray Wanderers on 30 August 1998 in a 1-0 defeat at home to Cork City. He scored in his next game against Shamrock Rovers at Tolka Park. From a corner, in the 54th minute, Byrne was unmarked at the near post and his rising header finished in the top right hand corner of the net gave Forde no chance. In his first spell with Bray they rarely lost a game in which he scored, winning 12 in a row from January 2001 to March 2002.

Byrne is the only player in history to be League of Ireland top goalscorer in four consecutive seasons which he achieved with Shelbourne from 2003 to 2006. He wasn’t the highest league scorer at his club on seven occasions; that honour went to Bray’s Barry O’Connor in 1999-00 (having been joint best with him the previous season), Killian Brennan for Bohemians in 2008, Dundalk’s Mark Quigley in 2011, Bohs strikers Dinny Corcoran (2014), Ismahil Akinade (2015), UCD’s Gary O’Neill (2016) as well as Cabinteely’s Marty Waters (2017).

He scored 32 penalties. Eight of them were scored against Shamrock Rovers with ten spot kicks converted at Dalymount Park. Byrne never scored one in his first spell at Bray as Colm Tresson and Eddie Gormley were on penalty taking duties at the time. He last missed a penalty against Sligo Rovers in April 2014 when Gary Rogers saved his 95th minute effort.

Byrne’s landmark goals were when he got his half century on the opening day of the 2003 season, scored his 100th goal against Longford Town in June 2005, reached 150 goals with a penalty at Tallaght Stadium in May 2009 and smashed the 200 goal barrier in June 2013 by hitting the back of the net four times at the UCD Bowl. It took Brendan Bradley 14 seasons to reach 200 goals; Byrne accomplished it in his 15th season.

Strike rate, league wins, best/worst totals and runs, awards
Byrne had a 44% strike rate in his League of Ireland career. It was 41% at Bray Wanderers, 66% with Shelbourne and 39% for Bohemians. He only scored a goal every four games for Dundalk and UCD. His worst performance in a single season was 1 goal (0.05 goals per game) in 2015. He has scored in 170 games overall, his season best being 18 games in 2004.

Byrne has five Premier Division winners’ medals from 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009, with a last minute strike for Bohs against Drogheda to seal the 2008 title. He was voted PFAI Players’ Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. The 2004 season was a personal best for the Dubliner as he hit 25 league goals for Shelbourne, played in a dream Champions League Third Qualifying Round tie with Deportivo and earned his first cap for the Republic of Ireland international team. He scored his first hat-trick for the Reds on the 4th of June 2004, the night before his wedding day!

Byrne played in the fewest number of games in his final season for Cabinteely. He only made 17 appearances in his first season because he broke his ankle in January 1999 and missed the rest of the league campaign, famously returning to score in Bray’s FAI Cup final triumph. He was ever-present for the Wanderers in 2013.

Byrne’s record goalscoring run in the League of Ireland was nine games in a row for Shelbourne from November 2003 to April 2004. His single season best is seven from July to September 2003. When Bray Wanderers took on Drogheda United on 24 May 2013, Byrne had not scored in his last 10 games for the club.

By the time he left UCD campus a fortnight later he had helped himself to consecutive hat-tricks, scoring seven goals in two games! However, that was not his worst scoreless streak. He went 20 matches (3 starts) without a goal from May 2015 to July 2016. Other droughts were the 12 games from October 1998 to September 1999, 11 during the 2001/02 season (all starts) and 12 from October 2016 to October 2017.

Byrne won a record six Player of the Month awards, in September 1998 (Bray), September 2003 (Shelbourne), April 2004 (Shelbourne), October 2005 (Shelbourne), May 2012 (Bray) and June 2013 (Bray). He scored 8 goals in both September 2004 and September 2005 but didn’t win the prize in either of those months – instead it went to Daryl Murphy (Waterford United) and Peter Hutton (Derry City) respectively.

Clubs, home/away, venues, first/second half, Cardiff, goalscoring sub
Byrne scored against 23 different clubs. In 2004 and 2009, he scored against every team in the league (nine of them). He netted in all four meetings with Dublin City in 2004 with a total of eight goals against the Vikings. The 2015 campaign was the first time in eight seasons that he failed to score against Drogheda United. He went six straight seasons without scoring against Shamrock Rovers (2010-15).

Byrne scored 17 home goals in 2005 and 11 away goals in 2004. The most home goals have come against St. Patrick’s Athletic (16) and the most on his travels to Shamrock Rovers (12), scoring in five different away grounds against the Hoops; Tolka Park, Morton Stadium, Richmond Park, Dalymount Park and Tallaght Stadium.

Byrne scored in 24 different stadiums. The most home goals were scored at Tolka Park (52) with eleven away goals in the Drumcondra venue against three different clubs – Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and Dublin City. The first and last league goals of his senior career were scored at Tolka, 19 years apart. 124 goals of the goals were scored in Dublin and he last found the net at the Brandywell in 2004. He never scored at St Colman’s Park or Ferrycarrig Park.

In a game in September 2005, he had completed a hat-trick for Shelbourne against Waterford United by half-time. However, Byrne’s quickest hat-trick was in the last 17 minutes of Bohemians’ 5-0 win over Dundalk in May 2009, adding a fourth goal in injury-time. He has scored in the first minute of a game on three occasions; v Derry in February 2001, v Longford in September 2001 and after just 33 seconds at home to St Pat’s in May 2003.

Byrne notched one league goal for Cardiff City in the Championship. He came off the bench to make his debut in January 2007, scoring the winner with two minutes to go in a 2-1 victory over Wolves at Molineux. Each of his last six goals have come as a substitute. In this country, he scored as a sub four other times, all for Bohs, against Finn Harps in June 2008, St. Pat’s in September 2008 and twice v UCD in March 2010 and March 2014.

Brendan Bradley scored one goal for then Irish League side Derry City and it was his debut against Coleraine in the North-West City Cup final on the 11th of May 1968. He scored 12 league goals for Lincoln City in the 1972-73 season and one in the FA Cup. Bradley scored 7 of his LOI goals in the First Division while Byrne scored 12.

In all competitions for League of Ireland clubs, Bradley netted 307 goals including 22 in the FAI Cup and one Cup Winners’ Cup strike in 1974. Byrne is on 281 overall, with 28 FAI Cup and 10 European goals.

