A former Grenadier Guardsman, Michael Byrne was signed as a goalkeeping deputy to George Clawley. After just six senior appearances in two seasons at The Dell, he joined Chelsea, newly elected to the Second Division of the Football League, as understudy to the celebrated “Fatty” Foulke. A dislocated shoulder cost him the opportunity to succeed the departing Foulke and, when Chelsea was promoted in 1907, he stayed behind in Division II, with Glossop. Having wound down his career at Eastleigh, he returned to his native Bristol, where he worked for Imperial Tobacco and later as a warehouseman with a printing company. During the First World War, he served in the Royal Defence Corps.