75 Facts About Phil Dwyer

Philip John Dwyer was a Welsh professional footballer.

Phil Dwyer made his professional debut for the club in October 1972, winning his first honours the same season by helping the side win the Welsh Cup.

Phil Dwyer suffered relegation with Cardiff in 1975 but helped the side win promotion back to the Second Division at the first attempt, scoring 10 goals during the season.

Phil Dwyer was nearly released by manager Len Ashurst in 1982 following a serious knee injury.

Phil Dwyer set a new club record for Football League appearances the following year, overtaking Tom Farquharson's long standing record.

Phil Dwyer left the club in 1985 after falling out with manager Alan Durban.

Phil Dwyer made 575 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 51 times during a 13-year spell.

Phil Dwyer made his international debut for Wales in April 1978 and gained ten caps over the following year, scoring twice.

Phil Dwyer finished his playing career with a brief loan spell at Fourth Division side Rochdale where he made 15 appearances, scoring once.

Phil Dwyer retired from playing in 1985 and joined the South Wales Police.

Phil Dwyer served with the force for 15 years before resigning after an incident of drink-driving.

Phil Dwyer was born on 28 October 1953 in the house where his family resided on Penarth Road in Grangetown, Cardiff.

Phil Dwyer's parents, Ted and Constance, had met and married in Tonypandy where his father had worked as a miner.

Phil Dwyer's mother took up work in the canteen of an aluminium manufacturing factory.

Phil Dwyer had three older brothers, Brian, Kenny and Peter, and an older sister, Maureen.

Phil Dwyer's siblings were significantly older than Dwyer and his brothers had already moved out of the family home by the time he was born.

Phil Dwyer's other brother, Brian, was a keen sportsman and played football at amateur level for local side St Patrick's.

Phil Dwyer represented Wales in boxing at the Empire Games.

Phil Dwyer took up numerous sporting activities in his youth, including cricket, rugby and baseball, but was most keen on football, idolising the Leeds United side featuring Billy Bremner, as well as Manchester United striker George Best.

Phil Dwyer grew up supporting Cardiff City and began attending matches at the club's home ground, Ninian Park, from a young age.

Phil Dwyer attended Bishop Mostyn High School in Ely as a teenager, but later admitted to having little interest in pursuing his academic studies, choosing to focus on his sporting activities.

Phil Dwyer played rugby during midweek and football on Saturdays, sometimes playing two matches in one day, in the morning for his school's team and in the afternoon for North Clive Street Youth Club.

Phil Dwyer met his future wife Ann in his teens at a local nightclub and the pair began dating soon after.

Phil Dwyer gained international recognition soon after when he was selected to represent Wales at under-15 level in the Victory Shield, a youth competition held between the Home Nations.

Phil Dwyer began training with the side every Tuesday but still held little hope of fulfilling his dream.

Phil Dwyer was due to start a carpentry apprenticeship with a company at Cardiff Docks which had been arranged by his brother-in-law who worked at the site.

Phil Dwyer became affectionally known as "Joe" by Cardiff fans and teammates, a nickname that originated during his early years at the club when goalkeeper Fred Davies commented that Phil Dwyer resembled Everton forward Joe Royle.

Phil Dwyer remained in the first team for the remainder of the season and was ever present for the side in all competitions following his debut.

Phil Dwyer was retained and promoted to the first team on a permanent basis.

Victory in the Welsh Cup had qualified Cardiff for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and Phil Dwyer made his debut in continental competition on 17 September 1974 in a goalless draw with Portuguese side Sporting CP.

Phil Dwyer won his second Welsh Cup at the end of the season, as Cardiff defeated Stourbridge under Jimmy Andrews, who had previously been O'Farrell's assistant.

In only his second season as a senior professional, Phil Dwyer was ever present in the league for Cardiff playing in all 42 matches during the campaign and missing just one first team match, the first leg of the Welsh Cup final against Stourbridge.

Phil Dwyer's actions had caused fans from both sides to clash and a Millwall supporter ran onto the pitch and aimed a punch at Phil Dwyer.

Phil Dwyer credited one of the new arrivals, Wales international Mike England, as being a positive influence on his game, remarking how he "made me a better player".

On 8 November 1975, while playing in a league match against Gillingham, Phil Dwyer collided with an opposition player and received a blow from the player's knee to the back of his head and was knocked unconscious.

The impact resulted in a blocked airway and Phil Dwyer briefly stopped breathing.

Phil Dwyer was taken to hospital by an ambulance that had driven onto the Priestfield pitch.

Some initial reports even suggested that Phil Dwyer had died he was back playing for the Bluebirds just seven days later against Colchester United.

