David Stuart Byrne (born 5 March 1961) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. After retiring from the game he went on to be a coach, assistant manager, caretaker manager, director of football and head of recruitment for clubs north and south of the UK, his recent job was head of recruitment at Dundee United but recently left the club.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Stuart Byrne[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 5 March 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Hammersmith, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Brentford | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Southall | |||
| Hounslow | |||
| –1981 | Harrow Borough | ||
| 1981–1982 | Hayes | 41 | (3) |
| 1982–1983 | Hounslow | ||
| 1983–1985 | Kingstonian | ||
| 1985–1986 | Gillingham | 23 | (3) |
| 1986–1988 | Millwall | 63 | (6) |
| 1988 | → Cambridge United (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1989 | → Blackburn Rovers (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1989–1991 | Plymouth Argyle | 59 | (2) |
| 1990 | → Bristol Rovers (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | Watford | 17 | (2) |
| 1991 | → Reading (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| 1992 | → Fulham (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 1992–1993 | Shamrock Rovers (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1992–1993 | St Johnstone | 12 | (0) |
| 1993–1995 | Partick Thistle | 35 | (0) |
| 1994 | → Walsall (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1994–1995 | St Mirren | 6 | (0) |
| 1995 | Tottenham Hotspur (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 1995 | Ayr United | 10 | (0) |
| 1995–1997 | Albion Rovers | 46 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| Plymouth Argyle (youth team) | |||
| 2006–2007 | Swindon Town (youth) | ||
| 2007–2008 | Swindon Town (caretaker) | ||
| 2008–2009 | Swindon Town (assistant) | ||
| 2008 | Swindon Town (caretaker) | ||
| 2015–2016 | Yeovil Town (youth) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
editByrne began his career in non-league football, before moving to Gillingham in July 1985.[3][4] He moved to Millwall on 4 August 1986 for a fee of £5,000. He joined Cambridge United on loan on 8 September 1988 and Blackburn Rovers on loan on 23 February 1989. On 16 March 1989, he joined Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer. He later played for Bristol Rovers, Watford and went on loan to Reading and Fulham.
Byrne joined Shamrock Rovers in January 1993 also on loan from Watford but only made four league appearances. After returning to Watford he joined Scottish side St Johnstone and Partick Thistle. He joined Walsall on loan in February 1994 and after leaving Partick played for St Mirren, Ayr United and Albion Rovers where he was player-coach in 1996. He also had a brief loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur in 1995, featuring in their makeshift squad for the Intertoto Cup.[5]
Coaching career
editByrne later coached the Plymouth Argyle youth team and was appointed as Director of Football at Plymouth College of Further Education.
In November 2006 Byrne was assisting Ian Atkins on a non-contract basis at Torquay United. On 28 November 2006, he left his post at PCFE when he was named as the new Youth Team Manager at Swindon Town working under former Plymouth Argyle boss Paul Sturrock.[6] After Sturrock left Swindon to take the role of managing his previous club, Plymouth, Byrne took temporary charge of Swindon. When Maurice Malpas became manager, Byrne became his assistant. Byrne again became Caretaker manager of Swindon following the departure of manager Maurice Malpas, on 14 November 2008.[7] Following the news that Danny Wilson was confirmed as the new manager of Swindon Town, on 26 December 2008, Byrne again reverted to being assistant manager. On 16 June 2009, he was appointed Head of Player Development at Swindon Town. He left that post in August 2010.[8]
With the restarting of Yeovil Town's academy, in July 2015, Byrne was appointed as the new head of coaching and under 18's manager.[9] He left his role in May 2016.[10]
Byrne joined Dundee United as head of recruitment in March 2019. Since then he has left Tannadice with Dundee United in April 2024 appointing former Southampton's Michael Cairney as Byrne old role.[11]
References
edit- ^ "David Byrne". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
- ^ "Watford Football Club archive 1881–2017 » Players – Burgess to Chung" (PDF). p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "Hayes & Yeading United FC: The Official Website". www.hyufc.com. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ Shaw, Phil (26 June 1995). "No picnic for English clubs by the sea". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
- ^ "Swindon name Byrne as youth coach". 28 November 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2018 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Swindon part company with Malpas". 14 November 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2018 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "David Byrne leaves Swindon Town FC". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ "David Byrne joins academy set up". Yeovil Town F.C. 10 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ^ "Yeovil Town looking for new academy coach after departure of ex-Swindon Town boss Dave Byrne". Western Gazette. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Rae, Steven (29 March 2019). "Dundee United appoint three new coaches". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
External links
edit- David Byrne at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database