1998-99 Premier Division
04.09.98 – Shamrock Rovers 0-1 Bray Wanderers…1
19.09.98 – Bray Wanderers 1-0 Shelbourne…1
25.09.98 – Bohemians 1-2 Bray Wanderers…1
17.10.98 – Bray Wanderers 6-0 Waterford United…2

1999-00 First Division
11.09.99 – Bray Wanderers 5-0 Cobh Ramblers…1
30.10.99 – Kilkenny City 5-1 Bray Wanderers…1
28.01.00 – Athlone Town 1-1 Bray Wanderers…1
15.02.00 – Bray Wanderers 5-1 Home Farm Fingal…1
18.02.00 – Limerick FC 1-2 Bray Wanderers…1
08.04.00 – Home Farm Fingal 2-2 Bray Wanderers…1
11.04.00 – Bray Wanderers 3-1 Athlone Town…1

2000-01 Premier Division
13.08.00 – Shelbourne 0-1 Bray Wanderers…1
10.09.00 – Bray Wanderers 2-2 Shamrock Rovers…2
06.10.00 – Bray Wanderers 3-0 Kilkenny City…1
29.10.00 – Bray Wanderers 2-2 St. Patrick’s Athletic…1
12.01.01 – Bray Wanderers 3-1 Longford Town…1
09.02.01 – Bray Wanderers 2-1 Derry City…1
01.04.01 – Shamrock Rovers 1-2 Bray Wanderers…2
29.04.01 – Longford Town 1-3 Bray Wanderers…1
06.05.01 – Bray Wanderers 4-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic…1

2001-02 Premier Division
17.08.01 – Galway United 0-2 Bray Wanderers…1
19.09.01 – Bray Wanderers 5-1 Longford Town…2
21.09.01 – Bray Wanderers 5-1 Dundalk…3
06.01.02 – Bray Wanderers 2-1 Shamrock Rovers…2
31.01.02 – Derry City 1-2 Bray Wanderers…1
01.03.02 – Bray Wanderers 4-1 Longford Town…3
16.03.02 – Monaghan United 0-3 Bray Wanderers…1
25.03.02 – Bray Wanderers 1-2 Dundalk…1

2002-03 Premier Division
12.07.02 – UCD 1-1 Bray Wanderers…1
05.08.02 – Bray Wanderers 1-5 Shelbourne…1
30.08.02 – Bray Wanderers 3-2 Drogheda United…2
13.09.02 – Bray Wanderers 3-3 Derry City…2
23.09.02 – St. Patrick’s Athletic 1-2 Bray Wanderers…1
29.11.02 – Bray Wanderers 2-0 Longford Town…2
08.12.02 – Bray Wanderers 1-3 Bohemians…1
13.12.02 – St. Patrick’s Athletic 1-4 Bray Wanderers…2

2003 Premier Division
11.04.03 – Waterford United 0-4 Shelbourne…2
18.04.03 – Shelbourne 1-0 Derry City…1
22.04.03 – Shelbourne 3-2 Longford Town..1
25.04.03 – Drogheda United 1-1 Shelbourne…1
02.05.03 – Shelbourne 2-2 St. Patrick’s Athletic…2
18.07.03 – Shelbourne 1-1 UCD…1
07.08.03 – Shelbourne 1-1 Cork City…1
01.09.03 – Waterford United 1-2 Shelbourne…1
05.09.03 – Shelbourne 3-1 Derry City…1
19.09.03 – Shelbourne 2-1 Longford Town…2 (1p)
23.09.03 – Drogheda United 0-1 Shelbourne…1
26.09.03 – Shelbourne 2-0 St. Patrick’s Athletic…1
28.10.03 – Shamrock Rovers 2-4 Shelbourne…2 (1p)
17.11.03 – Shelbourne 2-0 Drogheda United…1
21.11.03 – Shelbourne 2-0 Cork City…1
24.11.03 – Longford Town 2-1 Shelbourne…1
28.11.03 – Shamrock Rovers 1-1 Shelbourne…1 (p)

2004 Premier Division
19.03.04 – Shelbourne 1-0 Shamrock Rovers…1
27.03.04 – Derry City 0-2 Shelbourne…1
02.04.04 – Shelbourne 3-0 Drogheda United…1
05.04.04 – Bohemians 1-1 Shelbourne…1 (p)
09.04.04 – Shelbourne 2-1 Dublin City…1 (p)
16.04.04 – Shelbourne 1-1 Longford Town…1
30.04.04 – Shelbourne 2-0 St. Patrick’s Athletic…2
04.06.04 – Dublin City 1-3 Shelbourne…3
08.06.04 – Shelbourne 2-2 Cork City…1 (p)
18.06.04 – Shelbourne 1-0 Waterford United…1
01.09.04 – Waterford United 3-1 Shelbourne…1
06.09.04 – Shelbourne 4-1 Dublin City…3
20.09.04 – Shelbourne 3-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic…1
24.09.04 – Shamrock Rovers 1-4 Shelbourne…3 (1p)
08.10.04 – Drogheda United 2-5 Shelbourne…1
15.10.04 – Shelbourne 1-1 Bohemians…1
21.10.04 – Dublin City 2-3 Shelbourne…1
12.11.04 – Shelbourne 2-1 Waterford United…1

2005 Premier Division
01.04.05 – Shelbourne 1-0 Waterford United…1 (p)
21.04.05 – Longford Town 0-2 Shelbourne…1
29.04.05 – Shelbourne 4-1 Bray Wanderers…1
06.05.05 – Shelbourne 3-0 Finn Harps…1
27.06.05 – Shelbourne 1-0 Longford Town…1
01.07.05 – Shelbourne 1-2 Derry City…1
08.08.05 – Shelbourne 3-3 Drogheda United…1
19.08.05 – Shelbourne 2-1 Bohemians…1 (p)
02.09.05 – Shelbourne 4-2 UCD…3 (1p)
09.09.05 – Shamrock Rovers 0-2 Shelbourne…1 (p)
16.09.05 – Shelbourne 5-0 Waterford United…3
23.09.05 – Finn Harps 0-3 Shelbourne…1
15.10.05 – Longford Town 0-2 Shelbourne…1
28.10.05 – Shelbourne 1-0 Finn Harps…1
31.10.05 – Shelbourne 5-0 Bray Wanderers…3 (1p)
18.11.05 – Bohemians 0-3 Shelbourne…1

2006 Premier Division
10.03.06 – Bray Wanderers 2-2 Shelbourne…2 (1p)
24.03.06 – St. Patrick’s Athletic 2-2 Shelbourne…1
07.04.06 – Waterford United 0-1 Shelbourne…1
15.05.06 – Cork City 2-1 Shelbourne…1 (p)
02.06.06 – Shelbourne 4-1 Bray Wanderers…1
06.06.06 – Shelbourne 1-0 Derry City…1
27.06.06 – Shelbourne 3-0 St. Patrick’s Athletic…2
21.07.06 – Shelbourne 6-0 UCD…2
28.07.06 – Shelbourne 3-0 Sligo Rovers…2
11.08.06 – Shelbourne 2-2 Cork City…1
20.10.06 – UCD 0-2 Shelbourne…1

