I remember watching his debut, and coming away thinking that he was slow, weak, and totally unconvincing, but after all we got Alan Ball.
Phillips was born in
Exeter and began his football career as a trainee with his local side
Exeter City, turning professional in July 1994. He soon attracted the attention of higher division clubs and moved to
Manchester City in November 1995 for a fee of £500,000. This remained Exeter's record sale until they sold
Matt Grimes for around £1.75 million in 2015.
[1] Upon signing Phillips, City manager
Alan Ball predicted "Buster will be the first British £10 million pound player."
[2] He struggled to establish himself at Maine Road and was loaned to
S****horpe United in January 1998 and back to Exeter City in March 1998.
He left Maine Road in August 1998, moving to
Portsmouth for a fee of £100,000. Again he struggled to establish himself and spent a month on loan to
Bristol Rovers in February 1999. In August 2000 he returned to
Devon, joining
Plymouth Argyle in August 2000 for a fee of just £25,000.
[3] He was released at the end of the 2003-04 season, after spending much of the season struggling with injuries.
He joined
Torquay United on a free transfer in July 2004,
[4] becoming one of a growing band of former Plymouth players signed by
Leroy Rosenior, others including
Craig Taylor,
Brian McGlinchey,
Martin Gritton and
Matthew Villis.
In November 2006, the BBC linked him with a possible move back to Exeter City, by now a
Conference National side,
[5] but the move fell through and Phillips remained at
Plainmoor. He failed to appear again for Torquay and in May 2007 he was forced to retire due to suffering
chronic fatigue syndrome.
[6]