James Neil Phillips (born 8 February 1966) is an English football coach and 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 lea ...

. As a player, he was a defender who notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. He also played in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

for Rangers and in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

. Whilst at Bolton he played in the 1995 Football League Cup Final. Following retirement, he returned and has coached their reserve and academy teams as well as holding the position of first team caretaker manager on three occasions. The last role he held at the club was academy director.

Coaching career

Phillips joined the

youth coaching staff whilst still a player for the team, starting his role as a coach on 1 June 2000, then retired as a player a year later, though he played no matches during his final season as a registered player/coach. On 9 October 2012, Phillips was appointed joint caretaker manager of Bolton alongside Sammy Lee following the sacking of

Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one appearanc ...

. However, Phillips took control of first team affairs, with Lee and Julian Darby assisting him. Phillips first game in temporary charge saw him lead his hometown club to a 3–2 victory over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

at the

Reebok Stadium The Toughsheet Community Stadium is a Association football, football stadium in Horwich near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers Football Club, with an all-seated capacity of 28, ...

with Bolton having recovered from being two goals down early in the game. His second match in caretaker charge came at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

Molineux Stadium Molineux Stadium ( ) is a association football, football stadium situated in Wolverhampton, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It has been the home ground of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhampton Wanderers ...

which ended in a 2–2 draw with Mark Davies scoring a 90th-minute equaliser for Bolton. On 23 October 2012, Crystal Palace confirmed that manager Dougie Freedman had left the club for Bolton Wanderers. Bolton were yet to confirm the appointment though and Phillips then confirmed he would be in charge of the next match against

whilst Freedman was still in discussions with Gartside. Bolton lost 2–1. When Freedman was appointed, Phillips went back to coaching the youth team. On 15 March 2016, he assumed interim charge of the Bolton team following the departure of

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently manages Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic. During his playing career he represe ...

by mutual consent, and did the same in August 2019 after

Phil Parkinson Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of club Wrexham. Parkinson acquired a Social Science degree early into his career as a man ...

resigned. On 21 July 2020, the club confirmed that Phillips had stepped down from his role as Academy Director as a result of Bolton dropping to a Category Three Academy, ending a thirty year association with the club.

Personal life

Jimmy's son, Nat Phillips, is also a footballer and played for him in the Bolton Wanderers academy. He is who plays on loan as a centre back for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Bolton Wanderers *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1996–97 *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 1994–95

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Jimmy 1966 births Living people Footballers from Bolton English men's footballers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff English football managers Bolton Wanderers F.C. managers English Football League managers Men's association football defenders English football coaches