AFTER playing for and coaching Australian national teams, Gary Phillips has returned home to coach the next generation of footballers as the Technical Director at North Coast Football.

Phillips’ stellar career started at Coffs Harbour High School, representing Australian School Boys and spanned five decades of winning national grand finals and coaching Matildas like Sam Kerr and Emily Van Egmond.

Phillips grew up on the Coffs Coast and has never forgotten his roots.

“I grew up in Sawtell and always come here between jobs to reset whenever I can,” he said.

“I am really delighted to be back in my home town and helping the next generation of junior footballers on their football journey.

“There’s lots of talent on the North Coast, there’s talent everywhere, hopefully we can provide a platform and the opportunities to prepare juniors for the next level.”

Phillips oozes an insatiable desire for improvement and provides sage advice to juniors hoping for a future in the game.

“My message to players who want a future in the game is keep learning and get better every day.

“They say players are still physically and mentally developing up until the age of 23-years-old.

“So development is the most important thing.

“Listening and learning every day, every day is a new opportunity to improve and get better.

“You have to be passionate about your craft, you have to work hard, there are no shortcuts.

“But you also need a plan, hopefully we can help with that,” said Phillips.

Phillips shared some of the highlights of his glittering career with News Of The Area.

“It started at Jetty High School, I was selected for the Australian Schoolboys team three years in a row, in years 10,11 and 12, which I understand hasn’t been repeated since.”

After graduating from the national schoolboys team, Phillips signed for Sydney Olympic, playing in six NSL (National Soccer League) Grand Finals and winning four National Cup Finals.

After 258 appearances over an eleven year period, Phillips headed north and signed for the Brisbane Strikers; making 98 appearances over four years and winning another grand final.

“Winning the grand final for the Brisbane Strikers was the last match of my career, it was a fantastic way to go out, a memory I will never forget a full house at what is now Suncorp Stadium.

“After hanging up my playing boots I was appointed head-coach at the Queensland Academy of Sport for four years.

“Then I was asked to coach the Tonga national team.

“That was an experience,” he laughed.

“We were bidding for a place in the World Cup.

“Ironically, we were drawn in the same qualifying group as Australia along with American Samoa and Western Samoa.

“Our first match was against Australia who had a very strong team including John Aloisi, Mark Schwarzer, Tony Popovic and Aurelio Vidmar.

“We were meant to play in Tonga but it got switched to Australia.

The next twist was that no large stadiums were available in Sydney or Brisbane.

“So it got scheduled at the newly built C.ex Stadium in Coffs Harbour.

“We lost 22-0 but most people don’t know or understand how football is played in Tonga.

“Football was played barefooted inside the King’s Palace grounds, basically on the beach – the players didn’t have football boots.

“It’s compulsory to wear boots in World Cup qualifiers.

“The football boots arrived the day before the match against Australia!

“All the players got blisters.

“We would have beaten them if we played them barefoot on the beach,” laughed Phiilips.

After the World Cup qualifiers, Phillips received a phone call which changed the path of his coaching career.

“I received a call out of the blue from a former teammate who was now General Manager at Sydney Olympic who asked if I would take the role as head coach.

“I accepted and in our first year we finished third on the ladder and won the grand final, defeating Perth Glory in WA.

“It was a hostile atmosphere in Western Australia with over 50,000 fans at Subiaco Stadium.

“The feeling of winning a grand final as a player and a coach, for the same club is rare and surreal.

“Football is a game of fine margins, we were dead on our feet in that match and had nothing left in the tank, if it went two minutes longer, we would have lost, but that’s football,” he said.

“The next year we won the league and were crowned NSL Premiers, or the A-League as it’s called now.”

Phillips’ next appointment included coaching juniors who developed into world class players and will be playing for Australia in the FIFA World Cup this year.

“After Sydney Olympic I had three years in Vietnam before returning to Australia as head coach at the NSW Institute of Sport in Newcastle.

“A lot of the girls in the program also played in the Jets squad, so I was also appointed coach of the Newcastle Jets women’s team in their inaugural year of the W-League.

“We had some amazing players.

“Even as a fourteen-year-old Emily Van Egmond was an amazing footballer and now she’s on the world stage playing for the Matildas, she’s an incredible athlete and a joy to coach.

“I also coached the Australian u17s team which included Emily, Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Allanah Kennedy and others now in line to play in this year’s World Cup.

“I’ve worked in nine different countries in different capacities, I’m glad to be back home in Coffs Harbour doing the job I love helping the emerging talent on the North Coast,” said Phillips.

By David WIGLEY