, Ipswich Town nearly signed ex-Sunderland and Birmingham City striker

Ipswich Town nearly signed ex-Sunderland and Birmingham City striker

Former Football League striker Kevin Phillips has revealed he came very close to signing for Ipswich Town early in his career, as per an interview on the Benjamin Bloom Football Channel. 

The ex-England international agreed a deal to join the Tractor Boys but a move didn’t materialise in the end.

Phillips had an impressive career and scored 282 goals in 660 appearances.

He had spells with the likes of Watford, Sunderland, Southampton, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham City, Blackpool, Crystal Palace and Leicester City.

Gary M. Prior/Getty Images Sport

Phillips has said how close Ipswich were to being on that list of clubs: “I don’t mind saying, I’ve said it plenty of times, that’d I’d agreed a contract with Ipswich Town. We made the journey, me and my agent, up to Portman Road and had a tour of the ground. At the time they trained opposite the ground and we had a tour there too.

“George Burley was brilliant and was keen to get me on board and we had agreed a personal contract with David Sheepshanks, who was the chairman at the time.”

He added: “But then the news came through that the two clubs couldn’t agree a fee and the only way they could then do it would be to go to a tribunal. I believe at the time either Ipswich or Watford had a player going to a tribunal and you couldn’t have two players going to one at the same time.”

Phillips hung up his boots in 2014 and has since held coaching roles at Leicester City, Derby County and Stoke City.

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