This is a Crystal Palace rosette featuring former striker Johnny ‘budgie’ Byrne.
Byrne had two stints with Palace during his playing career, making a total of 239 appearances and scoring 90 goals. He also played for West Ham United and had a brief spell at Fulham FC before finally emigrating to South Africa to play for Durban City.
Byrne also made 11 appearances for the England squad, scoring 8 goals, including a hat-trick in the famous 4 – 3 win over Eusebio’s Portugal. He was a favourite to be selected for the 1962 World Cup side until an altercation with Don Howe at The Hawthorns saw him fall from favour, and also missed out on a chance to join the 1966 squad.
In 1980 he was manager at Hellenic FC in Cape Town, and made a last minute appearance during an injury crisis at the age of 41 in a match against Dynamos of Johannesburg.
Byrne died of a sudden heart attack in 1999 at the age of 60 in Cape Town.
