Melissa Phillips

Melissa Frances Phillips (born September 4, 1987) is an American professional soccer coach who is the head coach of Brighton & Hove Albion of the English Women's Super League.

This article is about the American soccer coach. For the criminal's mother of the same name, see Josh Phillips (murderer).

Melissa Phillips
Personal information
Full name Melissa Frances Phillips[1]
Date of birth (1987-09-04) September 4, 1987
Place of birth Santa Cruz, California, United States
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Brighton & Hove Albion (head coach)
Youth career
1998–2005 Placer United SC
0000–2005 Roseville Tigers
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2008 Stanislaus State Warriors 77 (9)
Managerial career
2009–2010 Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (assistant)
2011–2013 Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners
2015 San Francisco Dons (assistant)
2015–2020 Penn Quakers (assistant)
2020 London City Lionesses (assistant)
2020–2023 London City Lionesses
2023 Angel City FC (assistant)
2023– Brighton & Hove Albion

Early life

Born on September 4, 1987, in Santa Cruz, California to Jeff and Frances Phillips, Phillips grew up in Roseville, California and attended Roseville High School. She captained the school's soccer team for two years and was named MVP as a junior and senior. She played club soccer for Placer United SC between 1998 and 2005.[1][2]

College career

In 2005, Phillips earned a scholarship to study for a B.A. in health and wellness while playing college soccer at CSU Stanislaus of the NCAA Division II level California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). She made 77 appearances in four seasons for the Stanislaus State Warriors and was named All-Conference CCAA second team three times. She also earned NSCAA second team All-West Region honors as a senior.[1][3]

Coaching career

Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners

After graduating, Phillips moved to CSU Bakersfield in 2009 to study for an M.A. in curriculum and instruction. She served as assistant coach to Nicole Van Dyke, the head coach when Phillips was recruited by CSU Stanislaus, for the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners for two seasons. She also coached youth teams at Bakersfield Gunners and Turlock Tornados, and served as assistant coach at Hilmar High School. Ahead of the 2013 season, Phillips took over as head coach when Van Dyke stepped down to take an assistant role at Stanford. Aged 23, Phillips was the youngest head coach in Division I.[2] In 2012, she led the team to six wins, the most in the program's Division I history. Phillips also coached Hedda Regefalk to Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 2013. She resigned at the end of the 2013 season after three years.[4]

San Francisco Dons and Penn Quakers

Having moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to coach multiple youth clubs, Phillips was appointed as an assistant coach to Jim Millinder at the University of San Francisco in January 2015.[5]

In April 2015, Phillips once again reunited with Nicole Van Dyke, joining as her assistant coach at the University of Pennsylvania.[6] She spent six seasons with the Penn Quakers, helping coach the team to an Ivy League title in 2018.[7]

London City Lionesses

In May 2020, Phillips joined London City Lionesses of the English second division Championship as assistant coach to new manager Lisa Fallon. In October 2020, Fallon stepped down from the role after a winless start to the season. Phillips assumed the head coach position on an interim basis, winning her first game in charge 2–1 against London Bees before being permanently appointed to the position the following week.[8] She guided the team to a 6th-place finish in her debut season and finished in second-place in the 2021–22 FA Women's Championship behind Liverpool. Despite sitting at the top of the table midway through the 2022–23 Women's Championship, Phillips resigned as London City Lionesses head coach in January 2023 in order to return to the United States and take an assistant coaching role under Freya Coombe at Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).[9]

Brighton & Hove Albion

In April 2023, Phillips stood down from her role at Angel City FC in order to return to England to join Brighton & Hove Albion, becoming the team's third permanent head coach of the season. She signed a two-and-a-half year contract until June 2025. The team sat bottom of the Women's Super League at the time of her appointment.[10] Her first game in charge was a 3–2 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United.[11] Four days later, the team beat Everton 3–2 in the WSL to rise to 10th place.[12]

Coaching statistics

All competitive games (league and domestic cups) are included.

As of October 22, 2023
Head coaching record by team and tenure
Team Nation From To Record
P W D L GF GA GD Win %
Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners  United States March 8, 2011 January 25, 2014 56 13 4 39 42 124 −82 023.21
London City Lionesses  England October 9, 2020 January 23, 2023 61 31 12 18 92 65 +27 050.82
Brighton & Hove Albion  England April 7, 2023 present 13 4 1 8 18 26 −8 030.77
Career totals 130 48 17 65 152 215 −63 036.92

References
  1. "Melissa Phillips - Women's Soccer". Stanislaus State Athletics.
  2. "Melissa Phillips - Women's Soccer Coach". California State University at Bakersfield Athletics.
  3. "Stanislaus Stat Women's Soccer Record Book". Stanislaus State Athletics.
  4. "Women's Head Soccer Coach Melissa Phillips has resigned". The Runner. January 29, 2014.
  5. "Millinder adds former head coach to staff". University of San Francisco Athletics. January 28, 2015.
  6. "Melissa Phillips Named Asst. Women's Soccer Coach". University of Pennsylvania Athletics. April 17, 2015.
  7. "Women's Soccer Clinches Share of Ivy Title". University of Pennsylvania Athletics. October 28, 2018.
  8. "Melissa Phillips appointed new London City Lionesses head coach". London City Lionesses. October 16, 2020.
  9. "Phillips leaves Championship leaders Lionesses". BBC Sport.
  10. "Melissa Phillips named head coach of Women's Super League strugglers Brighton". The Independent. April 7, 2023.
  11. "Man Utd reach first Women's FA Cup final". BBC Sport.
  12. "Terland double helps Brighton off bottom of WSL". BBC Sport.
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