Byrne in mood for giant killing

NORTHAMPTON taking on the might of Manchester United, as it will undoubtedly be termed, Conference side Scarborough to examine Chelsea and their patchy form.

There are even juicy all-Premiership clashes like Liverpool and Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Arsenal. A couple of seasons ago, they were sounding death knells for the FA Cup. This season, the competition has been re-vitalised by a shock or two and a favourable fourth round draw.

It promises to be a good weekend of football. Scunthorpe are preparing for a long trip to the south coast of England. The club that fostered the germinating talents of Ray Clemence and Kevin Keegan, have been handed a pass into the bubble of the Premiership with a match against Portsmouth.

They are quietly confident in Iron Park. Cliff Byrne uses the example of Tranmere in the last round when he talks of this afternoon’s game.

“Bolton had one eye on the Premiership, and Tranmere took advantage. We can do the same, maybe take it back here for a replay. Portsmouth’s priority is Premiership survival.”

You might recognise the name. Cliff Byrne, or Clifford as he was known then, has captained every Irish underage team from U15 to U21. Much of that time was spent with Sunderland, where he impressed, amongst others, Niall Quinn.

“I think his presence alone guarantees Cliff a future in the game. I have only seen one other player display leadership qualities that young and that was Tony Adams,” Quinn said.

That was a quote from five years ago, when Byrne was 16 and the brightest thing at the Sunderland academy. These days, it is harder to track the progress of Byrne. Two loan spells at Scunthorpe finally culminated in a full transfer this summer. And despite only being 21, he has been made captain by manager Brian Laws in the absence through injury of club captain Mark Jackson, who broke his ankle recently.

Byrne has obviously maintained the streak of leadership that impressed Quinn so much. Other things haven’t gone to plan, however. While his eyes light up at the challenge of Teddy Sheringham this weekend, there was a time Byrne thought he would be

playing Sheringham and his ilk every week.

Born in Finglas, Byrne graduated from Tolka Rovers to Home Farm before he joined Sunderland as a 15- year-old apprentice. He was influential in the youth sides, but his career hit a road-block when the time came to graduate from reserve-team football.

“I spent five years with Sunderland and never played a first-team game. That was disappointing, I thought I was doing well enough but I never got the chance to prove it. That was the thing when Scunthorpe stepped in for me, I just needed regular first-team football, regardless of where it was.”

Scunthorpe has been good for Byrne, and the centre-half has repaid the club’s faith with some excellent performances. While this weekend is a welcome distraction, promotion

remains the target for Byrne.

Although, they recently embarked on a 14-game unbeaten run, during which Byrne starred, Scunthorpe remain stuck in Third Division mid- table. “We have to strive to get up to the play-off places, that is our goal. A good performance against Portsmouth will boost confidence. The team have suffered recently because of injuries and it was kind of reflected in our results. Beating Barnsley in the replay [in the last round] has definitely had an effect on the team.

“The cup can galvanise teams in the second and third divisions, a good performance against a top side really does wonders for confidence. People might be writing us off, but we are not going to Portsmouth resigned to being beaten.”

The cup is also a stage where Byrne can display his wares. His last few months at Sunderland unravelled despairingly. It wasn’t a good time to be a youngster at the club. When things were peachy for the Mackems a few seasons ago, clubs looked at the Sunderland conveyor belt with a certain amount of envy.

And then, things went badly wrong. It reached its nadir last season with relegation. Byrne always had a great relationship with Peter Reid. When he left the club, he already saw the writing on the wall.

“Peter was great to me, and a couple of weeks before everything happened, I was in his office, discussing the terms and conditions of a new contract. I was going to sign. When Peter left, I didn’t hear anything about the contract.”

Instead, he was loaned out to Scunthorpe as Howard Wilkinson tried to put back together Sunderland’s Humpty Dumpty season. After Mick McCarthy was unveiled as the new manager in March, Byrne thought he might look favourably on a young Irish defender. But McCarthy had a squad that the board demanded the squad be culled. Players had to go and Byrne was one of them.

“I was sad leaving Sunderland, I spent five years there and enjoyed my time there. But, there comes a stage in your career when you have to decide what is best for you, even if it means dropping a couple of divisions, just to get back on track.”

He was a star for the youth team, as were other Irish lads like Shane Harte, Brendan McGill and Thomas Butler. Harte has since returned to Ireland while McGill is plying his trade with Carlisle. Only Butler remains in the north-east, on the first team fringes. of the first team.

Portsmouth today presents an opportunity for Byrne. A chance for family and friends back home to see him on television. Byrne is one of the invisible Irish players across the channel. Third Division football is not the most enticing televisual prospect.

And it is also a chance to test himself against Premiership quality. “I am really looking forward to playing against Teddy Sheringham, he has been consistently one of the best strikers in the game for over a decade. That is why we play the game. And he is still banging them in, age doesn’t seem to matter to him.”

There was a time when Byrne was staying at Jim and Karen Mordey’s lodgings in Sunderland, when he and Brendan McGill would talk of the Premiership and the big time. Two ligament injuries in his teens didn’t affect his dreams. Byrne still has plenty of time to realise those dreams and to continue his Irish career.

“I have played at every level up to under-21, I am now overage for that because we didn’t qualify for the European Championships, so the next step for me is the senior side,” he says with a smile.

“Or if there is a B international organised soon. You have to be hopeful.”

Particularly in a week like this, with some in the Premiership in a state over the threat of a giant-killing.