Nicky Byrne: Life After Football
Despite being released by Leeds United's academy as a teenager, former Ireland U18 international goalkeeper Nicky Byrne was able to go on to establish success and global fame in the pop band Westlife. Speaking to Andy Greeves, the Dubliner explains the sport remains a major passion for him though.
There is one question the thousands of academy footballers that are released by professional clubs across UK will inevitably be asking at this time of year - what's next for me?
In the summer of 1997, Irish teenager Nicholas Bernard James Adam Byrne Jr was posing that very question having been let go by Leeds United. The Irish goalkeeper had spent two years with the club and become an FA Youth Cup winner during this period. However, vying with a certain Paul Robinson, now of Blackburn Rovers, for the youth team's number one shirt, his playing opportunity lessened towards the end of his time at Elland Road before receiving the news he wouldn't be kept on as a professional.
"Paul Robinson was selected to play in the (1997 FA Youth Cup) final," recalls Byrne, thinking back to his Leeds United days. "I had been heavily involved with the route to getting to that final though, so it was a great highlight to be a part of that team. It was disappointing not to make it as a professional with them after a number of great years. I have nothing but good memories though, especially playing in the same team as some great individuals such as Alan Smith, Ian Harte, Jonathan Woodgate, Harry Kewell etc. I still keep in touch with some of the lads."
Byrne pursued a career in football for a few years after leaving Leeds, attending trials with Scarborough FC and Cambridge United before playing a number of games in the League of Ireland for the likes of Shelbourne, Cobh Ramblers and St Francis FC. However, limited playing opportunities, low wages and minimum career security meant he would end up following a different vocational path instead.
"My dad was a singer in a band, so aside from teaching me to play football, he'd allow me to get involved when he was playing gigs, setting up equipment etc," says Nicky of his late father, who sadly died of a heart attack in November 2009.
"I used to love doing the sound checking especially shouting out 'one, two, three'! When football didn't work out for me, I bought a karaoke machine. Myself and my dad did a joint karaoke gig one night, with me singing Backstreet Boys and Boyzone if memory serves correctly! We started performing fairly regularly and it developed my love and interest in music. Then the Westlife audition came up, which enabled me to make a full-time career out of music."
Formed in 1998 by X Factor mogul Simon Cowell and managed by Louis Walsh, Westlife became one of the most successful European boy bands of all time. By the time they had disbanded in 2012, the group which also included Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan and Brian McFadden (between 1998 and 2004) had sold over 50 million records worldwide and racked up 14 number-one singles in the UK (the third-highest total in UK music history).
"It was Simon (Cowell) flying into Dublin in 1998 to meet us with Louis, listening to our harmonies and then saying we could work together that was the birth of Westlife," reflects Nicky.
"Both Simon and Louis have been absolutely fantastic and as a manager, you couldn't get any better than Louis. He's a really nice guy and the first thing that you have to say about him is how much he loves music. It's a love for music that drives him far more than being rich or famous. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of music and even the most cynical rock journalists around the world would find time in his company amazing as they'd realise quite how much he knows about music genres other than pop."
Music over took football in terms of a career for Nicky who became one of the lucky ones to be released from a club as a youth player but have the talent to forge a future in another lucrative industry. That's not to say his interest in football has waned though, as those have seen him playing in various charity matches in recent years will testify.
"I'm a massive Manchester United fan," says Nicky. "My first Manchester United memory is the FA Cup Final of 1985. Norman Whiteside scored a tremendous goal, curling the ball past Neville Southall. I've since become friends with Norman on Twitter and I wind him up on there saying 'surely you didn't mean that' and 'that was a cross not a shot'!
"I first went to see Manchester United in about 1988 in a big match against Liverpool, who were THE team of the era with Bruce Grobbelaar, Ian Rush, John Barnes etc. Being at Old Trafford and in an atmosphere like that was just incredible.
When United won the first Premier League title in 1993, it meant so much to my father as he'd not seen them win the title since 1967. As a younger fan I was a bit more relaxed, but looking back it is just incredible to have seen the club's domination of English football ever since."
Getting to matches at Old Trafford whenever he can, Nicky has also had the fortune to play at the Theatre of Dreams.
"Westlife fans won't thank me for saying this, but I think occasions like playing Soccer Aid at the new Wembley Stadium in 2008, Old Trafford in 2010 and a Celtic Legends game at Celtic Park in 2011 might slightly edge my experience of playing massive concerts," he laughs. "For the Soccer Aid game for example, I represented the Rest of the World team and got changed in the Wembley dressing rooms alongside the likes of Japp Stam, Paolo Di Canio, Romario and Luis Figo.
"I played at the base of a diamond midfield with Luis Figo to my right, Paolo Di Canio to my left and Romario at the top of it. I can remember Kenny Dalglish (the Rest of the World's manager) saying to me, there's not a footballer in the world who wouldn't want to be part of that midfield! On top of that I had Japp Stam behind me in defence. Gordon Ramsey was the captain that evening, but he got injured early on and passed me the armband. I couldn't believe I was captain in this team at Wembley Stadium, playing in front of a massive crowd and live on TV. It was unbelievable.
"I played at Old Trafford in 2010 and again, the Rest of the World team was incredible with Zinedine Zidane and Ryan Giggs in it. My abiding memory of that day was playing a one-two with Zidane, carrying the ball into the penalty area at the Stretford End and being brought down by Robbie (Williams) for a penalty. I stepped up, already planning my celebration in my mind, only to slip and for David Seaman to save my kick. In the same match, I missed a spot kick to top it all off but we won so it didn't matter! It was such, such fun."
Football will always serve as a means of Nicky remembering his late father Nikki Byrne Sr, who used to go to United games with Nicky and also watch him play as a youngster. Speaking to Soccerphile on the eve of Fathers' Day, fronting a campaign by the Royal Mail to help people remember this special parenting day, the former Westlife singer recalls the footballing connection with his father.
"Dad and I shared a big interest in football and from a very early age, about four or five, we started kicking a ball around together, with me usually in goal," says Nicky. "When I started playing football as a schoolboy, he'd always be there on the side lines shouting encouragement and when I signed to Leeds United's academy for three years, he would make an effort to travel over from Ireland to watch me play.
"There's never a day that goes by without me thinking of my dad. Ahead of Fathers' Day I it's important that everyone celebrates Fathers' Day as it is great to show your dad how much he means to you. As a father myself and also someone who misses my own father is that people will remember the day more often and give it the same importance as Mothers' Day."
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