TIMING IS WHAT matters.
When Jack Byrne first returned to these shores to sign for Shamrock Rovers in December 2018 his ambitions were simple.
“I needed to lose weight,” he tells The42 over a coffee. “I had put on four or five kilos and I wasn’t happy. Not just with football but life. I needed to give myself the kick to get going with life again.
“And with football it felt like my last chance, sink or swim, because if I didn’t do it then I was looking like I would need to paint houses for the next 20 years. But I’m proud of how I was able to knuckle down because I learned a lot about myself, and who I really was.”
He became a senior Republic of Ireland international before the end of 2019. Mick McCarthy gave Byrne his debut against Bulgaria in the September, contributing with an assist off the bench.
The Dubliner was getting back in business, helping Rovers win the FAI Cup and being recognised by his peers as the PFA Ireland player of the year.
He was 24 and everything was falling into place.
The 2020 campaign began, and Byrne’s fine form continued. Then the Covid-19 pandemic turned the world upside down.
A truncated 18-game Premier Division season saw Byrne help Rovers win their first tile in almost a decade without tasting defeat.
The Hoops did, however, lose the FAI Cup final to Dundalk, although he was again awarded player of the year by those he came up against.
The time was right to kick on.
McCarthy was the new manager at Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus and pin-pointed Byrne’s creativity to help their push to qualify for Europe.
The move made sense.
On 4 January of this year the deal was announced.
Two days later Byrne made his debut with a five-minute cameo as a substitute. Apoel lost 2-1 to Doxa Katokopia, their fourth defeat on the bounce, and McCarthy was sacked the following morning, just two months into his reign.
I was called up to the office by the president the next day and told I was still in their plans and the club wanted me. I was thinking ‘just as well, I’d signed a two and a half year deal’. So things continued on.”
And they quickly began to unravel.
Apoel continued to lose and, with Europe out of the question, it was decided to operate on a back problem that had been flagged prior to the medical.
Byrne was one of 17 new arrivals in less than a year and, bit by bit, they all experienced wages being withheld for months at a time.
“Then we’d get called up to the office and get a cheque for a few quid,” Byrne shrugs.
“All this time now I’m thinking ‘how do I get out of it?’ My agent couldn’t get over to discuss it properly because of Covid. We had to approach it the right way and not go all guns blazing cause then things could turn and nasty and I might end up sitting there for two years not playing and not getting paid every few months.
“I would be in with the physios and they were telling me how this happens with players all he time, players don’t get paid and are forced out.
“You hear stories about mad stuff happening and you don’t really believe half of it but when the shoe is on the other foot it’s like ‘actually, I can well believe it.”’
A deal was struck with the club to sever ties and leave at the end of September – just five games and barely nine months into a new life.
The timing wasn’t ideal as the summer transfer window had passed, meaning Byrne was in limbo. He spent a couple of months in Manchester working on his fitness and assessing options.
There were opportunities in England, in the United States and also enquiries made by Bohemians and Sligo Rovers.
In the end he chose a return to Rovers.
“I don’t feel as if I’m better than any League of Ireland club so why shouldn’t I give them the respect they deserve if they pick up the phone to call?” he reasons.
Of course, I will talk to them. I’m not bigger or in any way different to anyone else. If people are ringing you to get in contact they are showing respect by believing you can bring something to their club.
“Someone like Liam Buckley is an absolute gentleman and has had an unbelievable career here so why not pick up the phone to him and respect that?
“Maybe before I came home people had a different opinion of me, that I was a bad egg or a bad person in the dressing room but they don’t think that now. They know I’m not here to toss it off and act the maggot.
“And I’m glad I can come back to somewhere where I’m valued and all I have to worry about is playing football.”
It didn’t take long for him to become aware of the sneers or the whispers when Rovers did announce that he was returning to Tallaght Stadium.
“Straight away I heard people saying I was a failure for coming back. ‘Ah, you’re back, why are ye back again?’
“I don’t care. So what if I’m back. Why is that a bad thing? Why is it a bad thing to be back in a place where you can feel comfortable in yourself and enjoy playing football?
“I’m back in a place where all I have to do is focus on trying to win silverware and be successful, to win the league and do better in Europe. It’s not a bad thing to be back in a place where you know you won’t get binned by the manager if you don’t play well for five games.”
Byrne doesn’t need to sip on his coffee to get excited by this point.
“Why do I have to go and sign for St Mirren or whoever if I don’t want to? I should do it because that’s what other people want me to do? Because it might look better on a CV?
“I don’t have to do anything that I don’t want to. I don’t have to do anything for anyone else. I don’t have to chase a couple of hundred quid extra on a contract. Believe me, I know that’s where I am lucky. That’s where I’ve done well, but at end of the day you have to put work in yourself and get you get what you deserve.
“I feel like I’ve deserved what I’ve got out of the game. I didn’t feel like I need to sign for a League One club or a club in Scotland or America.
I’ve played at the likes of Oldham and Rovers are a better club, they’re run better with good football people. There are no worries on my shoulders about chasing the next move and worrying about all that.
“And I really don’t feel like I have to prove anything to anyone, or to myself. I made the decision to go to Apoel and, at the time with the whole package that was offered, everyone would have done the same in my position. No one would have refused it.
“What was the gamble going over there? The worst that could happen is pretty much how it turned out but I’m still here now, I’m still playing football and ready to win things again.”
Byrne will turn 26 in April, by which point Rovers’ quest for a three-in-a-row of league titles will be well underway.
Pre-season has already begun, the fixtures for 2022 were released earlier this week and Rovers host newly-promoted UCD on the opening night.
Before a ball has been kicked in anger, Byrne hopes his influence will be felt on the dressing room.
“I feel as if I’m more open to people now and can help them maybe, some of the younger lads, even the older one. I learned that about how I was treated when I first came back. I didn’t expect people to be so open and helpful, and actually want me to do well.
“I thought people would be happy to hit me with a stick when I was down, and I did get that with a few people, but nobody in that dressing room.
“I love Stephen Bradley, the way he sees the game. But the players that were there too and who I needed to lean on to help me be a footballer, the mentality that was required. Joey O’Brien, Ronan Finn, Alan Mannus.
“I feel as if I’m there now, what I do now is about being a footballer and as successful as I can be. I have different goals because mentally I am in a difference place.”
Times have changed.