2008 Premier Division
28.03.08 – Bohemians 3-0 Finn Harps…1 (p)
11.04.08 – Bohemians 1-1 Bray Wanderers…1 (p)
24.06.08 – Finn Harps 0-2 Bohemians…1 (p)
01.08.08 – Bohemians 3-0 Cobh Ramblers…1
08.09.08 – Bohemians 3-0 St. Patrick’s Athletic…1
10.10.08 – Drogheda United 1-2 Bohemians…2

2009 Premier Division
20.03.09 – Bohemians 2-0 Shamrock Rovers…2 (1p)
07.04.09 – Galway United 0-2 Bohemians…2
11.04.09 – Bohemians 3-0 St. Patrick’s Athletic…1
24.04.09 – Bohemians 2-0 Bray Wanderers…1
01.05.09 – Bohemians 5-0 Dundalk…4 (1p)
16.05.09 – Shamrock Rovers 2-1 Bohemians…1 (p)
29.05.09 – Cork City 0-1 Bohemians…1
02.06.09 – Bohemians 2-0 Galway United…1 (p)
19.06.09 – Bohemians 2-0 Sligo Rovers…1 (p)
03.07.09 – Bray Wanderers 1-3 Bohemians…1 (p)
19.07.09 – Bohemians 1-0 Derry City…1
18.09.09 – Bohemians 3-2 Dundalk…2
09.10.09 – Bohemians 4-0 Drogheda United…1
20.10.09 – Bohemians 3-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic…1
30.10.09 – Bohemians 3-1 Sligo Rovers…1
06.11.09 – Bray Wanderers 1-1 Bohemians…1

2010 Premier Division
16.03.10 – UCD 1-2 Bohemians…1
19.03.10 – Drogheda United 2-4 Bohemians…2
06.04.10 – Bohemians 1-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic…1
16.04.10 – Bohemians 2-3 Galway United…1
08.05.10 – Sligo Rovers 1-2 Bohemians…1
21.05.10 – St. Patrick’s Athletic 3-1 Bohemians…1
10.09.10 – Bohemians 3-1 UCD…1
13.09.10 – Bohemians 2-0 Drogheda United…1
05.10.10 – Bohemians 1-0 Shamrock Rovers…1
22.10.10 – Galway United 3-2 Bohemians…1 (p)
29.10.10 – Bohemians 3-1 Dundalk…1 (p)

2011 Premier Division
04.03.11 – Shamrock Rovers 3-1 Dundalk…1 (p)
11.03.11 – Dundalk 3-2 Galway United…1
01.04.11 – Dundalk 3-1 UCD…1
15.04.11 – Dundalk 1-1 Sligo Rovers…1
02.05.11 – Dundalk 1-1 Shamrock Rovers…1 (p)
12.08.11 – Drogheda United 2-2 Dundalk…1

2012 Premier Division
16.03.12 – UCD 2-3 Bray Wanderers…1
23.03.12 – Bray Wanderers 2-4 Drogheda United…1
30.03.12 – Cork City 1-1 Bray Wanderers…1
13.04.12 – Shelbourne 2-1 Bray Wanderers…1
27.04.12 – Monaghan United 0-1 Bray Wanderers…1*
04.05.12 – Bray Wanderers 2-1 Bohemians…1
11.05.12 – Dundalk 0-2 Bray Wanderers…2 (2p)
18.05.12 – Bray Wanderers 3-3 St. Patrick’s Athletic…2
01.06.12 – Bray Wanderers 3-1 UCD…2
07.07.12 – Sligo Rovers 1-1 Bray Wanderers…1
19.10.12 – Bray Wanderers 1-4 Bohemians…1 (p)

2013 Premier Division
08.03.13 – Bray Wanderers 1-0 Shelbourne…1
24.03.13 – Drogheda United 2-1 Bray Wanderers…1
29.03.13 – Bray Wanderers 2-2 UCD…1
24.05.13 – Bray Wanderers 3-2 Drogheda United…3
08.06.13 – UCD 4-5 Bray Wanderers…4
19.07.13 – Bray Wanderers 1-3 Bohemians…1 (p)
04.08.13 – Bray Wanderers 1-1 Shelbourne…1
08.09.13 – Bray Wanderers 1-1 UCD…1
28.10.13 – Bray Wanderers 2-2 Longford Town…2 **

2014 Premier Division
07.03.2014 – UCD 0-3 Bohemians…1
07.04.2014 – Athlone Town 1-3 Bohemians…1
18.04.2014 – St. Patrick’s Athletic 3-1 Bohemians…1
25.04.2014 – Cork City 1-1 Bohemians…1
02.05.2014 – Bohemians 1-1 Derry City…1
15.08.2014 – Bohemians 2-1 Drogheda United…1
05.09.2014 – Bohemians 2-1 Bray Wanderers…1
26.09.2014 – Bohemians 2-0 Limerick…1
24.10.2014 – Bohemians 2-1 Derry City…1 (p)

2015 Premier Division
08.05.2015 – Bohemians 2-1 Limerick…1

2016 First Division Division
29.07.2016 – UCD 5-1 Athlone Town…1
02.09.2016 – Cabinteely 0-2 UCD…1
30.09.2016 – Waterford United 1-8 UCD…2

2017 First Division Division
07.10.2017 – Shelbourne 3-1 Cabinteely…1

* Match annulled
** Promotion/Relegation Playoff

January 24, 2017

in Cabinteely, Jason Byrne
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The Byrne Supremacy IV

jason-byrne-signs-for-cabinteely-fc

This is my third update of the definitive record of Jason Byrne’s career.

Byrne, who turns 39 next week, will continue his quest to become the all-time leading goalscorer in the League of Ireland as the striker recently signed for Cabinteely.

He has only managed to grab 5 league goals in the last two seasons, in just 3 starts, to bring his tally to 221 – 14 behind Brendan Bradley’s record.

All the statistics and analysis below has been fully updated up to the end of 2016. The FAI count playoff matches towards a player’s league record so I have done the same here.

Once again, dedicated to Pat Morley.

