| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Philip Joseph Dwyer | ||
| Date of birth | 28 October 1953 | ||
| Place of birth | Cardiff, Wales | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1969–1972 | Cardiff City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1972–1985 | Cardiff City | 471 | (41) |
| 1985 | → Rochdale (loan) | 15 | (1) |
| National team | |||
| 1978–1979 | Wales | 10 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Philip Joseph Dwyer (born 28 October 1953 in Cardiff) is a Welsh former professional footballer and Wales international. During his career, he attained 10 caps for Wales and played his club football for Cardiff City, where he still holds the club's all-time appearance record, as a centre-half
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Dwyer, affectionally known as "Joe" by Cardiff City fans,[1] joined his home town team as an apprentice in 1969, appearing in the 1971 FA Youth Cup Final defeat to Arsenal. He made his professional debut in a 0–0 draw with Leyton Orient on 7 October 1972,[2] playing as a right-back. On 8 November 1975 Dwyer, who would go on to break the clubs appearance record, came close to never playing for the club again. While playing in a league match against Gillingham, he collided with an opposition player and received a blow from the players knee to the back of his head and was knocked unconscious. The impact had forced Dwyer to swallow his tongue and he stopped breathing before Cardiff physio Ron Durham managed to clear his airway, and save his life, by using the corner flag pole. He was taken to hospital by an ambulance that had driven onto the Priestfield pitch. However, Dwyer was back playing for the Bluebirds just seven days later against Colchester United. His final appearance for the club came on 17 March 1985 in a 4-1 defeat against Notts County. Besides his time at Cardiff, Dwyer had a brief loan spell at Rochdale, scoring once in his 15 League games.
He made his international debut for Wales against Iran on 18 April 1978 at the age of 24, scoring the only goal of the game as well as having one goal disallowed and a header of the post. Dwyer scored again in his second game during a 3–1 defeat to England in the 1978 British Home Championship at his home club ground, Ninian Park.[3] He played in the remaining two matches of the competition and also played in all three matches of the 1979 British Home Championship as Wales recorded consecutive second place finishes. He made his final appearance for Wales on 17 October 1979 in a 5-1 defeat to West Germany. However, despite playing in 10 of Wales' 13 matches between April 1978 and October 1979, Dwyer never played for his country again.[4]
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 18 April 1978 | Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran | Iran | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 13 May 1978 | Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales | England | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1978 British Home Championship |
Dwyer has also been known as a British baseball player.
After retiring from football, in 1985 Dwyer joined the South Wales Police force, despite being a year older than the force's recruitment age limit, in the town of Wenvoe, where he has lived with his wife Ann for twenty years. When asked about Dwyer's age at the time a police chief constable commented that: "Phil had qualities which would be valuable to the police."[5] He spent fifteen years as a police officer before becoming a freelance legal representative.[1]
On 29 October 2008, after pleading guilty to a drunk driving charge, he was suspended by Cardiff Magistrates from driving for three years, when after calling on a client at Rumney Police Station he was found to have had 54 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 19 microgrammes over the legal limit.[6]