True leader

Cliff Byrne: popular

CLIFF Byrne could be heading back to Scunthorpe next season — despite Athletic confirming their hope of hanging on to him.

The 31 year old spent nine years with the Iron, where at one stage he won three promotions in five seasons. Byrne still lives with his family in the area.

And though the Dubliner is under contract at Boundary Park for another season, manager Lee Johnson may end up losing him to a club which holds strong emotional ties.

It would be a reluctant parting of the ways for Johnson, who has spoken warmly of Byrne’s positive impact on the coaching side during his absence from the pitch through injury.

But the pull of trying to haul Scunthorpe back out of npower League Two might be too much for Byrne to resist — and if a suitable deal can be arranged, he would depart with the Athletic boss’s blessing.

“Contact has been made and Scunthorpe have expressed a desire to bring Cliff in,” said Johnson. “At the moment, the situation is no clearer. I would like to keep him here. We get on great and though I haven’t seen the best of him football-wise due to injury, he has been excellent behind the scenes.

“I know he will end up being a manager one day. He is a real, true leader of the sort very hard to come by.”

Scunthorpe boss Laws makes no secret of his admiration for Byrne: “The one thing that would be a stumbling block is that he’s got that extra year at Oldham,” Laws said. “He’s the type of player I would like to have back at the club — there’s no question about that. I think it was a huge mistake to let him go.”


ATHLETIC striker Matt Smith has won the npower League One player of the month award for April.
In his five games during the month, 23-year-old hit-man Smith scored three crucial goals - against Bury, Yeovil and Crawley - as Athletic successfully staved off relegation.

Smith beat strong competition from promoted Bournemouth’s Harry Arter and Leyton Orient’s Roman Vincelot.