Philakahle Mfan'fikile Dlamini (born 26 February 1999) is a South African 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 ...

player who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Texoma FC Texoma FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sherman, Texas. First announced in 2023, the team plans to play in USL League One beginning in 2025 and USL W League in 2026 at Historic Bearcat Stadium. History On October 23, 2023, t ...

in the

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

Career

Early career

Dlamini spent time with the KZN Football Academy and the reserve team of

Lamontville Golden Arrows Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. are a South African soccer club based in Durban that plays in the Premiership. History It was founded in 1943 in the streets of Lamontville, a township in Durban. The club played in the defunct National Profes ...

, making five appearances for the Golden Arrows' reserve team in the Diski Challenge League. After graduating from the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; , ) is a public research university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University ...

, Dlamini signed with

AmaZulu Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni people, Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They o ...

. He appeared on the bench for AmaZulu's

South African Premier Division The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afric ...

first team side, but never made a first-team appearance. In 2021, Dlamini joined

National First Division The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...

side Uthongathi and made four league appearances. In 2022, Dlamini moved to the United States to play

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 ...

Saginaw Valley State University Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) is a public university in University Center, Michigan, United States, in Saginaw County. It was founded in 1963 as Saginaw Valley College. It is located on in Saginaw County's Kochville Township, appr ...

. He made 15 appearances for the Cardinals in 2022, also adding four assists, earning him first-team All-Midwest Region honors from the United Soccer Coaches and first-team all-conference accolades from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Lexington SC

On 19 January 2023, Dlamini signed with

side

Lexington SC Lexington Sporting Club is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2021 as an expansion side in USL League One (the third division of the United States soccer league system), the clu ...

ahead of their inaugural season.

Texoma FC

On 18 March 2025, Dlamini joined USL League One side

.https://www.texomafc.com/news/2025/03/17/texoma-fc-signs-former-south-africa-international-phil-dlamini/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dlamini, Phila Living people 1999 births AmaZulu F.C. players College men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Lexington SC players Men's association football midfielders South African expatriate men's soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States South Africa men's under-20 international soccer players South Africa men's youth international soccer players South African men's soccer players USL League One players Uthongathi F.C. players Saginaw Valley State Cardinals men's soccer players Texoma FC players 21st-century South African sportsmen