The all-time League of Ireland scoring record held by Derry’s Brendan Bradley could be under threat.

The Derry striker scored a staggering 235 league goals during his career – 181 of them while he was with Finn Harps and 14 with Derry City where he started and concluded his senior career that stretched from 1966 – 1986.

Many felt it was a record that would never be surpassed, but Dubliner Jason Byrne is refusing to hang up the boots.

He has 221 league goals to his name, and so is just 14 short of the record.

The 38-year-old has now just signed for Division One side Cabinteely.

And he has revealed that the quest for the record is keeping him on the pitch.

“If it wasn’t for the record I’d have retired five years ago,” he stated this week.

And he added: “It’s a target for me to me to aim for and if I can get to it then that would be good for everyone at the club, not just me.”
Byrne, who will be 39 when the new season kicks-off, was with UCD last season.

He is upbeat that he can find the target regularly for Cabinteely, who are managed by Pat Devlin, whom he played under during his Bray Wanderers days.

Former prolific Derry City striker Liam Coyle hopes that Byrne won’t reach Bradley’s total.

“Obviously at 38 the legs are gone but he (Byrne) still has the scoring touch. It all depends on how good Cabinteely are in the First Division,” he told the Derry News.

Last week Bradley was given a special award in recognition of his achievements at the Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland’s annual awards. In 2015 he was named as the Greatest Ever Player to play in the League of Ireland.

Photo: Sportsfile.

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