Phil Dwyer won the Welsh Cup for the third time in his career, defeating Hereford United over two legs in the final.

Phil Dwyer recorded a career high 58 appearances, missing only one of the club's first team matches in all competitions.

Phil Dwyer had continued to play baseball alongside his football career, concealing the fact from the staff at Cardiff, and hid the cause of the injury by claiming he had fallen down the stairs at his home.

Phil Dwyer was contacted by a former professional footballer who had recommended him to Greek side Panathinaikos.

Phil Dwyer was offered wages considerably higher than those he received with Cardiff, a villa and places at an English school for his children but the move broke down when Andrews refused to contemplate selling.

Phil Dwyer bemoaned that the squad suffered a "severe lack of confidence" and the side suffered several heavy defeats, including conceding six goals in consecutive matches against Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers in December 1977.

Phil Dwyer was replaced by Richie Morgan in an appointment described by Dwyer as "a move that shocked every Cardiff City fan, and player".

Phil Dwyer later described the move as "foolish" and the club struggled for form during the season and Cardiff avoided relegation on the final day of the season after recording consecutive goalless draws against Derby County and West Ham United.

Phil Dwyer described the move as "one of the most baffling decisions I ever came across".

Phil Dwyer finished the season having made 28 appearances in all competitions, the lowest tally of his career.

Relegation had prompted rumours of a clearout of players at the club and, while recuperating in hospital, Phil Dwyer read in the South Wales Echo that he was due to be released.

Phil Dwyer set about training on his own, doing hundreds of squats each day while carrying sandbags to strengthen his knee.

Phil Dwyer received a phone call from former Cardiff manager Frank O'Farrell during the summer break who informed Dwyer of interest from Torquay United manager Bruce Rioch.

Phil Dwyer received interest from Exeter City but decided on Torquay and played in several friendly matches for the side.

Phil Dwyer remained a mainstay of the side for the rest of the campaign as the club embarked on a strong run of form that ultimately ended in winning promotion back to the Second Division after finishing second.

The club finished the campaign in 15th place while Phil Dwyer remained ever present in league competition for the second time during his career.

Phil Dwyer appeared in all 42 league matches and all 8 matches in cup competitions.

Phil Dwyer was surprised to arrive at Ninian Park two days later to be told that Durban had accepted an offer from Fourth Division side Rochdale to sign Phil Dwyer on loan for the remainder of the season.

Cardiff went on to finish the season in 21st position in Phil Dwyer's absence, returning to the Third Division.

Phil Dwyer finished his career with Cardiff having made 575 appearances in all competitions, a club record in the Football League era and second only to Billy Hardy in the club's history.

Phil Dwyer formed a defensive partnership with Joe Cooke on his arrival and would stay in a room at a local pub after each match before returning to Cardiff.

Rochdale were placed in the relegation zone when Phil Dwyer arrived but the club's form gradually improved and he scored his first goal for the club with the winner during a victory over fellow relegation candidates Southend United.

Phil Dwyer made his international debut for Wales as a forward against Iran in Tehran on 18 April 1978 at the age of 24.

Phil Dwyer played in the remaining two matches of the competition, a draw with Scotland and a victory over Northern Ireland.

Phil Dwyer was involved in a physical altercation with a reporter after the match and, despite playing in 10 of Wales' 13 matches between April 1978 and October 1979, he never played for his country again.

Phil Dwyer was particularly renowned for his tough style of play and described how he was seen as the team's "enforcer" during his time at the club.

Phil Dwyer later commented how "Not only did I have to take care of myself, but I had to dish it out if one of our flair players was getting some bother".

Phil Dwyer was often tasked with shadowing the opposition's star players and attempting to disrupt their performance with physical tactics.

Phil Dwyer married his long-term girlfriend Ann in 1972 at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Grangetown.

Phil Dwyer's wife worked as a secretary at the Angel Hotel in Cardiff.

Phil Dwyer represented the South Wales police football team in matches against their counterparts from around the United Kingdom.

Phil Dwyer spent fifteen years as a police officer before leaving the force after an incident of drunk-driving in 2000.

Phil Dwyer had travelled to Weston-super-Mare with a colleague to interview a suspect before returning to Bridgend where he was due to meet colleagues.

However, they never arrived and Phil Dwyer remained in the pub longer than intended and, unable to find a lift home, he borrowed an unmarked police car from Bridgend police station to drive home.

Phil Dwyer spent four weeks in hospital with broken ribs and was charged with aggravated taking of a police vehicle and drink-driving.

Phil Dwyer went on to become a freelance legal representative after being offered a position by a local law firm that he had known from his time in the force.

Phil Dwyer died in Cardiff on 30 November 2021, at the age of 68.