Cliff Byrne - 6
Defender
Born 26/4/1982 Dublin
Defender
Born 26/4/1982 Dublin
His loan deal was so impressive that at the end of Cliff's third month on loan, Iron boss Brian Laws persuaded chairman Steve Wharton to offer Sunderland £60,000 to let the Irishman sign full time for the Iron.
The then Sunderland manager Howard Wilkinson agreed but Byrne, heading to the end of his contract with the soon to be relegated Black Cats felt he owed it to himself to have one last crack at the first team at the Stadium of Light.
Iron boss Brian Laws made it clear that a deal for Byrne wasn't yet dead though and revealed in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't be surprised to be working with Byrne again in the near future.
Wilkinson was sacked soon afterwards and Yorkshireman Mick McCarthy who had just left his post as manager of Byrne's home nation the Republic of Ireland was appointed as the new gaffer.
McCarthy decided not to offer Byrne a new contract at Sunderland in the summer and so Byrne was free to talk to other clubs. Both Coventry and Hartlepool were keen to sign the 21year-old but it was the Iron who triumphed in the race to get Cliff's signature.
Byrne is an extremely promising young player with an exciting pedigree behind him, he had trials at Scottish giants Celtic as well as Blackburn Rovers and Hearts before deciding to join then established Premiership club Sunderland in 1997.
At the Stadium of Light he captained the Mackem's U17, U18 and U19 teams as well as captaining the Republic of Ireland at U15, U16, U17 and U18s levels.
While at U15 level, young Byrne received the prestigious FAI Player of the Year award.
At Under-16 level, Cliff skippered Eire to victory in the Nordic Cup beating England 3-2 in the final where he scored the winning goal.
He has since become a regular at U-21 level and was called up to the Republic's full squad for their qualifiers against Georgia and Albania where despite not playing in either game for the full team he was delighted to be involved and in the managers thoughts.
Ex-Sunderland and Republic of Ireland striker Niall Quinn said in his recently published autobiography: "If I was the manager of a Premiership side, I'd buy Cliff Byrne and build a team around him for the next ten years". Impressive stuff.
Cliff mainly partnered Mark Jackson and Andy Butler during the 2003/04 season, and as the Iron began to struggle for form, so did Cliff. But he stuck in there and enjoyed a fruitful next campaign, as his confidence was restored.
2004/05 saw Cliff thrust into an unfamiliar right-back slot following an injury to Nathan Stanton, but as the season went on the young Irishman grew in stature and towards the end of the season looked very solid in the role.
He made 28 starts last season and will be looking to build on an excellent end to 2004/05, in League One.
The then Sunderland manager Howard Wilkinson agreed but Byrne, heading to the end of his contract with the soon to be relegated Black Cats felt he owed it to himself to have one last crack at the first team at the Stadium of Light.
Iron boss Brian Laws made it clear that a deal for Byrne wasn't yet dead though and revealed in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't be surprised to be working with Byrne again in the near future.
Wilkinson was sacked soon afterwards and Yorkshireman Mick McCarthy who had just left his post as manager of Byrne's home nation the Republic of Ireland was appointed as the new gaffer.
McCarthy decided not to offer Byrne a new contract at Sunderland in the summer and so Byrne was free to talk to other clubs. Both Coventry and Hartlepool were keen to sign the 21year-old but it was the Iron who triumphed in the race to get Cliff's signature.
Byrne is an extremely promising young player with an exciting pedigree behind him, he had trials at Scottish giants Celtic as well as Blackburn Rovers and Hearts before deciding to join then established Premiership club Sunderland in 1997.
At the Stadium of Light he captained the Mackem's U17, U18 and U19 teams as well as captaining the Republic of Ireland at U15, U16, U17 and U18s levels.
At Under-16 level, Cliff skippered Eire to victory in the Nordic Cup beating England 3-2 in the final where he scored the winning goal.
He has since become a regular at U-21 level and was called up to the Republic's full squad for their qualifiers against Georgia and Albania where despite not playing in either game for the full team he was delighted to be involved and in the managers thoughts.
Ex-Sunderland and Republic of Ireland striker Niall Quinn said in his recently published autobiography: "If I was the manager of a Premiership side, I'd buy Cliff Byrne and build a team around him for the next ten years". Impressive stuff.
Cliff mainly partnered Mark Jackson and Andy Butler during the 2003/04 season, and as the Iron began to struggle for form, so did Cliff. But he stuck in there and enjoyed a fruitful next campaign, as his confidence was restored.
2004/05 saw Cliff thrust into an unfamiliar right-back slot following an injury to Nathan Stanton, but as the season went on the young Irishman grew in stature and towards the end of the season looked very solid in the role.
He made 28 starts last season and will be looking to build on an excellent end to 2004/05, in League One.