Former Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper John Phillips passes away
Former Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper John Phillips has passed away at the age of 65 following a long illness.
Phillips – whose father and grandfather also played for Salop – made his first-team debut for Town aged 17, under Harry Gregg.
He went on to play 51 times for the club before being snapped up by Aston Villa in 1969.
After two years there, he moved to Chelsea for £25,000 and spent almost a decade at the club.
He was understudy to England international Peter Bonetti for long periods but played 149 games for the Blues, including some big ones in the triumphant 1970/71 European Cup Winners’ Cup team.
Having spent some time on loan at Crewe Alexandra, Phillips was sold to Brighton for £15,000 in 1980 and he later played for Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace.
Born in Shrewsbury, he did not play for England youth due to an administrative hitch and went on to win four Wales caps.
The first of those was in 1973 as he was between the sticks at Wembley against England in the old Home International Championship.