League total – 409 (79) appearances, 221 goals
1998-99 – Bray Wanderers – 15 (2) appearances, 5 goals
1999-00 – Bray Wanderers – 26 (7) appearances, 7 goals
2000-01 – Bray Wanderers – 30 appearances, 11 goals
2001-02 – Bray Wanderers – 29 (1) appearances, 14 goals
2002-03 – Bray Wanderers – 20 appearances, 12 goals
2003 – Shelbourne – 34 appearances, 21 goals
2004 – Shelbourne – 33 (1) appearances, 25 goals
2005 – Shelbourne – 31 appearances, 22 goals
2006 – Shelbourne – 22 (4) appearances, 15 goals
2008 – Bohemians – 17 (12) appearances, 7 goals
2009 – Bohemians – 32 (2) appearances, 22 goals
2010 – Bohemians – 24 (6) appearances, 12 goals
2011 – Dundalk – 19 (5) appearances, 6 goals
2012 – Bray Wanderers – 25 appearances, 13 goals
2013 – Bray Wanderers – 33 (2) appearances, 15 goals
2014 – Bohemians – 16 (3) appearances, 9 goals
2015 – Bohemians – 2 (18) appearances, 1 goal
2016 – UCD – 1 (16) appearances, 4 goals

League total – 488 appearances, 221 goals
Bray Wanderers – 190 appearances, 77 goals
Shelbourne – 125 appearances, 83 goals
Bohemians – 132 appearances, 51 goals
Dundalk – 24 appearances, 6 goals
UCD – 17 appearances, 4 goals

League
Premier Division – 208
First Division – 11
Playoff – 2

Halves
First half – 98
Second half – 123

When Byrne scored, his team…
Won – 116
Drew – 34
Lost – 19

Hat-tricks
4 goals – 2 times
3 goals – 9 times
2 goals – 28 times
1 goal – 130 times

Goals by club
St. Patrick’s Athletic – 22
Shamrock Rovers – 21
UCD – 21
Drogheda United – 21
Longford Town – 19
Waterford United – 15
Dundalk – 13
Bray Wanderers – 12
Derry City – 12
Bohemians – 9
Dublin City – 8
Cork City – 8
Galway United – 7
Sligo Rovers – 7
Shelbourne – 6
Finn Harps – 5
Athlone Town – 4
Limerick – 3
Home Farm – 2
Kilkenny City – 2
Cobh Ramblers – 2
Monaghan United – 1
Cabinteely – 1

Home/Away
Home – 138
Away – 83

Province
Leinster – 198
Munster – 12
Connacht – 6
Ulster – 5

Goals by venue
Tolka Park – 62
Carlisle Grounds – 53
Dalymount Park – 36
Hunky Dorys Park – 9
Richmond Park – 9
UCD Bowl – 8
RSC – 7
Oriel Park – 6
Flancare Park – 4
Terryland Park – 4
Turner’s Cross – 4
Morton Stadium – 2
The Brandywell – 2
Belfield Park – 2
Finn Park – 2
Tallaght Stadium – 2
The Showgrounds – 2
Buckley Park – 1
St. Mel’s Park – 1
Hogan Park – 1
Whitehall – 1
Century Holmes Park – 1
Lissywollen – 1
Stradbrook – 1

Months
September – 47
April – 33
October – 28
March – 25
May – 24
June – 19
August – 13
July – 12
November – 9
January – 5
February – 3
December – 3

Days
Friday – 141
Monday – 23
Tuesday – 18
Saturday – 17
Sunday – 15
Thursday – 4
Wednesday – 3

Byrne is the only player in history to be League of Ireland top goalscorer in four consecutive seasons which he achieved with Shelbourne from 2003 to 2006. He wasn’t the highest league scorer at his club on six occasions; that honour went to Bray’s Barry O’Connor in 1999-00 (having been joint best with him the previous season), Killian Brennan for Bohemians in 2008, Dundalk’s Mark Quigley in 2011, Bohs strikers Dinny Corcoran (2014), Ismahil Akinade (2015) as well as UCD’s Gary O’Neill (2016)

He has scored 32 penalties to date. Eight of them have been scored against Shamrock Rovers with ten spot kicks converted at Dalymount Park. Byrne never scored one in his first spell at Bray as Colm Tresson and Eddie Gormley were on penalty taking duties at the time. He last missed a penalty against Sligo Rovers in April 2014 when Gary Rogers saved his 95th minute effort.

Strike rate, league wins, best/worst totals and runs, awards
Byrne currently has a 45% strike rate in his League of Ireland career. It was 41% at Bray Wanderers, 66% with Shelbourne and 39% for Bohemians. He only scored a goal every four games for Dundalk and UCD. His worst performance in a single season was 1 goal (0.05 goals per game) in 2015. He has scored in 169 games overall, his season best being 18 games in 2004.

Byrne played in the fewest number of games in 1998-99 and 2016 but he broke his ankle in January 1999 and missed the rest of the league campaign, famously returning to score in Bray’s FAI Cup final triumph. He was ever-present for the Wanderers in 2013.

Byrne has won a record six Player of the Month awards, in September 1998 (Bray), September 2003 (Shelbourne), April 2004 (Shelbourne), October 2005 (Shelbourne), May 2012 (Bray) and June 2013 (Bray). He scored 8 goals in both September 2004 and September 2005 but didn’t win the prize in either of those months – instead it went to Daryl Murphy (Waterford United) and Peter Hutton (Derry City) respectively.

Clubs, home/away, venues, first/second half, Cardiff, goalscoring sub
Byrne has scored against 23 different clubs. In 2004 and 2009, he scored against every team in the league (nine of them). He netted in all four meetings with Dublin City in 2004 with a total of eight goals against the Vikings. The 2015 campaign was the first time in eight seasons that he failed to score against Drogheda United and he is set to face Wexford for the first time. He went six straight seasons without scoring against Shamrock Rovers (2010-15).

Byrne has scored in 24 different stadiums so far. The most home goals have been scored in Tolka Park (52) with ten away goals in the Drumcondra venue against three different clubs – Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and Dublin City. 123 goals of the goals were scored in Dublin and he last found the net at the Brandywell in 2004. There are two new venues for him to score in this season – St Colman’s Park and Ferrycarrig Park.

In September 2005 he had completed a hat-trick for Shelbourne against Waterford United by half-time. Byrne’s quickest hat-trick though was in the last 17 minutes of Bohemians’ 5-0 win over Dundalk in May 2009, adding a fourth goal in injury time. He has scored in the first minute of a game on three occasions; v Derry in February 2001, v Longford in September 2001 and after just 33 seconds at home to St. Pat’s in May 2003.

Byrne notched one league goal for Cardiff City in the Championship. He came off the bench to make his debut on 20 January 2007, scoring the winner with two minutes to go in a 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. Each of his last five goals have come as a substitute. In this country, he scored as a sub four other times, all for Bohs, v Finn Harps in June 2008, v St. Pat’s in September 2008 and twice v UCD in March 2010 and March 2014.

Brendan Bradley scored one goal for then Irish League side Derry City and it was his debut against Coleraine in the North-West City Cup final on 11 May 1968. He scored 12 league goals for Lincoln City in the 1972-73 season and one in the FAI Cup. Bradley scored 7 of his LOI goals in the First Division while Byrne scored 11.

