Phil Dwyer

Youth and first team breakthrough

Dwyer's childhood dream was to become a professional footballer and his career began to progress at the age of 14 when he was picked to represent the Cardiff Schools side for the first time. He 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. Despite this, he initially struggled to attract interest from clubs until he was invited to train with the youth team at Cardiff City by Harry Parsons, a long serving employee of the club. Dwyer began training with the side every Tuesday but still held little hope of fulfilling his dream. He 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. To Dwyer's surprise, he was offered a contract by Cardiff when he turned 16 in 1969, earning around £5 per week. 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 Dwyer resembled Everton forward Joe Royle. As an apprentice, he was also employed as the club's ground staff where youth players were required to fulfill various tasks, such as cleaning kit and clearing rubbish from the stands at the ground after matches. With no organised age group league to play in, the youth team competed in local amateur divisions…

Having previously represented Wales at youth and under-23 levels, Dwyer received his first call-up to the senior Wales side in April 1978. Usually a defender, his first selection coincided with a period in which he was playing as a forward for Cardiff. He made his international debut for Wales as a forward against Iran in Tehran on 18 April 1978 at the age of 24. He scored the only goal of the game during a 1–0 win for Wales as well as having a second goal disallowed and hitting the post with another effort. Dwyer was recalled for Wales' following match and scored again during a 3–1 defeat to England in the 1978–79 British Home Championship at his home club ground, Ninian Park, after heading in from a cross by Carl Harris. He played in the remaining two matches of the competition, a draw with Scotland and a victory over Northern Ireland. In 1979, he won his only cap for the Wales under-21 side after being selected as one of the side's eligible overage players for a match against England under-21s, along with his former Cardiff teammate Leighton Phillips. Wales went on to lose the match 1–0. Wales manager Mike Smith chose the pair to start in Wales' opening match of the 1979–80 British Home Championship, a 3–0 victory over Scotland. A goalless draw with England left Wales and Northern Ireland in a deciding fixture in the final match to determine the tournament's winner. The match eventually ended in a draw which resulted in Northern Ireland winning the title as Wales finished…

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. He later commented how "Not only did I have to take care of myself, but I also had to dish it out if one of our flair players was getting some bother". Dwyer was often tasked with shadowing the opposition's star players and attempting to disrupt their performance with physical tactics. Terry Yorath, who played alongside Dwyer with Wales, described him as "The kind of player you love to have in your side...and hate to play against". Harry Parsons, who initially brought him to Cardiff City, remarked that Dwyer "was solid and hard when I first saw him play, although he didn't look much like a footballer with his shovel feet." Jimmy Andrews, who managed Dwyer for four seasons at Cardiff, described him as "brave and he had a good professional mentality. He wasn't a great player but a good scrapper who would always give you everything he had." Referring to his period playing as forward, Andrews added "I played him as a striker and he scored one or two important goals [...] he was always happy to give it a go—wherever I wanted him to play. He was a good pro." Roger Gibbins, who won promotion with Dwyer in 1983, described him as "an out-and-out centre half who was good in the air, competed very well and who put his head in where it hurt."

Dwyer was born on 28 October 1953 in the house where his family resided on Penarth Road in Grangetown, Cardiff. The area was in the midst of an economic downturn following the end of the Second World War and a falling demand for coal, one of the main industries of the region, which also affected the local docks. Dwyer's family home, which he described as having "tiny living quarters", had no bathroom, meaning the family bathed in front of the fire in a metal bath with water boiled on the stove. The house also had no central heating leading to "very harsh" nights in winter. His parents, Ted and Constance, had met and married in Tonypandy where his father had worked as a miner. In the hope of improving their prospects, the pair moved to Cardiff where his father found work at a foundry in Tremorfa. His mother also took up work in the canteen of an aluminium manufacturing factory. Dwyer was the fifth child born to his parents. He had three older brothers, Brian, Kenny and Peter, and an older sister, Maureen. His siblings were significantly older than Dwyer and his brothers had already moved out of the family home by the time he was born. Of his three brothers, Kenny died at the age of 36 from diabetes, while Peter joined the armed forces. His other brother, Brian, was a keen sportsman and played football at amateur level for local side St Patrick's. He also represented Wales in boxing at the Empire Games. As a child, Dwyer attended St. Patrick's Primary School in Grangetown…