Published
28 November 2025, 05:40 GMT
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Dylan Lawlor's rapid rise at Cardiff City this season is something football fans dream of - and for the teenage centre-back, that dream is his reality.

A year ago, the 19-year-old was in the stands at Cardiff City Stadium, supporting his boyhood club Cardiff and his country Wales, scarf around his neck, singing the anthem with thousands of fans.

Now he is on the pitch, wearing the shirts he grew up idolising, in the spotlight he had aspired too.

Lawlor is enjoying a breakthrough season for Cardiff City having been part of the Bluebirds academy since the age of seven.

He has since risen through the age groups, becoming a key player in the under-18 squad and then the under-21s, before he made his senior debut for Cardiff City in the FA Cup against Aston Villa in February 2025.

Since Brian Barry-Murphy was appointed Cardiff manager in June 2025, Lawlor has become a first-team regular, now playing an integral part in Cardiff City's promotion push in League One.

This season, Lawlor has played 15 games for Cardiff City and his astute performances caught the eye of Wales boss Craig Bellamy, who handed Lawlor his Wales debut in the World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan on 4 September.

Lawlor grasped the opportunity to play for Wales and was subseuqently named Man of the Match on debut.

"That game [his debut for Wales] was inspirational because you see all those boys doing so well on such a big stage," said Lawlor.

"So to obviously be a team-mate of theirs is a bit of a pinch-me moment."

Since then, Lawlor has not looked out of place and in the most recent International window he played in both matches against Liechtenstein and North Macedonia.

For Cardiff, Lawlor's consistency has proved crucial - a composed defender whose breaking-the-line passes stand him apart from the rest.

His presence has helped the club to the second-lowest goals conceded in the division and the second highest number of clean sheets with six, five of which Lawlor was involved in.

Lawlor is hoping to be back in contention for the League One game this weekend at home to Mansfield Town, having missed last weekend's 3-1 win at Northampton Town with a recurring groin issue.

"I think I'm growing with every game and you know it's adapting, which is the main thing, and there are plans in place now to stop that [groin injury] from happening again," said Lawlor.

"So, yeah, hopefully fingers-crossed I will be injury free for the rest of the season."

With fixture congestion, for such a young player, missing games is normal.

Cardiff boss Barry-Murphy thinks he will "definitely increase his robustness" but recognises at times that it is important to "protect" Lawlor.

"He is doing brilliantly," said Barry-Murphy.

"The biggest compliment I could pay him is that he has an attitude and a mindset to see every challenge that he faces, be it positive or perceived difficult, as a learning opportunity, and he bounces back all the time from those challenges.

"He has a goal every day and a real goal every week to improve and that's what's so promising for him as a player... that mindset is the most important thing for any young player and he demonstrates that in spades."

This resilience and mindset mirrors Cardiff's own campaign, a young squad willing to learn to find its rhythm and improving with each game as they strive for consistency in performances.

Despite looking so comfortable in the Bluebirds' defence, Lawlor recognises the physicality of the league as a big test.

"I think a lot of teams go direct and try and put it on us, especially with us being a young, inexperienced side," he said.

"I think it's probably easy for them to just target that long ball and the physicality and experience that they've got, but I suppose for us it's just learning from that and coming together as a team.

"You're just playing against massive strikers every week, and I suppose they're just all physical beasts.

"I'm still in that learning phase, but with the managers and coaches I'm with every day, it makes it easier with their little pointers."

Lawlor recalls travelling to Liverpool to watch Cardiff play in the FA Cup with his friends in 2022.

Now he hopes to be the one they are watching when Cardiff host Chelsea in their Carabao Cup quarter-final on Tuesday, 16 December.

"I'm loving every bit of it," he said. "Being a fan, you dream of being the player, so I wouldn't change it."

Lawlor living out his dreams has extended to international football too.

He had actually bought a ticket for the7-1 thrashing of North Macedonia in World Cup qualifying in mid-November but, instead of sitting in the stands, Lawlor played the full 90 minutes as he earned his third senior Wales cap.

"It's a bit of a surreal experience," he said. "The atmosphere for the one at home was just incredible. Obviously, that's what I dreamed of.

"I've been sat in the stands watching the game and singing the anthem as a fan, so then to sing as a player was just an incredible experience.

"It was nice for my family to finally to get to see it as well. It was unreal."

Lawlor remembers the first Wales match he watched was against Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2014, and notes the "full-circle moment" it would be if he plays when the teams meet again in their World Cup play-off semi-final in March.

Now Lawlor dreams of helping Wales qualify for the World Cup, with a home tie against either Italy or Northern Ireland to follow in the play-off final should Wales beat Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"That would be unbelievable if we got it," he said. "I think it's achievable, which is the most exciting thing about it.

"I was at the Austria and Ukraine play-off games [to qualify for the 2022 World Cup], so hopefully going to play in them and take the country to the World Cup would be unbelievable, and would be a really nice way to finish the season."

Lawlor says he "could not have asked for two better managers" for his first season in professional football, with Barry-Murphy at Cardiff and Bellamy for Wales.

With similar playing styles and demands, he notes how it has been "easy to interchange between the two" and that he is really "enjoying football with both".

From scarf-wearing supporter to international defender, Lawlor has already enjoyed quite the journey. A fan who dreamed of emulating his heroes could soon become one in his own right.