574 Trevor Phillips

Biography

Creative forward Trevor Phillips joined the Tigers in June 1979 for a record fee of £75,000 as manager Ken Houghton sought to build a squad capable of winning promotion out of Division Three – alongside Phillips, the signing of Mick Tait (for whom the club paid a new record fee weeks later) and Paul Moss represented a considerable investment. Alas Houghton could not find a successful formula on the pitch and City managed only four league wins before a 7-2 shoeing at Brentford in December 1979 led to Houghton’s dismissal. Phillips had contributed three goals in 24 starts under Houghton, in a 2-2 draw with Oxford United, a 2-3 defeat at Millwall and a 2-0 win over Carlisle United, the last of Houghton’s four victories that season.

Phillips missed five games in November 1979 and when he returned to first team action Chris Chilton was in temporary charge of the side. Phillips started another three games under Chilton but in January 1980 the City manager’s job was handed to former Wales manager Mike Smith and Phillips fell out of favour. Despite blasting five goals past Sculcoates Amateurs for City’s Reserve side in the ERCFA Senior Cup, Trevor was not seen again in the first team and left the Tigers in March 1980.

Trevor Phillips was born in Barnsley and raised close to the Tykes’ Oakwell home ground, but the diminutive forward joined Division Three side Rotherham United as a teenage apprentice and made his first team debut against Barrow in January 1970 at seventeen years of age, scoring his first goal for the Millers against Bury in his third game a month later. He was introduced gently to the first team at Millmoor, playing alongside ex-Tiger David Lill and journeyman player (and later journeyman manager) Neil Warnock. Phillips capped his efforts during the 1969/70 season by netting a mid-April brace against Rochdale.

During his first four seasons Trevor was a first team squad player but rarely a regular starter. But when the Millers dropped into Division Four at the end of the 1972/73 season Phillips became a regular first choice – in the 1973/74 season he netted fourteen times in 42 appearances. However in the next two seasons he was again not an automatic first choice, making 23 and 29 league appearances respectively. In the 1976/77 season he was finally first-name-on-the-teamsheet material as he started every game in League and Cup and scored 23 goals. The next two seasons saw similar consistency, netting twelve and sixteen goals respectively, and in the 1978/79 season he finally finished Rotherham’s top league goalscorer with fourteen strikes while also playing in a famous League Cup victory over a full-strength Arsenal side. Phillips scored three hattricks during his ten years with the Millers – against Crewe Alexandra in September 1973, Reading in May 1977 and Spennymoor United in a November 1977 FA Cup win. When he left for Hull City in June 1979 he had scored 91 goals for Rotherham United in 363 appearances.

In March 1980, after only nine months at Hull City, Division Three side Chester paid £51,000 for Phillips’ services and in two years at Sealand Road Phillips scored thirteen goals in 82 appearances. Chester were struggling at the foot of the table during the 1981/82 season and in March 1982 Trevor joined Division Four side Stockport County on loan, scoring four goals in 13 appearances before returning to parent club Chester for the last game of the season. Phillips made the switch to Stockport County permanent in June 1982 and added nine goals in 41 appearances during the 1982/83 season. Phillips returned to Chester for the 1983/84 season on non-contract terms but managed only three goals in 13 appearances before leaving again in February 1984 to join non-league side Oswestry Town. He made a total of 523 senior appearances during his professional career and scored 120 goals.

Trevor ended his playing days at Oswestry Town at the end of 1986, after which he lived in Tarvin near Chester and started a second career as a painter and decorator while also coaching local league sides. In his mid sixties he suffered a neurodegenerative disease and died in November 2020.

Phillips played for the England Youth team in his teenage years at Rotherham United.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 18 September 1952, Barnsley
Hull City First Game: 11 August 1979, Sheffield Wednesday A (League Cup First Round First Leg), 26 years, 327 days old
Hull City Final Game: 29 December 1979, Oxford United A (Division Three), 27 years, 102 days old

Clubs

Rotherham United (1969-1979), Hull City (1979-1980), Chester (1980-1982), Stockport County (1982, loan), Stockport County (1982-1983), Chester City (1983-1984), Oswestry Town (1984-1986)

Hull City Record

Career: 24 apps, 3 goals