John "JP" Phiri (born 3 May 1962) is a Zimbabwean retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Early life

Born on 3 May 1962, John Phiri is the son of former

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

striker July Phiri. He first played with foremost local team, Rio Tinto FC Under-13s (renamed Eiffel Flats in the mid-70s).

Football career

Phiri was coached at Rio Tinto by Peter Phiri (c.1938 – 23 March 2023). He also played for Mangula, as well as State House Tornadoes (1983), and Darryn Textiles in Zimbabwe, before heading to Europe. He missed a chance to sign for English side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, and signed for Polish side Miliarder Pniewy in 1993 instead, along with

Norman Mapeza Norman Takanyariwa Mapeza (born 12 April 1972) is a Zimbabwean football coach and former player. During his career, he played as a defender and midfielder. Club career Mapeza began his playing career with Darryn Textiles F.C. in Harare. He mov ...

. He first played for the national team in 1982, against

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

and after that played regularly until the 1990s. Official figures recorded 94 matches, four less than

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

star

Peter Ndlovu Peter Ndlovu (born 25 February 1973) is a Zimbabwean football coach and former professional player who was most recently the team manager at South African Premier Division side Mamelodi Sundowns. As a player he was as a striker from 1988 unti ...

, but he believes he played a lot more. His last team was the

Cape Town Spurs A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. The ...

in South Africa, from 1995 to 1997.

After retirement

After retirement from football, Phiri worked at his business in

Budiriro Budiriro is a high density suburb in the southwestern area of Harare in Zimbabwe. There are about 30,000 houses but only two clinics and five elementary schools. Budiriro is the site of a housing project for low-income earners with almost 2,000 ...

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, but it struggled in the face of the economic downturn of the country around 2000, and moved into printing. In 2014 he was appointed a board member at the

Zimbabwe Football Association The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is the governing body of football in Zimbabwe. It is responsible for organising national football competitions in Zimbabwe and managing the Zimbabwe national football teams. The current ZIFA was founded ...

, concentrating on development.

Personal life

He has two sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phiri, John living people 1962 births Zimbabwean men's footballers Zimbabwe men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Dynamos F.C. players Sokół Pniewy players Warta Poznań players Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League players Ekstraklasa players South African Premier Division players Zimbabwean expatriate men's footballers Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in Poland Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa