Rhys Weston

Rhys David Weston (born 27 October 1980) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a defender.

He represented the Welsh national team seven times during his career.

An Arsenal Academy graduate, he made one league appearance in the 1999–2000 campaign, before signing with Cardiff City.

He spent six years with Cardiff, making 214 appearances in league and cup, helping them to two promotions as the club rose from the fourth to the second tier of English football.

Weston played for Arsenal as a youth player, joining the club at the age of eleven after being spotted representing Surrey at county level, before he made his senior debut in the League Cup against Middlesbrough on 30 November 1999, Arsène Wenger bringing him on at half-time to replace Oleh Luzhnyi.

Also making his debut for Arsenal that day was Ashley Cole.

Although born in England, he chose to represent Wales at international level, making his debut for the senior squad in a friendly against Portugal in June 2000.

Weston was born in Kingston Hospital in Kingston upon Thames, London, to David and Wendy Weston and has two sisters, Katie and Carli.

He moved away from home at the age of fourteen to attend school in Lilleshall at the Football Association's centre of excellence.

He was also a keen rugby player but was forced to give up the game in order to focus on his football career.

His first start came on 14 May 2000 at St James' Park, he was taken off for fellow youngster Brian McGovern after 67 minutes – Newcastle United finished 4–2 winners.

It was the final league game of the season and neither side had anything to play for other than pride, and Arsenal were resting their key players ahead of the UEFA Cup final against Galatasaray three days later.

It was to be his only top flight appearance in English football.

His first and only senior game at Highbury came on 1 November 2000, in a 2–1 defeat to Ipswich Town in the League Cup third round.

He was taken off to give Lee Canoville his debut after 74 minutes.

After being told by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger that he was unlikely to make the grade at Premier League level, Weston signed for Cardiff City for a fee of £300,000 in November 2000.

The Welsh club, who play in the English football league system, were then in the basement division and had promotion ambitions following financial investment from chairman Sam Hammam, who was looking to sign young Welsh players for the first team.

Weston made his Ninian Park debut on 22 November, Cardiff coming from behind to beat Lincoln City 3–2.

Having converted from playing as a central defender to a full-back under Cardiff manager Alan Cork, describing it as being "hard to adapt" to the change, he played a further 31 games in his debut season as the club finished second behind Brighton & Hove Albion.

Having received criticism for his early performances at full-back for the club, Weston was given a vote of confidence by Cork after being handed the number two shirt for the following season.

Weston later commented "I've heard a few comments, of course, but I was determined to work hard and learn about the position."

However, a poor performance during a 3–0 defeat to Bury in November 2001 led to Weston being withdrawn from the starting line-up by Cork.

The Bluebirds' hopes of back-to-back promotions were ended by Stoke City in the play-off semi-final in 2001–02.

Weston played 43 games during the course of the season, also picking up eight yellow cards along the way, and captained the side for the first time in his career during a Football League Trophy match against Brighton & Hove Albion.

At the season's end he signed a long-term contract with the club.

Cardiff managed to break out of the Second Division in 2002–03 via a 1–0 victory over Queens Park Rangers in the play-off final.

Weston picked up ten yellow cards that season, but also scored his first senior goal on 26 October with a last minute effort of a 4–0 home win over Tranmere Rovers.

Weston and Cardiff adapted well to life in the First Division, though he played only 24 league games during the 2003–04 campaign.

The defender remained upbeat over Cardiff's performances throughout the campaign.

His season was hampered by a knee injury in October 2003, which required surgery.

In March 2004, he then damaged the cartilage in his other knee.

After returning from injury, he made just one further appearance before the end of the season.

In the 2004–05 season, the first season of the Championship, he played 25 games.

Released by the club in 2006, he travelled to Norway to sign with Viking FK, though he only played one game.

In 2007, he returned to England with spells at Walsall and Port Vale.

He moved to Scottish club Dundee in 2010 and captained the side to a second-place finish in the First Division in 2011–12.

In May 2012, he joined Icelandic club KR Reykjavík.

Five months later he signed for Malaysian club Sabah FA.

He returned to England with AFC Wimbledon in July 2013, and from there was loaned out to Sutton United in January 2014.

He was released by Wimbledon on his return and subsequently retired from professional football.