Emma Anne Byrne was born in Leixlip, Kildare on the 14th of June 1979. Byrne started playing as a schoolgirl for Leixlip United before moving to as a goalkeeper to St Patrick's Athletic in the Dublin Women's Soccer L13=eague.

Her talent was such that she progress and joined the professional Danish Elitedivisionen club Fortuna Hjørring but after just one year in Denmark, she returned to Ireland.

She took another chance to move abroad in 2000 when she signed for Arsenal and it proved to be an inspired decision as she spent almost 17 years with Arsenal, winning 11 Premier League titles, 10 FA Cups and a Champions League amongst other honours during her time with the Gunners before she joined Brighton & Hove Albion in January 2017.

For Ireland, Byrne made her first appearance on the 31st of March 1996 against Belgium and she would win her 100th cap against Croatia on the 26th of September 2013. She remains their record appearance holder on 134 and was the first woman inducted into the FAI's Hall of Fame.