How I Started
Fil's love for football developed at an early age, he started playing in his back garden as a toddler and continued when he attended Brunswick House Primary School. Fil used to look forward to break and lunchtime at school, as he and his classmates were able to play football on the playground and on the fields. It wasn't until he was in Year 5 that he got the opportunity to don the white and blue of Brunswick, competing in several tournaments and matches.
My Greatest Achievement
At the age of 9, Fil joined Larkfield Boys FC and would stay for two seasons before the team folded after the 2004/05 season. Fil then moved to another local club: Barming Youth FC where he spent three years developing as a player before making the decision to join Aylesford FC in 2008. During his time at Aylesford, Fil was selected to play for the Kent FA in their Regional Centre of Excellence.
It was with Kent that Fil's career took off, travelling the country competing against other counties and honing his craft. Fil was greatly influenced by the coaches at Kent and has often publicly shared how he attributes much of his positive attitude to the lessons he learnt whilst playing under Matt Wood.
Despite all of the domestic success and the numerous national titles, the greatest achievement for me has always been representing my country. To make it to a Deaflympics & a World Cup, to earn 13 caps for my country was the achievement of a childhood dream and for that reason, it will always be the memory I hold closest to my heart.
The feeling of walking out and seeing the St. George's flag and Union Jack flying in the stands, the national anthem, the atmosphere and the pride. It's something I have not been able to replicate since and I doubt I ever will.
My Greatest Challenge
I narrowly missed out on making the Great Britain squad before the European Championships in 2015, this setback was a significant one having been so close to achieving a goal and a dream I had been working towards for so long. As with any adversity, I was at a fork in the road between an easy route and a hard route: to quit and give up, or to be resilient, work harder, develop and earn a place in the squad for the next major tournament. I took the harder route and the strength of character and resilience that grew within myself after doing so was tremendous, I went on to be a starter at the World Cup and Deaflympics.
My Hobbies
Now I am retired, I have more time to enjoy my hobbies which include surfing, mentoring and chess. My favourite food is pizza either pepperoni or Margherita!
My future Goals
I have many goals despite no longer competing and playing football, the biggest is to create a foundation to provide more opportunities in sport and education for deaf people. All of the work I do now involves giving back in some form or fashion to communities who have helped me on my journey or to the next generation pursuing their own goals and ambitions.