Education
McPhillips attended Maricourt High School.
McPhillips attended Maricourt High School.
McPhillips was a forward and he began his career in the youth team at Liverpool F.C. He did not make a first team appearance at Anfield and left Liverpool for Halifax Town in 1987. He soon made his mark by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw against Carlisle United in the 1988-1989 season. He went on to score 29 goals in 93 appearances for Halifax Town.
In 1991, he signed for Crewe Alexandra on a free transfer, scoring once in six league appearances for Crewe.
He had a brief spell with Nantwich Town in 1992. McPhillips became Academy Director at Crewe Alexandra, in 1992 and spent 14 years as a youth coach at the club before joining the Academy Staff of Blackburn Rovers in 2006.
He set up the Merseyside-based the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (Technique/Movement/Skill) Soccer school in 1996. He managed the Blackburn Rovers Youth team that reached the 2012 FA Youths Cup Final, but were defeated by Chelsea.
In January 2012, He was appointed caretaker assistant manager to Gary Bowyer after Henning Berg was sacked as manager.
In June 2013, he was appointed assistant manager.