John "JP" Phiri (born 3 May 1962) is a Zimbabwean retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Early life

Born on 3 May 1962, John Phiri is the son of former

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

striker July Phiri. He first played with foremost local team,

Rio Tinto FC Kadoma, formerly known as Gatooma, is a town in Zimbabwe. Overview The city is at the centre of a mining area, which provides gold, copper, and nickel. The most significant mine of the region is the Cam and Motor Mine, which is located in Eif ...

Under-13s (renamed Eiffel Flats in the mid-70s).

Football career

Phiri was coached at Rio Tinto by Peter Phiri (c.1938 – 23 March 2023). He also played for Mangula, as well as State House Tornadoes (1983), and Darryn Textiles in Zimbabwe, before heading to Europe. He missed a chance to sign for English side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, and signed for Polish side Miliarder Pniewy in 1993 instead, along with

Norman Mapeza Norman Takanyariwa Mapeza (born 12 April 1972) is a Zimbabwean football manager and former player. During his career, he played as a defender and midfielder. Club career Mapeza began his playing career with Darryn Textiles F.C. in Harare. He m ...

. He first played for the national team in 1982, against

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

and after that played regularly until the 1990s. Official figures recorded 94 matches, four less than

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

star

Peter Ndlovu Peter Ndlovu (born 25 February 1973) is a Zimbabwean football coach and former professional player who was most recently the team manager at South African Premier Division side Mamelodi Sundowns. As a player he was as a striker from 1988 unti ...

, but he believes he played a lot more. His last team was the

Cape Town Spurs A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

in South Africa, from 1995 to 1997.

After retirement

After retirement from football, Phiri worked at his business in

Budiriro Budiriro is a high-density suburb in the southwestern parts of Harare in Zimbabwe. It is the largest suburb by population in Harare and in Zimbabwe with about 90,000 people. There are about 30,000 houses but only two clinics and five elementary ...

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

, but it struggled in the face of the economic downturn of the country around 2000, and moved into printing. In 2014 he was appointed a board member at the

Zimbabwe Football Association The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) is the governing body of association football, football in Zimbabwe. It is responsible for organising national football competitions in Zimbabwe and managing the Zimbabwe national football teams. The curr ...

, concentrating on development.

Personal life

He has two sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phiri, John living people 1962 births Zimbabwean men's footballers Zimbabwe men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Dynamos F.C. players Sokół Pniewy players Warta Poznań players Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League players Ekstraklasa players South African Premier Division players Zimbabwean expatriate men's footballers Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in Poland Zimbabwean expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa