Former striker Kevin Phillips is the guest on the first episode of our brand-new monthly podcast series ‘Golden Tales’.
Every month we will be speaking to a former Hornet and hearing in great detail about their time at Vicarage Road, getting an honest assessment of their time as a Golden Boy.
Phillips, now 47, made 263 Premier League appearances, scored 92 goals in the top division of English football, won the Golden Boot and won eight England caps, but it all started for the hotshot in WD18 and he talks openly about the three years that set him on the road to stardom.
In this episode:
- How Phillips was spotted by former manager Glenn Roeder playing for non-league Baldock Town.
- The fact he had to take a pay cut from life at Baldock and working at Dixons to join the Hornets.
- How the sudden death of his father absolutely rocked him at the end of his first season with the club.
- The effect a problematic foot injury had on his mental health and the path it threatened to lead him down.
- The disappointment at the contract offer he was made in 1997 and how he felt he had no option but to reluctantly leave for Sunderland.
- And just how hard he had to restrain himself when rattling in a penalty for Crystal Palace in the play-off final against the Hornets at Wembley in 2013 out of respect for his former club.
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