In all competitions for League of Ireland clubs, Bradley netted 307 goals including 22 in the FAI Cup and one Cup Winners’ Cup strike in 1974. Byrne is on 280 overall, with 28 FAI Cup and 10 European goals.

2015 Premier Division
08.05.2015 – Bohemians 2-1 Limerick…1

2016 First Division Division
29.07.2016 – UCD 5-1 Athlone Town…1
02.09.2016 – Cabinteely 0-2 UCD…1
30.09.2016 – Waterford United 1-8 UCD…2

* Match annulled
** Promotion/Relegation Playoff

February 15, 2016

in Jason Byrne, UCD
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The Byrne Supremacy III

Jason_Byrne_UCD_resized

This is my second update of the definitive record of Jason Byrne’s career in the League of Ireland. Byrne, who turns 38 next week, only scored one league goal for Bohemians last season to put him on 217. He has joined First Division side UCD in one last bid to beat Brendan Bradley’s all-time best of 235.

All the statistics and analysis below has been fully updated up to the end of 2015. The FAI count playoff matches towards a player’s league record so I have done the same here.

To ensure accuracy I went through each and every league goal on http://www.soccerbot.com and then compared them to various sources, including European Football Yearbooks, National League Annuals, http://www.irishfootballonline.com, http://www.braywanderers.com and http://www.extratime.ie.

Once again, dedicated to Pat Morley.

Career total – 408 (63) appearances, 217 goals
1998-99 – Bray Wanderers – 15 (2) appearances, 5 goals
1999-00 – Bray Wanderers – 26 (7) appearances, 7 goals
2000-01 – Bray Wanderers – 30 appearances, 11 goals
2001-02 – Bray Wanderers – 29 (1) appearances, 14 goals
2002-03 – Bray Wanderers – 20 appearances, 12 goals
2003 – Shelbourne – 34 appearances, 21 goals
2004 – Shelbourne – 33 (1) appearances, 25 goals
2005 – Shelbourne – 31 appearances, 22 goals
2006 – Shelbourne – 22 (4) appearances, 15 goals
2008 – Bohemians – 17 (12) appearances, 7 goals
2009 – Bohemians – 32 (2) appearances, 22 goals
2010 – Bohemians – 24 (6) appearances, 12 goals
2011 – Dundalk – 19 (5) appearances, 6 goals
2012 – Bray Wanderers – 25 appearances, 13 goals
2013 – Bray Wanderers – 33 (2) appearances, 15 goals
2014 – Bohemians – 16 (3) appearances, 9 goals
2015 – Bohemians – 2 (18) appearances, 1 goal

Career total – 471 appearances, 217 goals
Bray Wanderers – 190 appearances, 77 goals
Shelbourne – 125 appearances, 83 goals
Bohemians – 132 appearances, 51 goals
Dundalk – 24 appearances, 6 goals

League
Premier Division – 208
First Division – 7
Playoff – 2

Halves
First half – 98
Second half – 119

When Byrne scored, his team…
Won – 113
Drew – 34
Lost – 19

Hat-tricks
4 goals – 2 times
3 goals – 9 times
2 goals – 27 times
1 goal – 128 times

Goals by club
St. Patrick’s Athletic – 22
Shamrock Rovers – 21
UCD – 21
Drogheda United – 21
Longford Town – 19
Waterford United – 13
Dundalk – 13
Bray Wanderers – 12
Derry City – 12
Bohemians – 9
Dublin City – 8
Cork City – 8
Galway United – 7
Sligo Rovers – 7
Shelbourne – 6
Finn Harps – 5
Athlone Town – 3
Limerick – 3
Home Farm – 2
Kilkenny City – 2
Cobh Ramblers – 2
Monaghan United – 1

Home/Away
Home – 137
Away – 80

Province
Leinster – 196
Munster – 10
Connacht – 6
Ulster – 5

Goals by venue
Tolka Park – 62
Carlisle Grounds – 53
Dalymount Park – 36
Hunky Dorys Park – 9
Richmond Park – 9
UCD Bowl – 7
Oriel Park – 6
RSC – 5
Flancare Park – 4
Terryland Park – 4
Turner’s Cross – 4
Morton Stadium – 2
The Brandywell – 2
Belfield Park – 2
Finn Park – 2
Tallaght Stadium – 2
The Showgrounds – 2
Buckley Park – 1
St. Mel’s Park – 1
Hogan Park – 1
Whitehall – 1
Century Holmes Park – 1
Lissywollen – 1

Months
September – 44
April – 33
October – 28
March – 25
May – 24
June – 19
August – 13
July – 11
November – 9
January – 5
February – 3
December – 3

Days
Friday – 137
Monday – 23
Tuesday – 18
Saturday – 17
Sunday – 15
Thursday – 4
Wednesday – 3

Byrne is the only player in history to be League of Ireland top goalscorer in four consecutive seasons which he achieved with Shelbourne from 2003 to 2006. He wasn’t the highest league scorer at his club on five occasions; that honour went to Bray’s Barry O’Connor in 1999-00 (having been joint best with him the previous season), Killian Brennan for Bohemians in 2008, Dundalk’s Mark Quigley in 2011 as well as Bohs strikers Dinny Corcoran (2014) and Ismahil Akinade (2015).

Strike rate, league wins, best/worst totals and runs, awards
Byrne currently has a 46% strike rate in his League of Ireland career. It was 41% at Bray Wanderers, 66% with Shelbourne and 39% for Bohemians. He only scored a goal every four games for Dundalk. His worst performance in a single season was 1 goal (0.05 goals per game) last year but he only made the starting lineup twice. He has scored in 166 games overall, his season best being 18 games in 2004.

Byrne played in the fewest number of games in 1998-99 but largely due to the fact that he broke his ankle in January and missed the rest of the league campaign, famously returning to score in Bray’s FAI Cup final triumph. He was ever-present for the Wanderers in 2013.

By the time he left UCD campus a fortnight later he had helped himself to consecutive hat-tricks, scoring seven goals in two games! However, that was not his worst scoreless streak. He went 12 matches with a goal from October 1998 to September 1999 and 11 straight games during the 2001/02 season (all starts).

Clubs, home/away, venues, first/second half, Cardiff, goalscoring sub
Byrne has scored against 22 different clubs. In 2004 and 2009, he scored against every team in the league (nine of them). He netted in all four meetings with Dublin City in 2004 with a total of eight goals against the Vikings. The last campaign was the first time in eight seasons that he failed to score against Drogheda United and he is set to face Cabinteely for the first time. He went six straight seasons without scoring against Shamrock Rovers (2010-15).

