Aged just 14-year-old Conner Byrne made his debut for Glenavon on Monday night as the Irish Premiership side beat Portadown 2-1, progressing to the final of the Mid-Ulster Cup.
The young goalkeeper was one of 11 changes which manager Gary Hamilton made for the game.
Congratulations to our u16 goalkeeper Conner Byrne on making his senior debut aged just 14 in the first teams 2-1 win tonight away to Portadown. Amazing achievement and testament to his hard work and attitude over a number of years.
— Glenavon FC Academy (@GlenavonAcademy) November 27, 2017
A big shout out to Conner Byrne at 14 years old so had a solid game.
Thanks to those who travelled this evening. #GHBAWA— Glenavon FC (@Glenavon_FC) November 27, 2017
Just a day after making his senior debut for Glenavon, Byrne lined out for the Northern Ireland U16 team as they lost 2-0 in a friendly against Poland.
Ryan Prentice, who is head of the Glenavon Academy, told the BBC that Hamilton has been aware of Byrne's ability for sometime.
Gary Hamilton has been aware of him for about a season and a half, he regularly watches our games and has been aware of his progress.
Conner has been doing very well, he has played with the under-20 team before and has been training with the senior squad for a number of months. He has always played at a level ahead of his age.
He also added that the game become less physical has allowed goalkeepers to make their first-team bows at a younger age.
I think it's fantastic for Conner as a player to play in the first team and credit should be given to the manager for taking the chance on youth, as it doesn't always happen at other clubs. He's tall, brave and dedicated to training and works very hard with the coaches.
The physical side has to be managed, but the flip-side is that the game is not as physical as it maybe was 20 or 30 years ago, when goalkeepers got clattered.
