Davy Byrne Reveals How A Game Of Five-A-Side Ended His Season With Dublin
Dublin defender David Byrne has revealed he played through a damaged cruciate ligament for almost 18 months, helping Dublin win the 2023 All-Ireland title, before a casual five-a-side game in Australia finally ended his incredible run.
The eight-time All-Ireland winner delayed surgery in 2022, opting to soldier on in the hope of another big season. It paid off, Byrne started nearly every game during Dublin’s 2023 campaign, which ended with victory over Kerry in Croke Park.
I injured it in 2022. I came back for that championship and played against Cork and Kerry. Then the following year I played without surgery, and we won it that year. I would have played pretty much every minute.
Speaking at the launch of Dublin’s new jersey (sponsored by StayCity), Byrne explained that had he gone under the knife right away, he would’ve missed the 2023 campaign entirely.
Yeah, definitely. If I’d had surgery then, I’d have missed it.
But while the knee held up through back-to-back inter-county seasons, it didn’t survive long after Byrne’s trip Down Under.
I played a year and a half of successful inter-county football. Then when I landed in Australia, two weeks down the line, my knee absolutely buckled on me and I ended up having to get surgery on it.
I could do a year and a half of inter-county football, but not a five-a-side over in Australia!
The surgery was carried out in Australia, after some wrangling with insurers.
“Yeah, it was complicated. There was a lot of back and forward with insurance companies, figuring stuff out, but we got it sorted in the end.
While Davy Byrne became something of a case study in managing cruciate injuries without surgery, he doesn’t advise others to follow the same path.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.It gave me a window to try playing without surgery, and I got a year and a half of football out of it, which was great.
At the time, I thought, ‘I definitely won’t need surgery,’ and then one incident with the knee and that was it.
Davy Byrne is part of a select group of Dublin players, including Ciarán Kilkenny and Cormac Costello, with eight Celtic Crosses. He’s still just 31 and very much open to playing on.
It’s not something I’d be thinking about too much. There’s a few of us active players with eight, myself, Cosi (Cormac Costello) and Ciarán (Kilkenny). Cormac’s a couple of weeks younger than me. We’re the same age.
With the recent retirements of John Small and Stephen Cluxton, some valuable experience and plenty of silverware has walked out the door but with the likes of Davy Byrne still around, you expect that Dublin will be there or thereabouts in the race for Sam Maguire in 2026.
SEE ALSO: Ciaran Whelan Shares Brutal Moment That Summed Up Pain Of Missing Out On Dublin's 2011 Triumph SEE ALSO: "I Don’t Care": Rhys Shelly Defends His 'Antics' In Tipperary's All-Ireland Final Win
Balls
