Here was a young player at the peak of his talents. In his biography of Byrne, 'Burn Budgie Byrne - Football Inferno', Brian Belton writes: “His gifts were rare and real and it is likely that no better player has worn the claret and blue of Crystal Palace.”
Byrne's sustained success in the red and blue prompted a full England call-up by manager Walter Winterbottom in November 1961, with the inside-left playing the whole of a 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland – one of only five post-war players to feature for England despite playing outside the top two divisions.
Other clubs soon came calling, however, with Byrne moving to West Ham in early 1962 for a reported £65,000 and forward Ron Brett – then a record British transfer fee for a Third Division player – following protracted negotiations with Hammers’ boss Ron Greenwood, who described him as “the English Di Stefano.”
In east London for five years, Byrne would win the FA Cup (scoring the winning goal in 1964) and European Cup Winners’ Cup (in 1965) and – on an individual basis – even once beat out the late, great Bobby Moore to the club’s Player of the Year award.
Byrne’s form for West Ham would sadly begin to tail as injuries took hold and Sir Geoff Hurst grew in prominence, and despite his outstanding talent, the forward would win just 11 caps for his country, narrowly missing out on a place in England’s 1966 FIFA World Cup-winning squad.
And so to 15th February, 1967, when a plan to return to Palace for a fee of £45,000 was sealed. His first appearance was in a Friendly at Selhurst Park the following evening.
With the Glaziers in the Second Division at this point, Byrne would score six times further in the subsequent two seasons, taking his total in red and blue to 101 goals in 259 appearances.
After just over a year further with Palace, Byrne moved to Fulham for a further season in west London - coincidentally transferred as the two sides travelled back to the capital on a train from Manchester.
He went on to sign for Durban City in South Africa, where he would conclude his playing career before moving into management.
Byrne tragically passed away in 1999 at the tender age of 60, but memories still abound of the young, local, genial talent who excelled for clubs across the capital, and indeed for England, on a variety of stages.
It was Byrne’s destiny to do so, after all.