Philip Michael Starbuck (born 24 November 1968) is an English former professional

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 ...

who scored 43 goals from 245 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing for a number of different clubs. He started out as a striker then winger before eventually becoming an attacking

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Until June 2009 he was manager of Grantham Town.

Playing career

Starbuck was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, and started his career as an apprentice at

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 ...

. He scored on his First Division debut at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

aged 18 in December 1986 and again in his second outing, a 1–1 draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

on New Year's Day 1987. He spent time on loan at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

before moving to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

on a free transfer in 1991. On 12 April 1993, he set the record for the fastest goal scored by a substitute (since beaten) when he netted against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

just 3 seconds after entering the game. He then went to play at a higher level with

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

before appearing for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

, and Cambridge City and

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

, before going into management. His half-season at Cambridge City was marred by a broken leg sustained in a pre-season friendly against

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 ...

. In all, he made 188 first team starts in the Football League, the most being 120 for Huddersfield, for whom he scored 36 goals.

Management career

His first management job was at

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club are a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club are members of the and play at Watnall Road. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

, appointed in December 2001 and dismissed in June 2003. He joined

Leigh RMI Leigh Genesis Football Club, formerly known as Horwich Railway Mechanics Institute F.C. (Horwich RMI) and Leigh Railway Mechanics Institute F.C. (Leigh RMI), is an English amateur association football club that currently plays in the South Lancas ...

, initially as player-assistant manager, before being appointed manager in November 2003. He resigned in November 2004 and joined Arnold Town as a player. He went on to manage the club, before joining Hednesford Town on 31 May 2006. A successful first half to the 2006–07 season saw the Pitmen top the table in the Northern Premier league, before a poor run of form saw them eventually finish seventh. After losing his assistant manager

John Ramshaw John Ramshaw is a football coach and non-league manager. He is the assistant-manager of Kettering Town. Career Ramshaw began his career in 1978. His first opportunity to coach was with the youth team at Notts County, from 1978 until 1983. He g ...

Lincoln United Lincoln United Football Club is a football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Ashby Avenue. Nicknamed the Whites after their home kit colours, they have played at Ashby Avenue since th ...

in the summer of 2007, he brought in the experienced Jimmy Mullen as his new number two. Hednesford started the 2007–08 season well, but a run of inconsistent form saw them once again miss out on the play-offs, finishing eighth. In May 2008,

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

announced that Starbuck had left the club with immediate effect. In October 2008, he took over as manager of Grantham Town in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Division One South, and was sacked at the end of the 2008–09 season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Starbuck, Phil 1968 births Living people English footballers Footballers from Nottingham Association football forwards Nottingham Forest F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players RKC Waalwijk players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Hucknall Town F.C. players Leigh Genesis F.C. players Arnold Town F.C. players English Football League players Eredivisie players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Hucknall Town F.C. managers Leigh Genesis F.C. managers Arnold Town F.C. managers Hednesford Town F.C. managers Grantham Town F.C. managers Cambridge City F.C. players Northern Counties East Football League players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands