Sunderland legend reacts after shock exit

Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips insisted it was job done after he left his role as South Shields manager following a 15-month reign at the Northern Premier League club.

The former Black Cats striker has enjoyed a promising first venture into the lead role in the dugout after leading the Mariners to the Northern Premier League Premier Division title and to the first round of the FA Cup during a historic season for the club.

After being appointed as successor to the long-serving Graham Fenton in January 2022, Phillips was unable to prevent his side falling to a play-off semi-final defeat against Warrington Town months later as their stay in non-league’s third tier was extended into a fourth season.

But armed with new signings such as former Swindon Town centre-back Tom Broadbent and Hartlepool United duo Martin Smith and Gary Liddle, the Mariners made no mistake during Phillips’ first and now only full season as their manager by claiming the Premier Division title earlier this month. Just seven days on from celebrating their title triumph in front of over 3,200 supporters at the 1st Cloud Arena following a 2-1 win against Warrington Town, South Shields announced they had parted company with the former England striker ‘by mutual consent’ in a statement released on Saturday evening.

The Mariners stressed Phillips has left ‘on extremely good terms’ following talks with chairman Geoff Thompson earlier this week and the Black Cats legend believes he has left the club in a strong position as they prepare for life in the National League North.

“I feel that this is the right time for me to depart, for a number of reasons,” he explained.

“To be manager of South Shields has been an amazing experience and I’m very grateful for everything Geoff has done during my time at the club. I’ve given my heart and soul to this club and I’m disappointed to leave, but I’ve been in football a long time and I know things can change very quickly.

“There are lots of different factors behind this mutual decision, but I’d like to place on record my thanks to everyone connected to the club and I wish whoever comes in next all the success in the world. I was brought here to do a job and I did it, and although I’d have loved to have taken it further, circumstances have changed and I’ll be supporting the club in the next phase of its journey from afar.”

Just over 15 months have passed since Mariners supremo Thompson made the surprise move to hand Phillips as first role in management after he had spent time coaching with Derby County, Leicester City and Stoke City following the end of his playing career in 2014.

Thompson watched on as his club claimed the fourth promotion of his eight-year ownership earlier this month and he believes Phillips has earned ‘a special place’ in the Mariners history by leading them to within two promotions of a place in the Football League.

He said: “This has been a very difficult decision to come to, particularly given the successful season we have just enjoyed. We are hugely grateful to Kevin for his work over the last 15 months and the role he has played in delivering a promotion we have been striving for since 2018. He will always hold a special place in our history and we wish him nothing but success in his career.”