Steve Phillips (footballer, born 1978)

Steve Phillips
Personal information
Full nameSteven John Phillips[1]
Date of birth6 May 1978
Place of birthBath, England
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Club information
Current team
Nantwich Town
NumberTBC
Youth career
1996–1997Paulton Rovers
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1997–2006Bristol City257(0)
1996Gloucester City (loan)
1996Evesham United (loan)
1997Worcester City (loan)
2006–2010Bristol Rovers136(0)
2009Shrewsbury Town (loan)11(0)
2009–2010Crewe Alexandra (loan)28(0)
2010–2014Crewe Alexandra78(0)
2014–Nantwich Town0(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:45, 16 May 2014 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

Steven John "Steve" Phillips (born 6 May 1978 in Bath, Somerset) is an English football goalkeeper, currently playing for Nantwich Town after being released by Crewe Alexandra.

Career

The West Country goalkeeper began his career playing for Coleford Athlletic under 13s, he then moved into Non-League football with Paulton Rovers and then earned a big move to Bristol City where he went on to play 250 league appearances for the Ashton Gate outfit.

However, after an alleged falling out with City boss Gary Johnson he was replaced from the first team by Adriano Basso early into the 2005–06 season. Despite being in his testimonial season Phillips never figured regularly again for City.

In the summer of 2006, Phillips moved across the city to bitter rivals Bristol Rovers F.C. This was after Phillips made a "come and get me" plea to Swindon Town manager Dennis Wise through ex-City team mate Lee Peacock. Wise chose to pursue Petr Brezovan instead.

Phillips took over the number one jersey at Bristol Rovers, taking over from Scott Shearer and very much helped Rovers secure a play-off spot in the 2006/07 season with Phillips earning much praise, and winning Player of the Year. Phillips won League Two's player of the month for November after not conceding any league goals during that month. He also won The Football Leagues Golden Glove competition after keeping the most clean sheets in the football league for the 2006–07 season. He was also awarded the Bristol Rovers Player 2006–07 Player of the Year.

Steve was in Turkey hoping to sign a contract with Turkish Super League Division Three team Ankara Demirspor. There was also interest from Turkish side Ankaragücü who already have English influences with former Manchester City striker Darius Vassell and former Luton Town winger Ian Henderson on their books. However, a contract was rejected from both teams, and he has returned to Rovers.

On 26 August 2009, Phillips signed for Shrewsbury Town on a one-month loan deal, which was soon extended. In November 2009, he joined League 2 side Crewe on a two months loan with a view to make the move permanent. Phillips made his Crewe Alexandra debut against Morecambe in a 2–1 home loss. On 6 January 2010, Phillips extended his loan with Crewe until the end of the season. He established himself as number one, but missed the last three games of the season through a shoulder injury.

Along with 14 other players, he was released by Rovers at the end of the 2009–10 season.[2]

Phillips signed for League 2 side Crewe Alexandra, having spent a successful season on loan. He quickly established himself in the Alex team and was part of the 2011–12 side that were promoted to League One. In an effort to keep hold of his first choice goalkeeper Crewe manager Steve Davis offered Phillips a player/coach role in 2012.

After losing his first team place to youngster Ben Garratt, Phillips left the club at the end of the 2013–14 season to take up a coaching role with Shepton Mallet. He will also play non-league football with local club Nantwich Town. [3]

Honours

Bristol Rovers
Crewe Alexandra

References

  1. "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  2. "Defender Aaron Lescott goes in Bristol Rovers clear-out". BBC Sport. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  3. "Crewe Alex: Phillips offered coaching role lure to stay at Crewe". This is Staffordshire. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.

External links