Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Former Aberdeen defender Richie Byrne set for hectic journey by ‘planes, trains and automobiles’ for Granite City charity match

Aberdeen legends Eoin Jess and Dean Windass will also play in the Cash For Kids charity football match at Cove Rangers' Balmoral Stadium on Sunday.

Richie Byrne celebrates scoring for Aberdeen against Hearts in May, 2005. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.
Richie Byrne celebrates scoring for Aberdeen against Hearts in May, 2005. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

Former Aberdeen defender Richie Byrne will travel by plane, train and automobile to play in a charity match in the Granite City this weekend.

The 41-year-old has a hectic weekend involving two games and a wedding in Dublin – but will still journey to Aberdeen to help raise money for Cash For Kids.

Aberdeen legends Dean Windass and Eoin Jess are also set to play in the charity game at Cove Rangers’ Balmoral Stadium on Sunday (3pm kick-off).

Now a strength and conditioning coach with Arsenal Women’s U14s to U21s Byrne will play in a match on Friday with the Gunners staff in London.

He will then jet out to Dublin on Saturday to attend the wedding of a close friend.

However, a packed weekend will not prevent Byrne doing his bit to raise money for Cash For Kids.

Byrne will will take an early morning flight on the day of the charity match before travelling up to the Granite City by train.

He can’t wait to meet up with former Dons team-mates from the Jimmy Calderwood era.

Players from that squad set to play are Lee Miller, Darren Mackie, Gary Dempsey,   Zander Diamond and Jamie Langfield.

Richie Byrne (left) and Hearts’ Paul Hartley – who is now the Cove Rangers boss. Image: SNS

Byrne said: “It is planes, trains and automobiles for me to get to the charity match up in Aberdeen.

“I have a crazy weekend as I have a staff game at Arsenal on Friday.

“Then I fly to Dublin on Saturday morning to go to the wedding of one of my oldest football mates.

“We both signed for Shamrock Rovers together.

“Then I fly across to Edinburgh and then get a train on Sunday morning up to Aberdeen.

“I love going back to Aberdeen as it is a city that holds a special place in my heart.

“Some of the most significant parts of my life happened in Aberdeen. I’ll never forget it.

“The culmination of my young life and things that have affected me in later life all stemmed from my time in Aberdeen

“The club and city are a prominent part in my life story.”

Raising vital funds for Cash For Kids

Many more former players have been confirmed for the charity match, including Richard Foster, Phil McGuire, Darren Young and Robbie Winters.

The Cash For Kids charity match returned in 2022 after a two-year absence due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The event has grown each year and organisers are hoping for bumper crowds to watch legends like Windass and Jess.

Goalscoring great Windass, 54, played for the Dons from 1995 to 98 and was a huge fans’ favourite.

Aberdeen’s Dean Windass celebrates a goal against Rangers in 1997. Image: SNS.

Windass scored 31 goals in 91 appearances for Aberdeen.

After leaving Pittodrie, he went on to star for Hull City, Sheffield United and Bradford City.

Jess, 52, will jet in from Barcelona for the second successive year to play in the charity match.

Revered as one of Aberdeen’s greatest-ever players Jess made 442 appearances, scoring 107 goals, in two spells at Pittodrie.

Doors for the charity game at Balmoral Stadium open at 2pm on Sunday, with a kick-off time of 3pm.

Two of the former Aberdeen FC players who took part in a charity Cash for Kids football match at Balmoral Stadium last year – Eoin Jess, left, and Eugene Dadi. Image: DC Thomson.

Byrne said: “Graham (Watt, organiser) has set this up to help people.

“We all know Aberdeen has a lot of wealth, but when there is wealth there are also areas that don’t do well.

“There are people who don’t have enough money for food.

“It is phenomenal that Graham is pushing so hard to help young people and young families.”

‘I can’t express how much love I have for every one of them in that squad’

Left-back Byrne was signed from Dunfermline in January 2005 and went on to play in the UEFA Cup group stages with Aberdeen in the 2007-08 season.

That was the last time the Dons qualified for the group stages in Europe.

However, that long drought could end at the weekend.

Aberdeen will secure group stage football should Celtic win the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

Byrne racked up 53 starts for the Dons, with another six appearances off the bench over his two-and-a-half-year spell at the club.

He still has a strong bond with that Aberdeen squad of 2007-08 and cannot wait to meet up with some of his former team-mates this weekend.

He said: “To play in Europe with these fellas, I will never forget it and it will always be with me.

Richie Byrne faces Atletico Madrid star Luis Garcia in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup group stage. Image: SNS

“They were a great bunch of lads.

“I can’t express how much love I have for every one of them in that squad.

“It was a great time.

“I have a connection with those lads that will never, ever go away.”

Conversation