Anthony Philliskirk (born 10 February 1965) is an English former

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 ...

. He played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for 11 different clubs between 1983 and 1998.

Playing career

Philliskirk turned professional at the age of 18, when he joined Sheffield United. He made his debut for the Blades in a pre-season friendly against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

Field Mill Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Football pitch, football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town Football Club. It is the oldest ground in ...

on 17 August 1983. He had to wait until 18 October 1983, before making his league debut for Sheffield United against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

. He scored his first goal for the club two weeks later at

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, ...

. He scored eight goals in his first season with Sheffield United. Most of his time at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

was spent as a partner of striker Keith Edwards. He was part of the Sheffield United side which won promotion from the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in season 1983–84. In total he made 80 league appearances (18 as a substitute) for Sheffield United scoring 20 goals. After five years at Bramall Lane, he had brief spells with Oldham Athletic and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

before joining

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in the June 1989 for a fee of £50,000. He made his debut for Bolton on 19 August 1989 in a Third Division match against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

at Ninian Park, and he soon formed an effective striking partnership with David Reeves. Philliskirk moved on to Peterborough United in October 1992, and then had spells with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, Halifax Town and

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

before hanging up his boots in 1998.

Refereeing career

He also spent a couple of years as a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

towards the end of his playing days. Philliskirk was one of 15 players who accepted a training offer in 1996 as part of a PFA scheme to encourage more former professionals to take up the whistle. He progressed as far as 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 ...

Coaching career

In 1998, team manager Andy Ritchie offered him the youth coaching job at Oldham Athletic. He became assistant manager at Oldham Athletic until December 2003, when his team manager Iain Dowie was tempted away by Crystal Palace. Dowie wanted to take his assistant with him, but Philliskirk turned down the offer for personal reasons. During the 2004–05 season, Philliskirk was manager for one game but lost 2–1 to Huddersfield Town. He stayed at Boundary Park, where he is now Oldham's youth coach, a role he initially filled for four years before becoming Dowie's assistant in 2002. Following the resignation of

Paul Dickov Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

at Oldham Athletic on 3 February 2013 Philliskirk was put in charge of the club once again on a temporary basis. He was suspended from his role as academy manager in April 2018. In October 2018, it was announced that Pete Wild had taken over the role on an interim basis. In December 2018, Philliskirk returned to Burnley FC where we had a short spell as player in the 1990s and was appointed the new head coach of the U18s team

Personal life

Philliskirk's son

Danny Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journalis ...

is also a professional footballer, who plays for

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

, after previously playing for Sheffield United,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, and Oldham Athletic his father's former clubs.

Honours

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1990–91 Third Division

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Philliskirk, Tony 1965 births Living people Footballers from Sunderland English footballers Association football forwards Sheffield United F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff