| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 16 July 1953, Bendigo |
| Recruited from | Golden Square |
| Height and weight | 182cm / 80 kg |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | 1973, Carlton v. North Melbourne, at Princes Park |
| Team(s) |
Carlton (1973-78)
Collingwood (1978-83)
Geelong (1984)
Total - 222 Games, 23 Goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 1984 season | |
| Career highlights | |
|
RT Rush Trophy 1980 - Collingwood R/up B&F Best First Year Player 1973 - Carlton Victorian Representative 1980 |
|
Ray Byrne (born 16 July 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton, Collingwood and Geelong during his eleven year career in the VFL. Ray Byrne will be remembered as one of the most unfortunate players in the history of VFL/AFL football. A talented and courageous defender, he turned out for two clubs in four Grand Finals - only to be on the losing side in each one of them.
In 1972, Byrne was recruited at the age of 20 from Golden Square, in Carlton's rich Bendigo League zone. He was given guernsey 26 and soon proved to be a popular clubman and a skilful, brave half-back. At 182 cm and 80 kg, he was equally at home on the last line of defence, where he played in Carlton's 1973 Grand Final loss to Richmond. Carlton went down by 30 points, but Byrne's opponent that day; Noel Carter, was hardly sighted. His first was an impressive one that saw him clock up 16 games and at one stage, because of a dispute, returned to Bendigo where he played three games before returning to Princes Park.
In 1978, there was a lot of upheaval at Carlton with coach Ian Stewart resigning because of poor health and then Serge Silvagni and later Alex Jesaulenko becoming the senior coach. It was around the time that the Blues offloaded good mate Robert Walls that Byrne decided that he wanted out. As he put it "I didn't like the scene at the time and up until the Wednesday before clearances closed they weren't going to let me go and then at the last minute the Blues got a deal they wanted. Carlton then gave permission for me to go to Collingwood on the proviso that they got a form four". (from four was what was used to draft players with). Byrne wasn't keen to go to Collingwood and actually was hanging out to go to Melbourne, but at the last minute he was off to Victoria Park. Incidentally, the Blues recruited Robbert Klomp with the form four they received in exchange from the Magpies.
So, after 81 games and 13 goals for the Blues in the years 1973 to '78, he was lured to Collingwood, where he quickly established himself in their lineup. He went on to play 121 games and boot 10 goals in black and white, including three consecutive losing Grand Finals - to Carlton in 1979, Richmond in 1980 and Carlton again in '81. Byrne can remember his first night at the club especially well as he wore a Carlton jumper and as he put it "I got a few dirty looks".
In round 19 of the '83 season, Collingwood met Richmond at the MCG. It was Richmond champion Kevin Bartlett's 400th AFL/VFL game. His opponent that day was Ray Byrne. As the teams lined up for the first bounce, Byrne reached down to his sock and presented the balding Tiger star with a toothless comb! Bartlett was amused, but not distracted, although Collingwood won convincingly. In 1984, Byrne was cleared to Geelong where, at 32, he played another 17 games before calling it quits after an impressive career.