Emma Byrne
Byrne in 2014
Personal information
Full name Emma Anne Byrne[1]
Date of birth (1979-06-14) 14 June 1979
Place of birth Leixlip, Ireland
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Leixlip United[3]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
St Patrick's Athletic Ladies
1999 Fortuna Hjørring
2000–2016 Arsenal Ladies 459 (0)
2017 Brighton & Hove Albion Women 9 (0)
International career
1996–2017 Republic of Ireland 134 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Emma Anne Byrne (born 14 June 1979) is an Irish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. She played for the Republic of Ireland on a record 134 occasions and served as captain of the team. She spent almost 17 years with Arsenal before joining Brighton & Hove Albion in January 2017.

Club career

Byrne started playing as a schoolgirl for Leixlip United before moving to as a goalkeeper to St Patrick's Athletic in the Dublin Women's Soccer League and then agreed to join professional Danish Elitedivisionen club Fortuna Hjørring after completing her schooling. After spending one year in Denmark, Bryne returned to Ireland because she was homesick and took a job as a secretary with the Health Board.[4]

When Arsenal Ladies' goalkeeper Lesley Higgs was injured, the club's Irish midfielder Ciara Grant alerted Arsenal manager Vic Akers to her friend Byrne's availability. Byrne joined Arsenal in January 2000 and quickly became their first choice goalkeeper. She won a domestic treble in her first full season with Arsenal, saving a penalty in the 2001 FA Women's Cup final win over Fulham,[5] and was voted club Players' Player of the Year in 2003 and 2005.

In 2006-07, Byrne was part of the Arsenal squad which won every single League game as well as the quadruple.[2] She also became a European champion with Arsenal in April 2007, when they beat Umeå IK in the 2007 UEFA Women's Cup Final 1–0 on aggregate, a tie in which she made numerous vital saves in the home and away games.[6][7][8] In 2008 she rejected an offer to join American Women's Professional Soccer franchise Boston Breakers, who failed to match her salary expectations.[9]

Byrne was given a free transfer by Arsenal in December 2016 on the expiry of her contract, after being supplanted in the team by Sari van Veenendaal.[10] With Arsenal, Byrne won eleven league titles, ten FA Women's Cups, five FA Women's Premier League Cups, two FA Women's League Cups and the UEFA Women's Champions League once. She holds the record number of appearances for Arsenal with 459.[11]

She agreed to join FA WSL 2 club Brighton & Hove Albion Women for the FA WSL Spring Series. On 4 August 2017, 38-year-old Byrne announced her retirement from football on Twitter.[12]

In August 2019 it was announced that Byrne had come out of retirement to join Spanish club Terrassa FC.[13][14]

International career

Byrne began her international career with Ireland's youth teams at the age of 14.[15] She made her first appearance for the Republic of Ireland national team on 31 March 1996 against Belgium.

Byrne played in multiple World Cup and Euro qualifying campaigns, but Ireland did not qualify for any tournaments during her tenure. She won her 100th cap against Croatia on 26 September 2013.[16]

Following the retirement of Ciara Grant, coach Sue Ronan named Byrne the team captain in March 2013.[17]

In April 2017 a player revolt led by Byrne secured substantially improved working conditions for Ireland's female national team players.[18] With eleven other players, Byrne aired grievances about the team's treatment and threatened to go on strike. She played her final game for Ireland against Wales in June 2017[19] and retired in August of that year.[20]

Byrne is the most capped player for Ireland with 134 senior caps over 21 years.[15][20]

Coaching career

At Arsenal, Byrne also worked for the club doing administrative work and coaching young goalkeepers while doing her coaching badges.[9] She has also served as a coach-educator, helping to educate coaches for the FA around England.[4]

Byrne was named to Ireland interim manager Eileen Gleeson's coaching team in September 2023.[21]

Personal life

Byrne after the 2007 FA Women's Cup final

Bryne grew up in Leixlip, County Kildare, and attended secondary school at Coláiste Chiaráin.

