On this day in 1991, Republic of Ireland international striker John Byrne made his debut for Sunderland. The ‘92 FA Cup hero would play 33 games for the club, but his first appearance for SAFC came against Bristol Rovers in a 1-1 draw for Denis Smith’s side at Roker Park.
John Byrne’s first goal however would not come until the next league game, where we would play against Watford and the ‘Irish Manc’ would slot two past the Watford defence for a resounding 3-1 victory.
Byrne’s transfer to Sunderland came in the way of his relationship with manager Denis Smith. This was because Smith had signed John as a youngster when he began his career at York City.
Also, this wouldn't be the first time that Smith tried to sign the fair-haired forward for the Black Cats. There was a previous attempt while Byrne was at French club Le Havre, but they were not willing to sell at the time.
Sunderland fans will mostly remember John Byrne for his run in the 1992 FA Cup where he scored in every round of the FA Cup, except for the final against Liverpool where we were defeated at the old Wembley 2-0. Ian Rush and Michael Thomas scored of course, to win the cup for Liverpool.
During that run SAFC caused an upset against Chelsea in the quarter-final, winning 3-2 over the two legs and beating Norwich City in the semi-final 1-0 to make it to Wembley.
But John Byrne would only serve Sunderland for one season as he would leave for Millwall. After a few more transfers, Byrne would officially retire in 2001 and is now a musculoskeletal podiatrist with the NHS strangely enough.
Such was his impact during his one season on Wearside, the 1992 away kit is affectionately known by fans as the ‘Byrne’ kit. ALS even have ‘Byrne Socks’, which are available on our online store and are the perfect gift for any SAFC-mad relatives!
