Stockport County Supporters Messageboard
[ Message Archive | Stockport County Supporters Messageboard ]

    Re: Scott holding Archived Message

    Posted by Yeti on 22/2/2022, 8:06 pm, in reply to "Re: Scott holding "

    Just found this extract from Roker Report

    "We are keen to trace Mr Byrne as soon as possible as we believe he has been involved in a number of high value thefts."

    I always like to start Forgotten Black Cats with a nice little quote, but quite frankly I couldn’t look past the above quote from Andy Murphy of Lancashire Police in 2013 which probably sums up Chris Byrne's football career.

    Byrne was signed from Macclesfield Town in the summer of 1997 following Sunderland's relegation from their maiden season in the Premier League. With Peter Reid knowing he had to add fire power to a side that had struggled to find the net all season beforehand, he focused his recruitment on the offensive side of the team. Thus the new ground saw the arrival of a legend to be in Kevin Phillips with added goal from threat in the shape of record signing Lee Clark.

    When Michael Gray was forced to drop back into left back position due to an injury sustained by Martin Scott in the season opener at Sheffield United, another attacking addition, Byrne, was given his chance to shine just in front of him as Steve Agnew occupied the right hand side. Running out 3-1 winners, the new boys got plenty of praise alongside fit again Niall Quinn for the manner of victory, overcoming City with two late goals. Byrne was lauded for his direct running and trickery, with many pundits claiming that Sunderland had unearthed a non-league gem.

    At just 22 years old, it seemed to be the inevitable big move his former Manager at Macclesfield Gil Prescott had expected him to make when he said he was "the best talent out of non-league in the last 15 years". Despite Reid’s team struggling badly in the opening months of the season Byrne, alongside Phillips and Craddock, were seen as the bright lights that could pull Sunderland out of the doldrums. However, as fans turned on the team during a 4-0 defeat against Reading, dubbed "nightmare at Elm Park", Byrne was one of the players who lost his place, dropping to the bench as Allan Johnston was moved from the right hand side to the left. The new look side went onto a run of 5 games with defeat, winning games against Huddersfield and Stoke on the way, but mysteriously the young talent had also started to disappear from our bench.

    By the time we hosted eventual champions Nottingham Forest, Byrne was sold to Division One rivals Stockport County, amongst rumours of homesickness. Rumours shortly after came to circulate that Mr Byrne wasn’t a little boy who simply missed his Mummy a little too much. As it would turn out, the club had decided to disperse with his services due to the fact he had been hiding a murder suspect in his hotel room, which was most likely being paid for by the club, although no charges were pressed.

    The fascinating tale of Chris Byrne didn’t stop there though - despite playing 57 games and scoring in 11 of them for Stockport County, his personal problems did not go away as he was linked to the burglary of chemists in 1999. During his years at Stockport he also gained two career threatening knee injuries & despite recovering from them both he was released in 2001, where he finishing his career at Macclesfield in 2003 after failing to overcome niggling injury problems.

    Message Thread: