Melissa Frances Phillips (born September 4, 1987) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coach. She is currently Head of Analysis with Women’s Super League club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Early life

Born on September 4, 1987, in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

to Jeff and Frances Phillips, Phillips grew up in

Roseville, California Roseville is the most populous city in Placer County, California, located within the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of 2019, the United States Census Bureau, US Census Bureau estimated the city's population to be 141,500, making it the third-l ...

and attended Roseville High School. She captained the school's soccer team for two years and was named MVP as a junior and senior. She played club soccer for Placer United SC between 1998 and 2005.

College career

In 2005, Phillips earned a scholarship to study for a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in health and wellness while playing

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at CSU Stanislaus of the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

level

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...

(CCAA). She made 77 appearances in four seasons for the

Stanislaus State Warriors The Stanislaus State Warriors (also Stan State Warriors and Cal State Stanislaus Warriors) are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Stanislaus, located in Turlock, California, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. ...

and was named All-Conference CCAA second team three times. She also earned

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

second team All-West Region honors as a senior.

Coaching career

Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners

After graduating, Phillips moved to

CSU Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Ba ...

in 2009 to study for an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in curriculum and instruction. She served as assistant coach to Nicole Van Dyke, the head coach when Phillips was recruited by CSU Stanislaus, for the

Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners (also known as CSUB Roadrunners, and now in the process of being rebranded as the Bakersfield Roadrunners) are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing California State University, Bakersfield, locat ...

for two seasons. She also coached youth teams at Bakersfield Gunners and Turlock Tornados, and served as assistant coach at

Hilmar High School Hilmar High School serves students from the rural community of Hilmar and Stevinson, California, United States. History Hilmar High School was founded in 1911, and was originally known as Hilmar Colony Union High School. There were 26 students ...

. Ahead of the 2013 season, Phillips took over as head coach when Van Dyke stepped down to take an assistant role at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. Aged 23, Phillips was the youngest head coach in Division I. In 2012, she led the team to six wins, the most in the program's Division I history. Phillips also coached Hedda Regefalk to

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

Freshman of the Year honors in 2013. She resigned at the end of the 2013 season after three years.

San Francisco Dons and Penn Quakers

Having moved to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

to coach multiple youth clubs, Phillips was appointed as an assistant coach to

Jim Millinder Jim Millnder is a retired American soccer player and coach who played professionally in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and United Soccer League. He coached collegiate soccer for twenty-n ...

at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

in January 2015. In April 2015, Phillips once again reunited with Nicole Van Dyke, joining as her assistant coach at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. She spent six seasons with the

Penn Quakers The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing. Sponsored teams Men's varsit ...

, helping coach the team to an

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

title in 2018.

London City Lionesses

In May 2020, Phillips joined

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Hayes, Bromley, England. The team competes in the Women's Super League the first tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an indep ...

of the English second division

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

as assistant coach to new manager Lisa Fallon. In October 2020, Fallon stepped down from the role after a winless start to the season. Phillips assumed the head coach position on an interim basis, winning her first game in charge 2–1 against

London Bees London Bees is an England, English women's football (soccer), women's football club affiliated with Barnet F.C. They play in the FA Women's National League Division One South East, the fourth tier of the Women's football in England#Pyramid, Engl ...

before being permanently appointed to the position the following week. She guided the team to a 6th-place finish in her debut season and finished in second-place in the

2021–22 FA Women's Championship The 2021–22 FA Women's Championship was the fourth season of the rebranded FA Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England. It was renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014. On 3 April 2022, Liverpool clinched ...

behind

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Despite sitting at the top of the table midway through the

2022–23 Women's Championship The 2022–23 Women's Championship season (also known as the Barclays Women's Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the rebranded Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England. Ahead of the season th ...

, Phillips resigned as London City Lionesses head coach in January 2023 in order to return to the United States and take an assistant coaching role under Freya Coombe at

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it beg ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL).

Brighton & Hove Albion

In April 2023, Phillips stood down from her role at

in order to return to England to join

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, becoming the team's third permanent head coach of the season. She signed a two-and-a-half-year contract until June 2025. The team sat bottom of the

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

at the time of her appointment. Her first game in charge was a 3–2

FA Cup semi-final The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. Location The semi-finals have always been contested at neutra ...

defeat to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Four days later, the team beat Everton 3–2 in the WSL to rise to 10th place. Phillips took seven points from the final eight WSL games of the season and retained their WSL status by finishing five points clear of relegation. On February 1, 2024, Phillips was sacked by Brighton with the team in 10th.

Coaching statistics

All competitive games (league and domestic cups) are included.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Melissa 1987 births Living people Women's association football defenders Sportspeople from Santa Cruz, California California State University, Stanislaus alumni Women's Super League managers American women's soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen American women's soccer coaches Female association football managers Soccer players from California London City Lionesses managers American expatriate soccer coaches American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate football managers in England Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. managers Angel City FC non-playing staff College women's soccer players in the United States San Francisco Dons women's soccer coaches Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners women's soccer coaches Women's Super League 2 managers Penn Quakers coaches