Byrne has scored in 23 different stadiums so far. The most home goals have been scored in Tolka Park (52) with ten away goals in the Drumcondra venue against three different clubs – Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and Dublin City. 121 goals of the goals were scored in Dublin and he last found the net at the Brandywell in 2004. There are three new venues for him to score in this season – Market’s Field, St Colman’s Park and Stradbrook.

Byrne notched one league goal for Cardiff City in the Championship. He came off the bench to make his debut on 20 January 2007, scoring the winner with two minutes to go in a 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. The veteran striker has scored just five times as a substitute in this country, all for Bohs, v Finn Harps in June 2008, v St. Pat’s in September 2008, twice v UCD in March 2010 and March 2014 and v Limerick in May 2015.

Brendan Bradley scored one goal for then Irish League side Derry City and it was his debut against Coleraine in the North-West City Cup final on 11 May 1968. He scored 12 league goals for Lincoln City in the 1972-73 season and one in the FAI Cup. Both men scored seven of their LOI goals in the First Division.

In all competitions for League of Ireland clubs, Bradley netted 307 goals including 22 in the FAI Cup and one Cup Winners’ Cup strike in 1974. Byrne is on 276 overall, with 28 FAI Cup and 10 European goals.

2015 Premier Division
08.05.2015 – Bohemians 2-1 Limerick…1

* Match annulled
** Promotion/Relegation Playoff

May 28, 2015

in FAI Cup
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Up for the Cup: 2015

Firhouse Clover are one of a dozen non-league clubs competing in the second round of the FAI Cup this week. Firhouse will face Bohemians at Dalymount Park and a veteran striker who has been merciless in front of goal against underdogs in his career.

Jason Byrne has scored a brace in each of his last four Cup games against non-league teams – Wayside Celtic, Drogheda Town, Mayfield United and Glenville – all for Bohs and he was a substitute in two of those.

Four non-league clubs have reached the quarter-finals since the switch to summer football – Rockmount (2004), Killester United (2006), Wayside Celtic (2008) and Avondale United (2014). No non-league team has reached the FAI Cup semi-finals since St Francis went all the way to the final in 1990.

Out of 8 ties last season between League and non-league clubs, only Avondale took it to a replay, against Finn Harps. Bluebell United knocked out Athlone Town in 2013.

Aside from Killester’s walkover against Dublin City, Drogheda United and Sligo Rovers were the last Premier Division clubs to be knocked out of the Cup by non-league teams.

They lost to Bangor Celtic and Bluebell United and they were both relegated that 1999-00 season. Drumcondra have more wins as a non-league club over League teams than anyone else (6) while Dundalk have suffered more than any other League side (6).

Dundalk were drawn at home to Shelbourne, of the First Division, but interestingly they are the only reigning League of Ireland champions to have ever lost to a non-league team in the FAI Cup (Cobh Ramblers in 1983).

With Shels getting the toughest possible tie, it’s likely that Athlone and Shelbourne will avoid each other for the 40th successive year.

Athlone welcome Liffey Wanderers to Lissywollen, hoping to put an end to their dreadful FAI Cup and League Cup record in recent years – in their last 12 ties the Town have been eliminated in all of them.

Shamrock Rovers travel to St Patrick’s Athletic on Friday, the only non-league side to knock Rovers out of the Cup. In the 1949 first round replay, the Saints sensationally beat the holders 2-1 at Milltown.

Ironically, the goals were scored by former Rovers players Podge Cregg and Bobby Rogers, whose registrations had been retained by the Rovers owners the Cunninghams to prevent them from playing for another League of Ireland club.

St Pat’s are 27-0 against non-league teams (including 2 games while in the Leinster Senior League), twice being taken to a replay, while Cork City, UCD and Wexford Youths are also unbeaten against clubs outside the LOI.

Rovers are looking to extend their 21 game unbeaten streak since losing the 2014 FAI Cup semi-final replay, their longest run since 1957. The 24-time winners last lifted the trophy way back in 1987.

To put that into perspective, there is no other country in Europe in which the team with the most national cup wins in its history have been knocked out in each of the last 28 seasons.

Marseille and Malmö (under Roy Hodgson) have not won the Cup in France and Sweden respectively since 1989. Red Boys Differdange won their 15th and last Luxembourg Cup in 1985 but in 2003 they merged with AS Differdange to become FC Differdange.

They captured the trophy in 2010 and 2011. Wrexham, 23 time winners of the Welsh Cup, have not participated in the competition since their 1995 victory with the exception of the 2011/12 season.

26 out of 54 UEFA members’ record cup winners currently have possession of the trophy and only one other nation’s ‘cup specialists’ have not won it since the turn of the century – AGF, a Danish First Division side (1996). Juventus last week won their first Coppa Italia in 20 years.

Odds BK, who have never won a league title, had 11 Cups to their name by the early 1930s but remarkably they waited 69 years for the next one. They had been relegated in 1967 and did not return to the Norwegian Premier League until 1999.

‘Odd’, with Ronny Deila in their side, won it the following season and were runners-up in 2002 and 2014. Manchester United, joint record FA Cup winners with Arsenal (for now), didn’t win it for 28 seasons from 1909 to 1948, through two World Wars.

Arsenal, formerly named Royal Arsenal and Woolwich Arsenal, failed to lift the trophy in their first 36 attempts until 1930. Arsenal and United were in the Football League First Division for 19 of those seasons whereas Shamrock Rovers have played top flight football in all but one of the 28 seasons.

Until Pat’s ended their 53 year famine, they had been on one of the worst Cup final losing streaks in European history by getting beaten in each of the last 7. USV Eschen/Mauren lost 11 in a row in Liechtenstein until they won it in 2012.

Hibs are on a run of 10 defeats since 1902, the last two of which Pat Fenlon was manager. Icelandic club ÍA lost 8 finals in succession until 2003, AaB in Denmark lost 7 straight until 2014 while FC Balzers, another Liechtenstein club, have lost all 7 finals they have appeared in since their last triumph in 1997.

The only two St Pat’s FAI Cup winning captains, Ger O’Brien and Tommy Dunne, who passed away earlier this month

February 11, 2015

in Bohemians, Jason Byrne
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The Byrne Supremacy II

Around this time last year I posted a definitive record of Jason Byrne’s career in the League of Ireland. Byrne celebrates his 37th birthday in a couple of weeks and he has taken his league tally to 216 league goals, edging closer to Brendan Bradley’s all-time best of 235.

All the statistics and analysis below has been fully updated up to the end of 2014 with some brand new information to boot. I’ve always kept playoff matches in a separate category but since the FAI count them towards a player’s league record, I will do the same in this version.

To ensure accuracy I went through each and every league goal on http://www.soccerbot.com and then compared them to various sources, including European Football Yearbooks, National League Annuals, Airtricity League Media Guides, http://www.irishfootballonline.com, http://www.braywanderers.com and http://www.extratime.ie.

