At 23, I couldn't believe I was on the scrapheap, says Phil Ifil

11 April 2012

For most football fans, watching the Champions League is a chance to enjoy the best players in the world doing battle. For Dagenham and Redbridge defender Phil Ifil, it is painful a reminder of what might have been.

Ifil is just another example of how a talented English youngster has been allowed to slip through the net at a Premier League club as they chase the prize money and kudos that playing in Europe has to offer.

The right-back was one of the brightest prospects to come through Tottenham's academy over the past decade, having been at the club since he was eight years old.

He made his debut at home against Liverpool aged just 17 in 2004 and clearly still had the backing of former manager Martin Jol three years later when the Dutchman said: "He's a real Spurs player, a home-grown player with a great mentality and a very good career ahead of him."

And yet while Tottenham were participating in the biggest game in their history against Young Boys last month to qualify for the group stages of Europe's premier club competition, the 23-year-old was arguably in a more important fight, that of saving his crumbling career.

For Ifil's name was on a 31-page list of free agents which included Jeremie Aliadiere, Lee Hendrie, Francis Jeffers and Nigel Quashie.

It is a frightening prospect for any young footballer, let alone one who also has a 12-month-old son to look after. He said: "It was scary because I have more responsibilities, I have a family, I have a little boy.

"It did go through my mind sometimes how I was going to provide for him. Football is changing now. People are becoming more aware of what they want and are not handing out contracts like they used to.

"Nowadays people don't care what you've done in the past, it's the now. There are more experienced players than me still looking for a club.

"But I always believed I would get a club, not because I was over-confident but you have to believe in yourself.

"I just wanted to prove to myself that I was not going to fall out of the game which is so easy to do.

"I know a lot of players from the time I came through who are no longer playing. Football is a very emotional game and some people get disappointments and come back, while others just want to move on."

The former England Under-20 international took the hard decision to leave White Hart Lane in January 2008 when the club moved to sign Alan Hutton and Chris Gunter to push him lower down the pecking order.

He joined Colchester United, who were then in the Championship, after loan spells at Millwall and Southampton in a bid to get the first-team football he craved to develop his career.

Things were going well, despite relegation to League One a few months later, until the departure of manager Aidy Boothroyd in May resulted in the offer of a new contract being withdrawn by the club.

Now he was facing the prospect of competing with a number of professionals in a similar position with a much harder task to impress, especially once the new season got under way.

He added: "It's difficult for clubs to take you on if you haven't played any games and it's really hard to prove things in training.

"I had to keep my fitness up on my own, too, and I employed a personal trainer. It is something you have to do, you have to look after yourself. People aren't going to do it for you.

"I went to Crystal Palace for two weeks, then I went to Watford for another couple of weeks and that's when Dagenham stepped in earlier this month.

"John Still gave me an opportunity and I was thankful for that. I just want to repay him and show the club that they made the right decision.

"I will always be able to say I made my professional debut against Liverpool but I don't want to look back. I'm 23, I'm not at the end of my career. I have to work hard and do my best at Dagenham first.

"We are in the bottom three at the moment but I believe we have the quality to stay in League One.

"It is still early in the season and no one thought that Southampton would be down there.

"We're not worried about it at the moment, the level of performances recently have been good.

"We drew 2-2 at Charlton and Colchester recently which showed we're not scared of anyone."

One would think it would be human nature for Ifil to take one look at Dagenham's rustic Victoria Road Stadium, which holds just over 6,000 people, and reminisce about the time he played in front of 35,000 fans just a few miles away at White Hart Lane.

But Ifil said: "I'm really enjoying my time at Dagenham, still loving football and am doing everything I can to get back to the top."

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