Phil Ifil

Not many footballers can count Liverpool and Newcastle United as their first professional opponents, but for a young Philip Ifil, the Premier came calling.

EARLY LIFE

Born in Willesden in 1986, Philip Ifil attended Gladstone Park Primary School in the heart of Brent. Football was a shared passion with older brother and fellow professional footballer, Jerel Ifil. Both attended Willesden High School, whose impressive alumni also includes Luther Blissett, David Beasant, and Rachel Yankey.

From a young age, Phil dreamt that football would be his vehicle for success. His earliest memories of the game are set in Gladstone Park in the Dollis Hill area of the borough, topped only by the memory of playing for Brent beneath the twin towers of the original Wembley Stadium. The young defender shone at Springfield Football Club based in Kingsbury, before joining Tottenham Hotspur’s Academy at the age of eight.

Career highlights

Philip Ifil was one of the brightest prospects to come through Tottenham’s Academy, and was 18 when he signed professionally with the Club. The right-back was handed his debut on the season opener of the 2004-05 season at White Hart Lane. The match drew a crowd of 36,104 and ended in a 1-1 draw with goals from Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe and Liverpool’s Djibril Cissé.

Just one week later, he played the full 90 minutes in his second appearance for Spurs, as they travelled to St. James’ Park to take on Newcastle United, this time playing in front of 51,185 supporters. In January 2008, the former England International with 30 appearances to his name, made the difficult decision to leave the Premier League club and join Colchester United after loan spells at Millwall and Southampton. He later made appearances for Dagenham & Redbridge, and Kettering Town.

Over the course of his career, Phil Ifil earned 121 appearances across numerous leagues of English football playing against the likes of Steve Gerrard and Alan Shearer.

Inspiring to Achieve

For more content on Phil click on the ‘Heritage Activies’ tab in the main menu.

Did you know?

Footballing family

Phil’s brother Jerel, was also a professional footballer playing for Sindown Town, Aberdeen

Internationals

Phil almost represent Cyprus at international level in his 20s, through his mother’s birthplace.

Country captain

Phil captained England youth on a few occasions, reaching 30 caps in total including playing in two European Championships.

Teenage debut

Phil was just 17 years old when he made his debut for Tottenham Hotspur against Liverpool in 2004, given to him by Martin Jol. He also played with Talksport’s Jamie O’Hara in the Spurs youth team and was just 14 when he played in a Spurs reserves match v Aston Villa.