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Fullname: Fergus Byrne
aka: Fergus O’Byrne [player incorrectly recorded as “O’Byrne” during playing days – actual surname is Byrne]
Born: 19 August 1871
Died: 19 January 1950, Ottawa, Canada
Birthplace: West Calder
Signed: 2 January 1892 (loan); May 1893
Left: Broxburn Shamrock (14 Feb 1894)
Position: Centre-half
Debut: Renton 0-2 Celtic, League, 25 March 1893* [See notes]
Internationals: none
Biog
West Calder born centre-half Fergus Byrne first played for Celtic as a guest signing from Broxburn Shamrock when he appeared in the team that defeated Third Lanark 3-1 in a friendly on 2nd January 1892.
He made his competitive debut for Celtic in a 2-0 league win v Renton in season 1892/93, playing a small role as Celtic’s first league title winning season. He then would sign for the Bhoys full time in May 1893.
He had to wait a while to play in his next league appearance, a 5-0 league defeat of Third Lanark at Parkhead on 12th August 1893 but he was to be a general regular starter for the first half of the league season. Celtic went on to retain the league title that season, so his contribution was valuable, and notably Celtic did not lose a league match he played in, with only one draw (no goal draw with Dumbarton).
He managed to play a game v Rangers in the semi-final of the Glasgow Cup on 18 November 1893, but this was his last competitive appearance for Celtic and was his only competitive match defeat, a 1-0 scoreline. He had been a regular for much of the first half of the season till this match.
He also played in the first ever Ne’er day game v Rangers in 1894 which Celtic lost 3-2, albeit note this was a ‘friendly’, and he then played in the 4-0 defeat to Everton in a friendly the next day.
He made a total of eight league appearances before returning to Broxburn Shamrock in February 1894. Appears that John Curran was preferred for the same role.
He could look back fondly at his time at his time at Celtic with only four goals conceded in his eight league matches, a fine record as part of a league title winning squad.
Interestingly Broxburn Shamrock have a curious history. Apparently, Broxburn Shamrock FC, were reported in the papers as ‘disciples of the physical school of football’. Their crowd at another home match was described as ‘threatening and intimidating’ and using ‘vile and opprobrious language.’ St Mirren requested a rematch at a neutral ground because there had not being adequate police protection for their players!
He emigrated to Canada in the early 20th century, settling in Nova Scotia. Initially a coal miner, he moved into journalism, becoming a correspondent for the Sydney Post and Sydney Record from 1922-37. He later edited and published his own newspaper, The New Waterford Times, from 1937 until 1947.
He was to become an ‘indefatigable Catholic anti-communist propagandist‘.
After several weeks of illness, Fergus Byrne died at the Civic Hospital in Ottawa in January 1950. He is buried with his wife in Mount Carmel Cemetery, New Waterford, Nova Scotia.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1893-94 | 7 | 0 | n/a | n/a | 7 |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
Pictures
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Notes
- Surname: Some sources have his surname as ‘O’Byrne’, others as ‘Byrne’. However, from research by the CGS forum, ‘Byrne’ is correct, and was the name used on his headstone.
- Debut: Some resources state his league debut was: Celtic 5-0 Third Lanark, League, 12 August 1893, but appears wrong (likely confusion with Byrne v O’Byrne). We have his league debut as Renton 0-2 Celtic, League, 25 March 1893
- Points on Broxburn Shamrock from : https://shaletrail.co.uk/shale-stories/celtic-draw-mossend-swifts/
Articles
Fergus’s politics get a mention in Radicalism in Decline: Labour and Politics in Industrial Cape Breton, 1930 — 1950 by Michael Earle
http://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/55122/NN15866.PDF?sequence=1
It seems unlikely that any leader openly professing communism could have found any following in Catholic New Waterford. The local weekly paper, the New Waterford Times, tirelessly published anti-communist rhetoric. It consistently advanced a Catholic pro-labour line, opposing Christian social reform ideas to communism, with frequent articles based on the Papal encyclicals on labour by Leo Xlll and Pius XI. **few copies of the New Waterford Times appear to have survived, but its editorials, written by a man named Fergus Byrne, were often reprinted in the Glace Bay Gazette. See, for example, “One Remedy Only,” 5 June 1933; or “Orderly Reform of Chaos,” 9 January 1933.
However, he was right in discerning that the Church in the Cape Breton area was moving in a direction that would in the long run help the CCF politically . In an effort to combat the communist influence locally in these desperate early years of the depression , many of the clergy and other Catholic spokesmen were keen to publicise those Catholic social teachings that were critical of the failing s of capitalism. Along with denunciations of the communists as atheists and promoters of violence , frequent explanations were given of the Papal encyclicals Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno, as providing Christian answers to the sufferings of the working class. *
* For example the Knights of Columbus sponsored a series of radio broadcasts in 1934 by Rev. Dr. T. O’Reilly Boyle on thes e encyclicals. Glace Bay Gazette , 9 March 1934. Another indefatigable Catholi c anti-communist propagandist was Fergus Byrne, “Labour Editor ” of the New Waterford Times, whose article s were often reprinted in the Glace Bay Gazette . See, for example, “Orderly Reform of Chaos,” Glace Bay Gazette, 9 January 1933.
