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Bruce Antonio Dyer (born 13 April 1975) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. His career started in 1993 with Watford, before he became the country's first £1 million-teenager when he joined Crystal Palace in 1994. He spent five years with Palace, playing more than 100 games, and then another five years with Barnsley, before he returned to Watford. Since leaving Watford in 2005, he has had eight different clubs in three years, including three loan spells.

Dyer has also represented England at under-21 level, and despite four goals in 11 games, he was never capped at full level, and instead played one friendly for Montserrat against Ashford Town in 2007.

Club career

Dyer was born on 13 April 1975 in Ilford, London and started his footballing career at Watford in 1993, before being sold on to Crystal Palace in March 1994 for a fee of £1.1 million,^[2] making him the first ever teenager in English football to be transferred for at least £1 million.^[3] He played in the FA Premier League and the First Division with Palace for several seasons before moving to Barnsley on 23 October 1998.^[2] A proposed move to Gillingham in September 2000 was called off by Barnsley manager Dave Bassett after Dyer failed to agree personal terms with the club.^[4] He scored a two goals in the 4–0 win over Birmingham City in the 1999–2000 First Division play-off semi-final first leg. ^[5] He scored in the second leg, which finished as a 2–1 defeat, but saw Barnsley progress to the final at Wembley Stadium 5–2 on aggregate. ^[6] He started the final, but was substituted for Gjorgji Hristov on 64 minutes, with the match eventually being lost 4–2 to Ipswich Town.^{[7 ]} Dyer was again linked with a move to Gillingham in April 2002, but their manager Andy Hessenthaler rejected reports they were preparing a bid for him.^{[8 ]} His contract at Barnsley expired in the summer of 2003, whose manager Glyn Hodges hoped he would accept a lowering in wages to remain at the club.^[9] He however failed to agree terms on a new contract and later agreed to return to Watford,^{[10][11 ]} who he eventually signed for on a two-year deal on 26 June.^{[12 ]}

He was released by Watford in May 2005,^[13] and after spending a week on trial at Stoke City, he signed for the Championship club on a one-year contract.^[14] He joined fellow Championship side Millwall on a two-month loan on 4 November and made his debut a day later in a 3–1 defeat to Crewe Alexandra.^[15][16] He scored two goals against Sheffield United, which earned Millwall a 2–2 draw,^[17] and finished the loan spell with 10 appearances.^{[18 ]} After making 12 appearances for Stoke,^{[19 ]} he was released in January and subsequently siged for Sheffield United on a contract until the end of the 2005–06 season.^{[20 ]} He scored on his debut for United against Reading, giving his side the lead after nine minutes, but a Dave Kitson equaliser three minutes later saw the match end 1–1.^[21] However, he was unable to score again in a further four appearances and joined Doncaster Rovers of League One on 2 June 2006 on a free transfer. ^{[22][23 ]} His Doncaster debut came in a 1–0 defeat to Carlisle United on the opening day of the 2006–07 season and scored with a low 20-yard shot during his second game against Crewe, which finished as a 3–1 victory.^[24][25] He joined Bradford City on a month's loan on 31 January 2007 and scored eight minutes into his debut against Nottingham Forest, with the match eventually finishing 2–2.^{[26 ][27 ]} He finished the loan spell with five appearances when it ended in March.^{[28 ][29 ]} After returning to Doncaster, he featured in seven games for the team,^[30] finishing the season with 17 appearances for the team. ^[31]

He made his first appearance of the 2007–08 season as a 57th minute substitute for Mark McCammon in Doncaster's 5–1 victory over Bradford in the Football League Trophy,^[32] after which he joined League Two side Rotherham United on a one month loan deal on 13 September 2007.^{[33 ]} With Rotherham striker Tom Cahill out injured, he went straight into the game against Wrexham, which was won 1–0, with Chris O'Grady scoring the winner.^[34] He returned to Doncaster on 4 October with a minor back injury,^{[35 ]} finishing the loan spell with three appearances. ^[36] He was released by Doncaster on 31 January 2008,^[37] having made one appearance for the team during the season, ^[38] after which he eventually joined Chesterfield in League Two on 27 March 2008 on a short-term contract until the end of the season.^{[39 ]} He made his debut in a 4–1 victory over Shrewsbury Town, in which he set up David Dowson for the fourth with a one-two.^{[40 ]} Manager Lee Richardson had yet to decide on Dyer's future at Chesterfield when he had issued the retained list in April,^{[41 ]} after he had made three substitute appearances for the team. ^[42] Richardson later said in June that if he was not able to find a new club, he could return to Chesterfield for pre-season training.^{[43 ]}

He returned to Bradford City in October 2008, for whom he was training with and featured in a reserves game. Bradford lost 2–1 to York City, with Dyer scoring.^[44] However, manager Stuart McCall said Dyer was only with the club to regain fitness following a long-term injury,^[45] while four days after the fixture, York manager Colin Walker revealed he was interested in signing Dyer. ^[46] York eventually signed him on 3 November,^{[47 ]} on a contract that would expire in January 2009. ^[48] Dyer made his debut for York in a 1–1 draw against Mansfield Town in the Conference League Cup third round, being substituted off on 64 minutes for Adam Boyes, in a match that was won 4–2 on a penalty shootout after extra time. ^[49] This was followed by his league debut, which finished as a 2–1 defeat to Torquay United; York's first home defeat of the 2008–09 season.^[50] A tight hamstring saw him miss York's following game, a 1–0 defeat to Cambridge United, as a precaution. ^[51] He returned for the team in a 2–2 draw against Crawley Town, during which he set up Onome Sodje for the opening goal.^[52] Dyer was forced to miss training due to stiffness and was unavailable for York's game against Salisbury City, ^[53][54] but regained fitness for the game against Barrow in the Conference League Cup. ^[55] This game was postponed and his tight hamstring forced him into missing further games. ^[56] He retired from football on 23 December after being limited to three games with York because of back and hamstring injuries.^{[57 ]}

International career

Dyer gained 11 caps and scored four goals for the England under-21 team.^{[58 ][59 ]} He represented Montserrat in a friendly game against Ashford Town in September 2007, which was lost 4–0.^{[60 ]}

Personal life

Dyer is a follower of christianity, which, along with his wife Janine, he claimed to help him carry on with his footballing career. ^[61]

References

External links

• Bruce Dyer career stats at Soccerbase