Nicky Phillips

One of several East End boys who flourished in City’s youth side in the late 1970s (Steve Jacobs, Les Sealey and Steve Whitton were others), Nicky was a midfield dynamo in the same youth team as Danny Thomas, Mark Hateley and Peter Bodak. Competition in City’s midfield however was tough with players like Gooding, Blair, Steve Hunt and Gerry Daly. Gordon Milne gave Nicky his chance when Gooding picked up an injury but he did little in his five appearances to suggest that he was of First Division class. In 1981 he was allowed to leave and moved to Hong Kong. He was last heard of in the mid 1980s playing for East End club Barking.