JACK Byrne is not your average young footballer.

But his story could serve as a lesson to future generations on how to go about getting an education in the game.

Still only 20, Blackburn Rovers’ new loan signing has packed a lot into those years.

Aged 11 he lost his father. Aged 15 he left his Dublin home to give his family the chance of a better life.

That chance came in the shape of Manchester City, who had spotted his talents and were keen to make the Irishman part of their developing academy that is now the envy of the Premier League.

He impressed at the Etihad, playing in the UEFA Youth League against teams such as Bayern Munich.

But then he chose to take a huge risk by spending last season on loan with SC Cambuur in Holland’s Eredivisie, where he says he learned plenty in a relegation battle.

“That’s what you have to do these days,” he told the Lancashire Telegraph after he was unveiled as Rovers’ sixth signing of the summer.

“There’s so many young, talented players in England, so maybe you have to go out and do something different to catch the eye.

“When I got the chance to go to Holland I said, ‘Yeah, of course’.

“It was a big step for me to go over there and take a chance like that, but thank God it paid off and I’m back in England now and hopefully I can kick on again this year.

“It was a big step on the pitch and off the pitch.

“I didn’t have many friends over there and it was a bit lonely at times, but you have to keep going.

“I was over there purely for football and for me at that time, at 19 years of age going on 20, it was the best thing for me to do.

“All I concentrated on was football, football, football. I went in in the morning, trained; went home, slept; woke up, trained.

“That was my routine over there, week after week, playing against Feyenoord, Ajax, PSV (Eindhoven). I scored against PSV in my last game, so that’s a nice memory to leave with.

“It was a great experience and one I’m very grateful for.

“It was probably better for my experience that the team was where they were, not mid-table and comfortable and not somewhere where it was OK to lose the ball in front of the back four and lose a goal. It wasn’t that way at all.

“Every pass had to be precise, every set-piece had to be precise because we needed to get goals and we couldn’t give goals away that much because of the position we were in.

“There was a lot riding on the games.

“So for my football education itself there it was great for me to be in there and going into games knowing that we had to win at the weekend otherwise we were slipping further down into the relegation zone.

“I’m very grateful to Cambuur and Manchester City for that opportunity.”

Byrne admits the move across the Irish Sea at such a tender age was hard, and he struggled sometimes with homesickness.

But he felt he had no choice as the breadwinner, his dad John, was gone.

“It was a big move. I lost my father when I was 11 so there was no-one working in the house,” he said.

“That was part of the reason why I came over a little bit early. Most people don’t go away until they’re 16 or 17, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case for me – there was nothing in Dublin.

“So I packed my bags and went off, hopefully for a better life, and thank God it turned out that way.

“It’s always tough. It’s still tough now.

“Everybody gets homesick, everybody misses their family, but if you have a chance to make a better life for yourself and for your family, I think it’s selfish if you don’t take that chance.

“There’s a bigger picture there than just homesickness. There’s pressure of not playing, there’s pressure of playing. All these things get on top of you.

“The homesickness kicks in when you’re not playing so well, you’re not doing so well.

“It is what it is, but we get on with it and have a better life, so there’s no complaining about that.”

Refreshingly candid for his age, Byrne is full of a confidence that has already been identified by his new manager Owen Coyle as well as Manchester City’s former head of youth development Patrick Vieira.

In fact the Frenchman even compared him to former Manchester United ace and Irish legend Roy Keane.

It’s a comparison that Byrne still holds dear, admitting: “I’m very proud (of that), I’m still very close to Patrick.

“I still talk to him every now and again, and his assistant managers over in New York.

“So it’s a nice relationship and I’m very grateful for that relationship.

“A lot of people said, ‘You won’t get a chance at Manchester City’, or, ‘You should have gone to a smaller club’.

“But if you don’t work with the best, you don’t meet the best, and you don’t test yourself against the best.

“Patrick was one of the best midfielders and I got to work under him for three years, listen to what he had to say about where you should be on the pitch, and picked up valuable information from him.

“I still talk to him; he still watched the games last year when I was out in Holland.

“So it was nice of him. He didn’t have to do that. I’m very grateful.”

Praise and admiration is one thing, but Byrne is determined not to let it go to his head and instead rely on his life experience to progress his career.

“You need to be streetwise,” he said.

“Where I come from in Dublin, it’s not a great area, it’s not a really bad area, but I think most people there are streetwise and I think it stands in their favour.

“Personality on the pitch is more important than anything.

“You can have the best touches in the world, you can have the best shot in the world, but when the crowd’s getting on your back in the 89th minute and you’re standing over a free-kick, it’s character. You have to be a little bit streetwise to take your game to the next level.”

That next level will hopefully emerge in the Championship with Rovers next season.

“It is a chance to catch the eye,” he added. “That’s part of the reason that I came here and didn’t go back to Holland,.

“I had options in France, I had options in Israel, I had options everywhere.

“Maybe people don’t know me that well in England, but because I played in Europe a lot of people know me around Europe.

“I’m looking forward to getting going now and I think this was the right choice.

“I knew that after a five-minute phone call with Owen Coyle it was the right choice.

“So I’m buzzing to get going.”

Jack Byrne is not your average young footballer and Rovers are expecting anything but average performances from him next season.