ENGLAND striker Kevin Phillips' rise to fame and fortune could have come straight out of a Boy's Own story.
Kicked out by Southampton because he wasn't good enough one of his jobs at the Dell had been to clean Alan Shearer's boots he ended up stacking shelves in an electrical warehouse and playing football for non-league Baldock Town in Hertfordshire.
But he battled his way back to League football with Watford, earned himself a £600,000 transfer to Sunderland and, as he thrilled the adoring fans on Wearside, another North-East legend, Kevin Keegan, called him into the England squad for last season's friendly in Hungary.
Enough things have happened to Kevin Phillips in two exhilarating seasons to fill a book and that's just what he's done.
But he revealed at his book launch yesterday the heartbreak of losing his father, Ray, who died as he was making his way back to the big-time and how he almost gave up football because of it.
Phillips senior always had faith in his son, even when he was shown the door at The Dell as a right back who was too small to make the grade.
"If it wasn't for my dad I wouldn't be sitting here talking about my book that might sound a bit corny but it's true," says Phillips. "In non-League days when I had a game on a Saturday afternoon my mates would be ringing up on a Friday night asking if I was coming out on the town.
"He would be the one who would stop me he stopped short of locking me in my room.
"But he would say there's always a chance that someone will be watching.
"If he hadn't said that I would probably have gone out on a Friday and not done myself justice on the Saturday and I wouldn't have got my chance."
Phillips was picked up by Watford, much to the delight of his father but after he went to Vicarage Road in December 1994, his father died the following May.
"He only saw me play 15 times as a professional but at least he did see me play," says Phillips. "That was his dream to see me play as a professional, and he saw me score nine goals.
"I know he is up there watching me still."
The death of his father hit Phillips tremendously hard and he told Glenn Roeder, his manager at Watford, that he wanted to call it a day.
Phillips recalls: "I remember it clearly my emotions were up in the air and I remember crying to him on the phone and saying I didn't want to carry on because I'd had enough."
"I said 'I'm quitting' and I put the phone down on him.
"But he rang me back and said think about it your dad would want you to go on and achieve. Do it for him. That's when Julie, my wife, and my mum helped they were brilliant. If I hadn't had those two around me I would probably just have given up there and then and would have carried on working in warehouses.
"When I look back now I was only really doing it for my dad and when he went I thought what was the point of me carrying on. But then I had my first really good season and I realised this was what I wanted to be successful and do it for him."
Within two years Phillips was treading the paths of glory towards Sunderland as a relatively unknown player. But he proceeded to break Roker legend Brian Clough's post-war scoring record by hitting 35 goals.
Although a play-off defeat by Charlton Athletic prevented a dream return to the Premiership, it only delayed Sunderland's elevation by one season, in which their ace marksman was on target 25 times.
But Phillips admits that travelling to the North-East was very much a journey into the unknown for a lad who'd spent all his time in the south.
He admits: "It was hard for me to come up here but I definitely made the right move and I haven't regretted it one bit.
"I can see myself staying for a long while because Sunderland is a massive club and I am enjoying every minute of it."
Phillips says that he never dreamt he would be writing a book about his short career, but he hopes it will provide an insight into the life of a young man he is still only 26 who has more ups and downs than most.
His writing includes behind-the-scenes snippets which will amuse and entertain football fans, particularly those of red-and-white hue, though there are deeper, moving moments which show Phillips to be a strong character who has fought back from adversity.
He says: "I think my book will appeal mainly to Sunderland supporters and it will give them an insight into the day-to-day banter that goes on in the dressing rooms and stuff they will enjoy reading.
"But what I have tried to get over is the incredible route I have come through and the amazing two seasons Sunderland have given me and what I have given to Sunderland.
"I think it is something to write about.