She previously worked in the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) ticket office[3] and was later employed as a coach in Arsenal's academy.[2] She married former professional footballer Marcus Bignot in June 2013.[22] In June 2023, she married her old Arsenal teammate Vicky Losada of Spain.[23]

Byrne has served as an ambassador for Nike's Here I Am campaign.[2][24] She also did a three-year degree in sports journalism and broadcasting at Staffordshire University.[4]

Byrne became the first women's player inducted into the FAI Hall of Fame in 2018.[25] She was awarded for her service to the women's game and for her playing career for Arsenal and Ireland.[26][27]

Honours

Arsenal[28][29][30][31]

Individual

  • Arsenal Ladies Player of the Year: 2003 & 2005[32]
  • Eircom International Player of the Year: 2008[33]
  • FAI Senior Women's International Player of the Year: 2007,[34] 2012[35]
  • PFA Ireland Merit Award: 2017[36]
  • FAI Hall of Fame: 2018[26]

Records

  • Record appearances holder for Ireland.[15]
  • Record appearances holder for Arsenal.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Emma Anne Byrne". FIFA. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Paul Croughton (28 October 2008). "Emma Byrne: C'mon, take your best shot, boys". The Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Emma Byrne Interview". NI Goalkeeping. Archived from the original on 7 August 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Nolan, Larissa (29 December 2013). "This is what I do". The Times. Archived from the original (Paywall subscription) on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "Fulham fail to dethrone Arsenal". BBC Sport. 7 May 2001. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "UEFA Women's Champions League 2006/07 - Spirited Arsenal outgun rivals". UEFA. 2007.
  7. ↑ Woloszyn, Paul (30 April 2007). "Byrne basks in Arsenal's glory". UEFA. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Hannigan, Mary (9 May 2007). "Byrne to the fore as Arsenal complete quadruple". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  9. 1 2 Malone, Emmet (20 May 2009). "Arsenal goalkeeper is settled and thriving". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 23 April 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Arsenal Ladies: Rachel Yankey and Emma Byrne released". BBC Sport. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  11. 1 2 "McCabe: "We want to win things our way"". Arsenal. 29 September 2023. Archived from the original on 1 October 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Ireland goalkeeper Emma Byrne retires". RTÉ Sport. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "El Terrassa FC fitxa l'exportera de l'Arsenal Ladies FC Emma Byrne" (in Catalan). Terrassa FC. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  14. ↑ "Emma Byrne comes out of retirement to join Terrassa". RTÉ Sport. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  15. 1 2 3 "Emma Byrne to be become the first female player inducted into the FAI Hall of Fame". Irish Independent. 11 March 2019. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  16. ↑ "Emma Byrne set to join Ireland 100 club in qualifier against Croatia". RTÉ Sport. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "Emma Byrne appointed Senior Women's Team captain". Football Association of Ireland. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "Ireland captain Emma Byrne hails 'victory' after players and FAI come to agreement". The Irish Independent. Independent News and Media. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "REPORT: WNT 1-0 Wales - Ireland top Group C". FAI. 5 March 2017. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  20. 1 2 "'One of Irish football's great servants' - Emma Byrne retires from Irish duty". The Irish Times. 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Emma Byrne: Record cap ex-keeper named in Republic of Ireland interim coaching team". BBC Sport. 13 September 2023. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  22. ↑ "Arsenal's Emma nets herself a husband". The Irish Independent. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  23. ↑ "Vicky Losada es casa amb Emma Byrne" – via www.youtube.com.
  24. ↑ Sweney, Mark (8 September 2008). "Maria Sharapova stars in animated 'Here I Am' Nike advert". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  25. ↑ "Hall of Fame". FAI. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  26. 1 2 "Emma Byrne to become first female inductee into Republic of Ireland Hall of Fame". BBC Sport. 11 March 2019. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  27. ↑ Malone, Emmet (11 March 2019). "Emma Byrne to make history with Hall of Fame entry". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "Emma Byrne". Soccerway. Perform Group.
  29. ↑ Mary Hannigan (9 May 2007). "Byrne to the fore as Arsenal complete quadruple". The Irish Times.
  30. ↑ "Emma Byrne leaves Arsenal Ladies". Arsenal F.C. 30 December 2016.
  31. ↑ "Albion Sign Arsenal Legend". Brighton and Hove Albion FC. 21 January 2017. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  32. ↑ "Sixty seconds with Emma Byrne". The Irish Times. 11 May 2009.
  33. ↑ Barbara Harding (13 March 2008). "In the net: Emma Byrne". The Irish Independent. Independent News and Media.
  34. ↑ "18th International Soccer Awards Ceremony". Republic of Ireland Soccer Supporters Club. 3 February 2008. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  35. ↑ "Andrews is named FAI Player of the Year". RTÉ Sport. 3 February 2013.
  36. ↑ PFA Ireland (18 November 2017). "Congratulations to Emma Byrne". @PFAIOfficial – via Twitter.
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