As always, dedicated to Pat Morley.

Career total – 406 (45) appearances, 216 goals
1998-99 – Bray Wanderers – 15 (2) appearances, 5 goals
1999-00 – Bray Wanderers – 26 (7) appearances, 7 goals
2000-01 – Bray Wanderers – 30 appearances, 11 goals
2001-02 – Bray Wanderers – 29 (1) appearances, 14 goals
2002-03 – Bray Wanderers – 20 appearances, 12 goals
2003 – Shelbourne – 34 appearances, 21 goals
2004 – Shelbourne – 33 (1) appearances, 25 goals
2005 – Shelbourne – 31 appearances, 22 goals
2006 – Shelbourne – 22 (4) appearances, 15 goals
2008 – Bohemians – 17 (12) appearances, 7 goals
2009 – Bohemians – 32 (2) appearances, 22 goals
2010 – Bohemians – 24 (6) appearances, 12 goals
2011 – Dundalk – 19 (5) appearances, 6 goals
2012 – Bray Wanderers – 25 appearances, 13 goals
2013 – Bray Wanderers – 33 (2) appearances, 15 goals
2014 – Bohemians – 16 (3) appearances, 9 goals

Career total – 451 appearances, 216 goals
Bray Wanderers – 190 appearances, 77 goals
Shelbourne – 125 appearances, 83 goals
Bohemians – 112 appearances, 50 goals
Dundalk – 24 appearances, 6 goals

League
Premier Division – 207
First Division – 7
Playoff – 2

Halves
First half – 98
Second half – 118

When Byrne scored, his team…
Won – 112
Drew – 34
Lost – 19

Hat-tricks
4 goals – 2 times
3 goals – 9 times
2 goals – 27 times
1 goal – 127 times

Goals by club
St. Patrick’s Athletic – 22
Shamrock Rovers – 21
UCD – 21
Drogheda United – 21
Longford Town – 19
Waterford United – 13
Dundalk – 13
Bray Wanderers – 12
Derry City – 12
Bohemians – 9
Dublin City – 8
Cork City – 8
Galway United – 7
Sligo Rovers – 7
Shelbourne – 6
Finn Harps – 5
Athlone Town – 3
Home Farm – 2
Kilkenny City – 2
Cobh Ramblers – 2
Limerick – 2
Monaghan United – 1

Home/Away
Home – 136
Away – 80

Province
Leinster – 195
Munster – 10
Connacht – 6
Ulster – 5

Goals by venue
Tolka Park – 62
Carlisle Grounds – 53
Dalymount Park – 35
Hunky Dorys Park – 9
Richmond Park – 9
UCD Bowl – 7
Oriel Park – 6
RSC – 5
Flancare Park – 4
Terryland Park – 4
Turner’s Cross – 4
Morton Stadium – 2
The Brandywell – 2
Belfield Park – 2
Finn Park – 2
Tallaght Stadium – 2
The Showgrounds – 2
Buckley Park – 1
St. Mel’s Park – 1
Hogan Park – 1
Whitehall – 1
Century Holmes Park – 1
Lissywollen – 1

Months
September – 44
April – 33
October – 28
March – 25
May – 23
June – 19
August – 13
July – 11
November – 9
January – 5
February – 3
December – 3

Days
Friday – 136
Monday – 23
Tuesday – 18
Saturday – 17
Sunday – 15
Thursday – 4
Wednesday – 3

Byrne is the only player in history to be League of Ireland top goalscorer in four consecutive seasons which he achieved with Shelbourne from 2003 to 2006. He wasn’t the highest league scorer at his club on four occasions; that honour went to Bray’s Barry O’Connor in 1999-00 (having been joint best with him the previous season), Killian Brennan for Bohemians in 2008, Dundalk’s Mark Quigley in 2011 and Bohs striker Dinny Corcoran in 2014.

Strike rate, league wins, best/worst totals and runs, awards
Byrne currently has a 48% strike rate in his League of Ireland career and 45% with Bohemians. It was 41% at Bray Wanderers and 66% at Shelbourne. He only scored a goal every four games for Dundalk but his worst performance in a single season was 0.2 goals per game in the 1999-00 First Division. He has scored in 165 games overall, his season best being 18 games in 2004.

Byrne played in the lowest number of games and scored his fewest goals in 1998-99 but largely due to the fact that he broke his ankle in January and missed the rest of the league campaign, famously returning to score in Bray’s FAI Cup final triumph. He was ever-present for the Wanderers in 2013.

Byrne’s record goalscoring run in the League of Ireland is nine games in a row for Shelbourne from November 2003 to April 2004. His single season best is seven from July to September 2003. He scored in each of the first five games of the 2003 and 2004 seasons, something which no other player managed to do again until Anthony Elding for Sligo Rovers. When Bray Wanderers took on Drogheda United on 24 May 2013, Byrne had not scored in his last 10 games for the club.

By the time he left campus a fortnight later he had helped himself to consecutive hat-tricks, scoring seven goals in two games! However, that was not his worst scoreless streak. He went 12 matches with a goal from October 1998 to September 1999 and 11 straight games during the 2001/02 season (all starts).

Clubs, home/away, venues, first/second half, Cardiff, goalscoring sub
Byrne has scored against 22 different clubs. In 2004 and 2009, he scored against every team in the league (nine of them). He netted in all four meetings with Dublin City in 2004 with a total of eight goals against the Vikings. He’s scored against Drogheda in each of the last seven seasons but he hasn’t managed a goal against Shamrock Rovers in four years.

Byrne has scored in 23 different stadiums so far. The most home goals have been scored in Tolka Park (52) with ten away goals in the Drumcondra venue against three different clubs – Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and Dublin City. 120 goals of the goals were scored in Dublin. He has not found the net at the Brandywell since 2004 and there is one new venue for him this season in Markets Field.

Eight of his first ten goals for Shelbourne were first half strikes and in September 2005 he had completed a hat-trick against Waterford United by half-time. Byrne’s quickest hat-trick though was in the last 17 minutes of Bohemians’ 5-0 win over Dundalk in May 2009, adding a fourth goal in injury time. He has scored in the first minute of a game on three occasions; v Derry in February 2001, v Longford in September 2001 and after just 33 seconds at home to St. Pat’s in May 2003.

Byrne notched one league goal for Cardiff City in the Championship. He came off the bench to make his debut on 20 January 2007, scoring the winner with two minutes to go in a 2-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. The veteran striker has scored just four times as a substitute in this country, all for Bohs, v Finn Harps in June 2008, v St. Pat’s in September 2008 and twice v UCD, in March 2010 and March 2014.

