Michael Phenix (born 15 March 1989) is an English footballer who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is an area of Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a large housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approximately , ...

Career

Early career

Phenix was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and began his career at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

academy. He failed to earn a professional contract at Bolton and began playing amateur football with Manchester League side Hindsford. After a trial at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

, Phenix played for

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...

and

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the Liverpool County Premier League and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool Count ...

before joining

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United F.C., founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. They are currently members of the and play at ...

. He missed a month of the 2013–14 season after suffering from

ulcerative colitis Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the two types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the other type being Crohn's disease. It is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary sympto ...

Barnsley

In October 2014 Phenix joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

side

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

for a fee of £25,000. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 17 January 2015 in a 1–0 defeat against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

. After struggling for game time at

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports ground in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used by Barnsley Football Club for home fixtures, and those of their reserves. As of 2023, the Barnsley F.C. Women's team also play at the stadium. While the na ...

Phenix went out on loan to

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

in March 2015.

Southport

Despite playing several times for Barnsley in pre-season in 2015, he again went out on loan to

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

on 11 August 2015. He made his debut for Southport the same day, playing the full 90 minutes in their 0–0 draw with Macclesfield. His first goal for the club came in a 2–2 home draw against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

on 15 September 2015. In October 2015 Phenix had his role terminated by the club however he signed for the club after he agreed a deal for the remainder of the 2015–16 season. He was released at the end of the season, scoring five goals and making 36 appearances for the club.

Salford City

He joined Salford City in late May 2016. Mike made his Salford debut on the opening day of the 2016-2017 when Gloucester visited Moor Lane, The Ammies' first ever National League North fixture would finish 0-0 but 'Pheno' was soon on the goal trail. He scored in each of the next five matches, including a winner against local rivals FC United of Manchester. Sixteen goals were recorded over a campaign that ended in play-off disappointment but he had the consolation of finishing as the club's top scorer. He made a vital contribution during the 2017-2018 title winning season too, notching eleven times.

Southport (second spell)

In June 2018 he re-joined Southport. In October 2018, having made seven league appearances on his return to Southport, his contract was terminated with immediate effect. Phenix thereafter announced his retirement from football.The Non-League Football Paper
/ref> In May 2019 it was announced he had been banned from all football and football-related activity for four years for regularly using cocaine.

Return to football

In September 2022, Phenix made his return to football, joining

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. Having been founded as Hurst in 1892, they folded in 1892, before being reformed in 1909. ...

. In November 2022, following a short spell on dual-registration terms, he joined

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a association football, football league in the North West England, North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, ...

Premier Division club Prestwich Heys. In July 2024, following a year out of football, Phenix joined

Avro Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

. On 24 September 2024, he joined

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phenix, Mike 1989 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players North West Counties Football League players Droylsden F.C. players Skelmersdale United F.C. players AFC Telford United players Barnsley F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Southport F.C. players Salford City F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players Prestwich Heys A.F.C. players Avro F.C. players Wythenshawe Amateurs F.C. players English sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in association football Footballers from Manchester 21st-century English sportsmen