Phil Boyer

Early career

Born in Nottingham, Boyer attended Musters Road School, Nottingham, from where he joined Derby County as a trainee in August 1965. Although he signed as a professional in November 1966, manager Brian Clough allowed him to leave the Baseball Ground in July 1968, without having made a first team appearance.

York City

After completing his apprenticeship with Derby County, Boyer moved to York City in July 1968 for a fee of £3,500. In 125 appearances, Boyer scored 34 times but played an important role in creating opportunities for forward partner Ted MacDougall, with whom he was later to play at three other clubs. At the end of his first season at Bootham Crescent, York successfully applied for re-election to the Fourth Division, and their fortunes then gradually improved and they achieved promotion at the end of the 1970–71 season – after Boyer had left.

AFC Bournemouth

After his teammate moved to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, it was only a matter of time before Cherries manager John Bond signed Boyer as well, and he successfully offered £20,000 for Boyer in December 1970. Like the club he had just left, Bournemouth were also promoted – as runners-up – from the Fourth Division at the end of his first season at Dean Court, with Boyer scoring 11 league goals in 23 appearances as he once again linked up with MacDougall. The following season, Bournemouth finished in third place in Division 3, narrowly missing a second successive promotion,…

Boyer made two England under-23 appearances before manager Don Revie called him into the senior national squad and gave him his only full cap in a 2–1 victory over Wales on 24 March 1976, thus becoming Norwich City's first English international.

Since his retirement, he worked as a bank courier and lives in his home town, Nottingham.

Norwich City

Football League Cup runner-up: 1974–75 Southampton

Football League Cup runner-up: 1978–79