Mary Phillip reflects on hall of fame tribute and Peckham Town’s battle for floodlights and promotion
MARY PHILLIP is used to blazing a trail of football firsts having done so in the past with England.
The former Lioness and Arsenal centre-back’s achievements led to her entry into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame.
Now the first Black player to ever captain a senior Lionesses side wants to fulfil an ambition held by a London-based non-league men’s side.
That is having floodlights installed on the Dulwich Common pitch used by Peckham Town FC, a team Phillip, 47, has managed since 2019.
The challenge that has seen them miss out on promotion from the division they compete in within step seven of the National League system.
It is one Phillip hopes the club can overcome by gaining permission from Southwark Council to have the lights installed.
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Phillip said: "For the past eight years we’ve been denied going up because we don’t have the floodlights available within our area.
"Putting floodlights up at the common would be fantastic for the club.
"And not just the club but the community as a whole.
"To have lights that would just shine on the football pitch we use and not affect the houses around us, would be key going forward.
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"If we can get permission to do that and finish within the top five of our league and apply for promotion, that would be amazing.
"Hopefully, within the next five years we can get this in place and push ourselves up the league."
Four years ago, Peckham-born Phillip became the first female manager to steer a men’s side to cup success in England, taking Peckham Town to a London FA Senior Cup triumph.
During her 19-year club career which started at Millwall Lionesses aged 12 before she joined Fulham as a pro in 2000, she won 19 major trophies and three Community Shields.
When my granddaughter grows up she will see not just other women who made history in football but also that her grandmother has been a part of that
Mary Phillip
Some of Phillip’s biggest successes were with Arsenal, where she played from 2004-2008 making 135 appearances.
The mum-of-four and grandmother helped them make history in 2007 when they became the first English side to win a Women’s Champions League trophy under Vic Akers.
Phillip, who earned 65 England caps, adds: "As a young girl, I didn’t see that many women playing football.
"When my granddaughter grows up she will see not just other women who made history in football but also that her grandmother has been a part of that.
"She can imagine, ‘I can do this. It’s in my blood’. It’s important for people to see that and think they can do this.
Phillip competed in England’s first Fifa Women’s World Cup 29 years ago
And in 2007 she helped a side then managed by Hope Powell to reach the tournament’s last eight.
It’s among the many successes that has seen her join Powell in being celebrated by the National Football Museum.
She received: "I was looking (at the message) I received which mentioned the Hall of Fame, and then it dawned on me that it's the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame.
"It’s amazing because so many players have been put in there.
“To be a part of this with people like Hope is a great achievement and I’m proud."
Phillip’s induction took place four days after the Government’s relaunch of the Football Governance Bill.
The amended Bill includes a push for clubs to provide better transparency around their efforts to meet equality, diversity and inclusion standards.
Phillip hopes this is something that will lead to more women building careers in the game including coaching.
She adds: "If it’s on equal terms, it’s then for someone to be open enough to say, ‘this woman has the exact same qualities and qualifications, I’m going to go for her and see how it works out’.
"I’ve been given that opportunity at Peckham Town. Bryan Hall (the club’s founder) said he wanted a coach in.
"He let me come in and do my (Uefa) A licence with the boys there.
"He could see that it was working and the guys were relating pretty well to it.
“To have someone willing to give me that opportunity was a key factor for me.";
Back when Phillip was part of an England squad that competed in the Women’s World Cup in 1995, five of their players were of Black and mixed raced heritage.
The former centre-back hopes to see more talents from minority ethnic backgrounds breaking into the Lionesses side with just two - Lauren James and Jess Carter - playing at last summer’s World Cup.
Phillip said: "When I was playing for England the team had broader diversity.
"At the senior England level the manager is mostly going to look at players in the WSL and other top-flights.
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"So unless you get more homegrown players (from minority ethnic backgrounds) coming through in the WSL and other top leagues, you are not going to see that representation in the senior team.
"But there has been a little shift in there and it’s slowly changing."