Source: Liverpool_Echo
Mersey Hard Men: Gerry Byrne played through pain barrier to help Liverpool FC win their first FA Cup
Gerry Byrne 250[LNB]IT is one of football's ultimate tales of bravery and courage.[LNB]Quite simply, it wouldn't happen today.[LNB]In an era when an increasing number of players spend as much time on their backs as on their feet, the thought of playing with a broken fingernail would be enough to give the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba a hernia.[LNB]A meeting with Gerry Byrne might straighten them out.[LNB]The Liverpool-born full-back played more than 300 games for the Reds between 1957 and 1969.[LNB]Of all of them, one stands head and shoulders above the rest - or head and collar bone, to be specific.[LNB]The 1965 FA Cup final is remembered by most for being the first time Liverpool lifted the famous trophy.[LNB]It was also the game when Byrne remarkably played through the pain barrier after breaking his collar bone in the opening minutes at Wembley.[LNB]A collision with Leeds United's Bobby Collins as early as the third minute should have ended Byrne's involvement there and then. But at a time when there were no substitutes, he knew that any hope of Liverpool winning the Cup would have gone with him.[LNB]A quiet man, Byrne didn't want any fuss and decided to soldier on, despite Bob Paisley realising the severity of his injury almost immediately.[LNB]'I knew as soon as Gerry went down that something was seriously wrong,' recalled Paisley years later.
