Focus On…..Brendan Phillips

A series on players who have spent some or all of their careers as a player or manager in the Southern League.

There would be few who disagree that Brendan Phillips was one of the best midfielders outside the Football League during the late 1970s and early 80s.

Although he started his career with Leicester City and then made just a single first-team appearance with Peterborough United in the old Fourth Division, he first came to the fore with Burton Albion in the Southern League Premier Division in 1974.

Then in August 1976, Nuneaton Borough boss Stan Bennett, with the aid of funding from supporters, managed to sign Brendan, who turned down the chance of a three-month contract with Brighton & Hove Albion and lucrative offers from Southern Premier Division rivals Weymouth and Yeovil Town to move to Manor Park.

He enjoyed his time with Boro until the latter stages of the 1978/79 season when he was sold to rivals Kettering Town ahead of the inaugural campaign in the new Alliance Premier League.

However, the FA Trophy finalists had lost manager Mick Jones to Mansfield Town and Colin Clarke had taken over as player-manager and Brendan`s time at Rockingham Road was a brief one.

It was during this period that Brendan earned four England semi-professional international caps, playing in a 5-1 hammering of Scotland and a 1-0 win against Holland in 1979 and a 4-2 defeat to Scotland in 1980 and then a 2-1 win against Holland in 1980.

He moved to Alliance Premier rivals Boston United towards the end of the 1979/80 season and after just 9 games for the Pilgrims, was sold to Mansfield for a £15,000 fee in August 1980 – with Mick Jones finally getting his man.

Brendan made 17 League appearances for the Stags before being sold back to Boston after Jones` departure as manager in early 1981/82.

He went on to play 40-plus games for Boston the second time around and then re-joined Nuneaton, now under Graham Carr`s leadership, in October 1982.

A work-related move to the Hull area meant that he had to leave Boro at the end of the 1982/83 season.

So, in the summer of 1983, Brendan signed for another Alliance Premier outfit, Scarborough.

Brief spells with Southern Premier Division Shepshed Charterhouse and Corby Town followed before he joined another Southern Premier outfit, Aylesbury United, in the summer of 1986.

He helped the Ducks to win the title in 87/88 and so made a return to the Conference, albeit for just once season as Aylesbury came straight back down and went into the Isthmian League.

He left the Ducks in October 1989 after making 162 appearances and finished off his playing days back in the Southern League with Atherstone United and Bedworth United, where he cut his managerial teeth with two successful years as player-manager.

Towards the end of the 1992/93 season, Brendan was appointed as manager of Conference side Stafford Rangers following Dennis Booth`s departure for Bristol Rovers.

However, a lack of cash, injuries and misfortune seemed to bedevil Brendan at Marston Road as Rangers slumped into the lower reaches of the Conference and he parted company with the club during the 1994/95 season.

But he was quickly snapped up by former club Nuneaton, who had fallen into the Southern Midland Division, as manager ahead of the new 1995/96 season.

And he was immediately successful, leading Boro back again to the Southern Premier Division as Midland Division champions by an eleven-point margin from runners-up King`s Lynn.

However, he wasn`t finished there as 1998/99 was even more successful as the Premier Division title was won by an even bigger margin of a staggering 23 points from runners-up Boston United!

So, it was a return to the Conference after a gap of twelve years and Brendan was voted the Non-League Manager of the Year at a top awards ceremony in London.

The Boro boss followed in the footsteps of Martin O’Neill, Sammy McIlroy, Paul Fairclough, and Steve Cotterill and rated the achievement as “the peak of my managerial career”.

Nuneaton`s first season back in non-League football`s top competition saw them finish 15th.

But football is a cut-throat sport at times, and just a few months after being the best manager in the country outside the Football League and Premier League, Phillips was sacked at the beginning of October 2000.

The Board of Directors announced that, following an extraordinary meeting, the then-46-year-old was being relieved of his duties due to a poor start to the season which saw Boro pick up only 11 points in twelve games.

But it was still a disappointing decision as, after taking over from Elwyn Roberts in May 1995, Phillips had led the club up from the Midland Division and into the Nationwide Conference picking up two championships and a League Cup along the way.

In 2001, Brendan re-emerged as manager of Southern League Halesowen Town, where he stayed until 2004, leading them to promotion to the Premier Division in 2001/02.

In November 2006, it was announced that Brendan was to take over first-team affairs at Midland Alliance club Coalville Town.

He managed to keep Coalville in the Alliance but was sacked and replaced by former Coalville player Adam Stevens a year later.

Clubs Played For:

Burton Albion, Nuneaton Borough (the best club I played for in my non-League career), Kettering Town, Boston United, Scarborough, Aylesbury United, Bedworth United, Shepshed Charterhouse, Corby Town.

I was fortunate to play for some great and iconic non-League clubs and enjoyed some great times at all of them.

However, the atmosphere the Nuneaton Boro fans created at Manor Park back in the day had to be the best in non-League football.

Best Game Played In?

Southern League X1 v Northern Premier League X1 at Huish Park Yeovil.

This game was effectively a final selection for the inaugural England semi-professional Four Nations tournament.

Both sides had some great players. I played for the Southern X1 and we came out on top in a classic game.

I think I may have notched the winner! (but the memory is fading!)

Best X1 Played With?

(I’ve gone for players rather than a team as such)

Billy Kellock (Kettering Town)

Neil Sellers (Scarborough)

Peter Ward (Burton Albion)

Ian Storey-Moore (Burton Albion)

Frankie Corrigan (Burton Albion)

Tony Jennings (Enfield & England Semi-Pro team)

Cliff Hercules (Aylesbury Untied)

Trevor Morley (Nuneaton Borough)

Paul Culpin (Nuneaton Borough) pictured

Phil Annable (Burton Albion)

Dave Lewis. RIP (Nuneaton Borough)

Subs

Peter Phipps (Kettering Town

Richard Dixey (Kettering Town)

Bobby Vincent (Nuneaton Borough)

Trenton Wiggan (Scarborough)

Gary Mallender (Boston United)

I’ve been lucky to play with and against some truly outstanding players during my non-League career as a player, but those lads stand out in my memory bank!

Best Captain?

This was hard, but it came down to these two lads - Tony Jennings (England semi-pro team) and Dave Lewis (Nuneaton Borough).

Funniest Team-Mate?

Without a doubt; Trenton Wiggan (pictured) at Scarborough!

This guy on his day could scare the living daylights out of defenders…the trouble was those days only arrived when he was on the same planet as his team-mates!

Which wasn’t very often!! We called him the Scarborough Charlie Williams a top, top lad!

Best Manager?

Graham Carr (Nuneaton Borough). Didn’t take any prisoners but the lads loved playing for him. He made players feel 10ft tall before every game!

Best Mate Still in Football?

Neil Thompson (ex-Scarborough now at Sheffield Wednesday)

Best Mates Met Through Football but Now Not in the Game?

Colin Welsh (my assistant-manager at Nuneaton Borough)

Paul Bentley (ex-manager at Deeping Rangers from whom I brought Malcolm Christie from)

Are You Still Involved in the Game?

No, but still love watching games and recommending players to contacts in the game.

Words of Advice:

Work on developing the talent you’ve been given. Enjoy every moment because it`s all over in a flash!