Brendan Bradley scored one goal for then Irish League side Derry City and it was his debut against Coleraine in the North-West City Cup final on 11 May 1968. He scored 12 league goals for Lincoln City in the 1972-73 season and one in the FAI Cup. Both men scored seven of their LOI goals in the First Division.

In all competitions for League of Ireland clubs, Bradley netted 307 goals including 22 in the FAI Cup and one Cup Winners’ Cup strike in 1974. Byrne is on 273 overall, with 27 FAI Cup and 10 European goals.

February 6, 2015

in Leinster Senior Cup
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The Abandoned Leinster Senior Cup, One Season Wonders and more

Longford Town were set to play Drogheda United in the Leinster Senior Cup last night (their first ever meeting) but the game was called off because of a frozen pitch. Longford have not entered the Leinster Senior Cup as a Premier Division club since 2000-01, which was riddled with fixture rows and ultimately abandoned due to the Foot and Mouth outbreak in late February.

Stephen Kenny experimented with the vast majority of his Under-21 side, handing Longford hero Sean Prunty his senior debut against Kilkenny City. Portuguese striker Carlos Rocha scored the only goal of the game at Flancare Park.

Current Town boss Tony Cousins was on the scoresheet for Shamrock Rovers in their 6-2 win over St. Francis at John Hyland Park. In November three Leinster Senior League teams, Glenmore Dundrum, Wayside Celtic and TEK United, recorded 1-0 victories away to League of Ireland clubs Drogheda United, UCD and Home Farm Fingal respectively.

The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 22 Janauary 2001 and Glenmore would have been rewarded with a trip to Richmond Park to face St. Patrick’s Athletic.

St. Pat’s beat Athlone Town 3-2 in Inchicore. A late goal from Charles Livingston ensured there would be no happy homecoming for former Saints manager Liam Buckley, who had won the title in his first spell in charge a year earlier.

An understrength Shelbourne lost 2-0 at Dundalk and Bohemians edged past Ashtown Villa on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Dalymount Park. Controversially, Bohs insisted on playing the Ashtown Villa tie instead of a scheduled league clash with St. Pat’s. The Pat’s game was postponed just four hours before kick-off much to the dismay of Pat Dolan.

This allowed Kevin Hunt and Alex Nesovic to serve out suspensions with Stephen Caffrey doing the first of a two game ban. The Phibsboro club went on to win to the double under Roddy Collins while the unfinished Leinster Senior Cup led to a near decade hiatus for the oldest competition in Irish football.

2000-01 Leinster Senior Cup First Round
Nov 21. United Park. Drogheda United 0-1 Glenmore Dundrum (Kelly)
Nov 21. Baldonnel. St. Francis 2-6 Shamrock Rovers (Stone, Packard; Cousins, Jackson, Stewart 2, Robinson, Harrington)
Nov 21. Belfield. UCD 0-1 Wayside Celtic (Simpson pen)
Nov 22. Whitehall. Home Farm Fingal 0-1 TEK United (Power)
Dec 5. Oriel Park. Dundalk 2-0 Shelbourne (O’Dowd, Mullen)
Dec 26. Richmond Park. St. Patrick’s Athletic 3-2 Athlone Town (Quinn, McGuinness; Livingston, Devine, Fitzgibbon)
Jan 2. Dalymount Park. Bohemians 1-1 Ashtown Villa (Markey; Buttner) Bohs won 5-4 on pens
Jan 9. Strokestown Road. Longford Town 0-1 Kilkenny City (Rocha)

Quarter-Final
Bohemians v Dundalk (1)
TEK United v Shamrock Rovers (2)
St. Patrick’s Athletic v Glenmore Dundrum (3)
Wayside Celtic v Kilkenny City (4)

Semi-Final
1 v 2
3 v 4

Cabinteely FC are Ireland’s newest members of the League. Just a year ago, Shamrock Rovers ‘B’ joined the First Division but their swift exit has created the vacancy for the South-Dublin outfit, based in the Borough of Dun Laoghaire.

Cabinteely are the 54th different team to gain entry into the #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld. The Rovers reserves became just the fifth club to play only one season of League of Ireland football and the first in 78 years.

Reds United were founded in 1935 by members of Shelbourne FC, who resigned in March 1934 after a dispute with the League. United placed fourth but once the dispute was resolved the club disbanded so Shelbourne, then playing in the AUL, could rejoin the top flight in the 1936-37 season.

YMCA and Frankfort were among the eight founding members of the Free State League, all from Dublin. Frankfort came sixth in the table and YMCA, based out of Claremount Road, only picked up 3 points and finished rock bottom. Neither were re-elected for the following season, however, Frankfort still exists as a junior club and celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2008.

The other one season wonder, Rathmines Athletic, resigned from the League having lost 19 of 22 games in the 1922-23 campaign. They failed to fulfil their last league fixture with Dublin United and gave the first walkover in FAI Cup history against Fordsons of Cork on 13 January 1923.

One League of Ireland Season
1921-22 Frankfort – 14 3 5 6 22 32 11 – 6th
1922-23 YMCA – 14 0 3 11 17 43 3 – 8th
1922-23 Rathmines Athletic – 22 2 1 19 21 74 5 – 12th
1935-36 Reds United – 22 12 1 9 45 47 25 – 4th
2014 Shamrock Rovers B – 28 7 5 16 25 50 26 – 6th (First Division)

Recommended reading from January and February are as follows. First we have a couple articles in The Guardian about Bobby Charlton’s spell with Waterford United in the 1970s and Liam Coyle’s goal for Derry City in the 1994-95 title decider.

The great Jimmy Dunne was remembered in the Irish Independent and Balls.ie looked back at the League of Ireland’s famous win over the English League in 1963. John O’Sullivan discovered why the Jules Rimet trophy is on the Athlone Town crest and check out the new LOI History blog started by Dodge.

Finally, Jason Byrne was video interviewed on his attempts to break Brendan Bradley’s all-time goalscoring record. Last year on this blog I posted “the definitive Byrne stats compendium” (not my words) and next Friday I will fully update it to include the 2014 season.

Byrne hopes to carry on for another couple of years but sadly some other LOI legends are leaving us.

Gary O’Neill announced his retirement, Declan O’Brien became one of a dozen players to head north (scoring a hat-trick on his debut for Glenavon) while Joey Ndo moved to Arrow Harps of the Sligo Leitrim & District League.

What they lost in 21 caps for Cameroon though the Bit O’Red have gained in the 56 times capped Estonian international midfielder Sander Puri.

League of Ireland History

The Byrne Legacy

The Byrne Supremacy IV

The Byrne Supremacy III

Up for the Cup: 2015

The Byrne Supremacy II

The Abandoned Leinster Senior Cup, One Season Wonders and more

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