Terry Byrne

NSL Career: Canberra City 185 (43) / 1978 - 1986

Strongly built and good on the ball, Terry Byrne was one of Canberra City's greatest servants and showed great versatility by playing up front and becoming the club's all-time scorer in the NSL as well as providing an aerial threat when playing in his natural sweeper position. 

Born and bred in Manchester, Byrne left school to join English Third Division side Preston North End at the age of 17. Byrne spent two seasons as a regular with the club's reserve side in the Central League, but was unable to break in to the first team before moving to Australia to join Preston team mate Ian Heywood at Canberra City.

Byrne had started his career as a sweeper and midfielder but was converted to striker at Canberra where his "flip-flop" dribbling style saw him become an attacking threat. Byrne scored in his second league appearance for the club before finishing the season as their top scorer along with experienced Yugoslavian attacking midfielder Ivan Grujičić.

Failing to improve on their poor debut Phillips Soccer League season, Canberra again finished second-to-last in the 1978 season but managed to reach the NSL Cup Semi-Finals after Byrne scored in Canberra's round two win over Victorian State League side George Cross.

A lack of consistency struck Canberra again during the 1979 season as Johnny Warren's assistant Vic Fernández took the reigns. Byrne however was a standout in the side, scoring a brace in both the second round and quarter-finals of the NSL Cup before scoring in five consecutive league games (rounds 13-17). 

Canberra lost their NSL Cup Semi-Final match to Adelaide City before finishing a lowly 12th in the league as Byrne was the club's top scorer for a second time. The 1980 season saw Byrne joined in attack by former Socceroo Seb Giampaolo and NSW State League star Walter Valeri. 

Byrne outscored his native Canberra attacking counterparts to finish as club top scorer for the third consecutive season, but was unable to help the side achieve success. In the 1981 season, Byrne was given the captaincy by new coach George Murray and became part of the Canberra defence as their sweeper.

In his new role, Byrne took his game to another level - becoming one of the league's best players and helped Canberra achieve their best finish to a NSL season (fifth). Canberra failed to capitalise on their improved 1981 season, finishing the 1982 season second-to-last and narrowly missed out on reaching their first NSL Cup Final, losing three-one to Heidelberg in the semi-finals.

Byrne continued to show his goal scoring prowess, coming out of defence to join Canberra's attacking forays and provide an aerial threat from set pieces. During the 1983 off-season, Byrne joined Hong Kong First Division side Tung Sing, helping them avoid relegation before returning to Canberra. 

Byrne had another strong season as sweeper during the 1983 NSL season but rejected a contract renewal before suffering an ACL injury during the 1984 pre-season. After returning from injury late in 1984 season to represent Canberra's reserve team as player-coach, Byrne returned to the first team for the 1985 season and became a regular in the side. As injuries took their toll, Byrne made just 10 league appearances for Canberra during the 1986 season as the club were relegated to the NSW Division One. Following the 1986 season, Byrne retired from the NSL at the age of 27.