Kevin Phillips

Biography

Kevin Mark Phillips (born 25 July 1973) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the head coach of National League club AFC Fylde. A former forward, Phillips was the Premier League top scorer in the 1999–2000 season with 30 goals for Sunderland, a tally which won him the European Golden Shoe. He remains the only Englishman to win the trophy. He also had spells at Watford, Southampton, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham City, Blackpool, Crystal Palace, and Leicester City. Between April 1999 and February 2002, Phillips made eight appearances for England but failed to score. His debut came when he was one of five international debutants selected by manager Kevin Keegan for the friendly match away to Hungary. Phillips had an opportunity to score in the first half, but his shot hit the keeper's legs. In the 74th minute, Phillips was replaced by fellow debutant Emile Heskey. In the final warm-up match before the Euro 2000 tournament, Phillips failed to score in a 2–1 victory against Malta, with the BBC describing him as having "that slightly desperate look of all fringe players who have been left precious little time to impress". Despite this, Phillips was selected by Keegan as part of the England squad for Euro 2000, but he remained an unused substitute. In his final appearance for England, he came on as a half-time substitute in a friendly against the Netherlands on 13 February 2002, in which he had a chance to equalise when he forced keeper Edwin van der Sar into an error; Van der Sar then produced a point-blank save from David Beckham's follow-up. Phillips is married to Julie. They have four children: Millie, twins Toby and Tia, and Alfie. Phillips' cousin-in-law is Labour politician Jess Phillips.