Living in a family full of Brentford supporters and with a great uncle who played for the club, the Bees have been a constant in Maddie Phillips’ life.
The 23-year-old is Brentford Women’s newest arrival, returning to the game after four years away following time spent at Chelsea Academy and Charlton as a junior.
Her journey to Brentford is a long one that has included time in a range of teams, however there was always a lure to one day don the red and white jersey.
“It was one of those things when I was playing at Chelsea that my dad would always be like ‘go on, go play for Brentford,’” says Phillips.
“Then it just never came about and obviously I stopped playing. I went to a game just after Christmas and I was sat in the stands thinking about it.
“I sent an email to an address I found online, then I got asked to send over some clips and a CV which I did and then it kind of all spiralled very quickly. In the span of about three days I was here and signed, so it all happened very quickly.”
Phillips wasted little time making an impact with Karleigh Osborne’s side, making her debut in a 6-1 win over Actonians Reserves.
Having followed in her great uncle Tommy Higginson’s footsteps, Maddie admits “it’s really special” to finally play for Brentford.
Higginson is a club legend, playing 433 games across all competitions for the Bees, 388 of those Football League appearances, while also scoring 15 goals.
“I think it was just one of those moments where I was sat there thinking if it was going to be anywhere, why not be the club that I support, my family supports, my great uncle played for the club years and years ago,” she continues.
“It means everything. It’s one of those things that you kind of don’t really think is real; I don’t think it’ll ever feel real until I look back on it.
“It’s really special and I’m just trying to basically milk every moment that I can and just enjoy everything that I can whilst I am still enjoying it, because I don’t want to get back into that position that I was in in 2019 when I didn’t enjoy football any more.”
While football became such a huge part of Phillips’ life as a youngster, it wasn’t always that way.
Her older sister Shakira played as a child, but it wasn’t until Phillips was 8 years old that she decided to give football a go.
“I was never really interested, I used to literally sit on the side and just play with the mud,” says Phillips.
“It wasn’t until I got to eight and I was like ‘maybe I’ll try’. It kind of was just non-stop from there, really.”
An after-school club during primary school run by the Chelsea Foundation turned into a weekly FA training session, which became a two-week and then six-month trial with Chelsea’s Academy.
The following summer, Phillips attended open trials and became a full-time member of the academy, staying with the Blues from the 12 to 19 years old, eventually making her way into the Chelsea Ladies Reserves, a step below the WSL team.
“It opened me up to quite a lot of opportunities to train with the first team and get in non-competitive fixtures and stuff like that,” she continues.
In addition to her Chelsea duties, Phillips was called up to Under-18 and Under-19 England camps, playing two games against Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.
In the summer of 2019 she moved to Charlton, eventually leaving the club in December 2019. Four years down the line, Phillips reveals she is enjoying being involved in football again.
“I hadn’t played anything since until about a month ago, between that time it was absolutely nothing, literally four years of no football,” she says.
“I’ve really enjoyed it, I think it’s a very professional environment and I think the club offers so much in terms of a very full package.
“The use of the B-team facilities are amazing, even the staffing that they’ve got, coaches galore, physios, doctors, psychologists, media team, it’s just stuff that you don’t really see at this level and stuff that, to be honest, I haven’t seen at clubs that are higher up.
“It’s a really, really good environment and they’re definitely pushing to be more professional and it’s one of those things that I think would make the transition easier the more we get promoted; the foundations are already there.”
