Kevin Phillips

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SAFC Stats Insight — generated from our data

Kevin Phillips, the United Kingdom forward, represented Sunderland across 1997-2003. He scored 100 goals in 197 appearances, a rate of 0.51 per game. That return marks him out as one of the club's more prolific scorers in our records. His most prolific season in our data was 1997-98, with 35 goals.

Figures are from our match-by-match data, densest from 2010 onward.
Kevin Phillips

Kevin Mark Phillips (born 25 July 1973) is an English former professional footballer who was most recently the head coach of National League club AFC Fylde . A striker , Phillips started his career with Southampton but failed to make the first team and was released. He then signed for non-League side Baldock Town where he impressed, earning a move to Watford in 1994. In 1997, Phillips signed for First Division club Sunderland . In his first season he scored 35 goals in all competitions, the most goals in a season for a Sunderland player since the Second World War as well as being the league's top goalscorer. Phillips scored 23 goals in 26 league games in the following season as Sunderland were crowned champions of the First Division. He received his first call up to the England national team in 1999. In the 1999–2000 season, Phillips scored 30 Premier League goals to earn himself a place in the PFA Team of the Year . This goal tally earned him the Golden Boot award as well as the European Golden Shoe . He was the first Englishman to have won the award. Phillips was named in the squad for UEFA Euro 2000 although he made no appearances at the finals. He made his eighth and final appearance for England in 2002. Phillips spent a further three seasons with the Wearside club, making 235 appearances and scoring 130 goals before departing for Southampton in 2003 following Sunderland's relegation. After two seasons with Southampton and one with Aston Villa , Phillips signed for Championship club West Bromwich Albion . In his second season with West Brom, Phillips was a member of theWikipedia

Position
FW
Nationality
United Kingdom
Birthplace
Hitchin
Born
25 Jul 1973
Height
170 cm
Full profile on Wikipedia ↗
At Sunderland

Phillips signed for Sunderland just after their relegation from the Premiership. Fifteen matches into the Division One season, the club were in mid-table and Phillips had four goals. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] In the remainder of the season, Phillips set or equalled club records by scoring in seven consecutive matches [ 15 ] and in nine consecutive home matches, [ 16 ] became the first Sunderland player since Brian Clough in 1961–62 to score 30 goals in a season, [ 17 ] and finished the campaign with 35 goals in all competitions, the most by any Sunderland player in one season since the Second World War. [ 18 ] His tally included a four-goal haul in the third round of the FA Cup at Rotherham United and two goals in the play-off campaign. [ 14 ] After scoring Sunderland's second goal in the play-off final, Phillips was substituted after 73 minutes with an injury, so missed the remainder of the 4–4 draw with Charlton Athletic which Sunderland lost 7–6 on penalties. [ 14 ] Phillips later described the final as his "most disappointing day in football", [ 19 ] but also as the best match he had ever played in. [ 20 ] Phillips scored eight goals in the opening weeks of the 1998–99 season as Sunderland reached the top of the Division One table. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] A broken toe sustained in a League Cup tie against Chester City in mid-September kept him out for nearly four months, but his goalscoring resumed immediately upon his return, with a "screaming volley" away to Queens Park Rangers . [ 23 ] Promotion was confirmed in April as Phillips scored four of Sunderland's five goals in an away game against Bury , and he ended the season with 23 goals from only 26 league games, and 25 goals in all competitions. [ 21 ] [ 23 ] His form earned him an international call-up for England , and he made his debut in the starting eleven in a friendly against Hungary . [ 24 ] In the run-up to the start of the 1999–2000 FA Premier League season, pundit Rodney Marsh predicted that Phillips would struggle to gWikipedia

Career
Baldock Town F.C. (1991–94)Watford F.C. (1994–97)Sunderland A.F.C. (1997–03)England national association football B team (1998–98)England men's national association football team (1999–02)Southampton F.C. (2003–05)Aston Villa F.C. (2005–06)West Bromwich Albion F.C. (2006–08)Birmingham City F.C. (2008–11)Blackpool F.C. (2011–13)Crystal Palace F.C. (2013–14)Leicester City F.C. (2014–14)
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Sunderland career · 1997-2003
130 goals
Career totals via legends
Sunderland career (from season records)
197
Appearances
100
Goals

The match record covers games in our match-by-match data (2010 onward). Full career totals above are sourced from Wikipedia and cover the player's whole Sunderland career.

Did you know
  • Kevin Phillips — 35 goals in 1997-98 — One of the best single-season hauls in our records (48 apps).

By Season

Goals per season across 5 seasonsgoals per season
SeasonAppsGoalsMins
2002-03369
2001-023913
2000-014218
1998-993225
1997-984835

Appearances counted as matches started or come on as substitute. Figures from recorded season totals — we hold no match-by-match data for this era.

Appearances

6

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