The term ‘legend’ is vastly overused in sports.
Jonathan Phillips played in well over a thousand games during his career in the UK, recording over 500 points in the process.
After representing his hometown Cardiff Devils, Phillips moved to the Sheffield Steelers and was their captain from 2007 until retirement. During his career in domestic hockey, Phillips won four league championships, four play-off titles and won the EIHL cup once.
What he’ll be best remembered for though is his time as Captain of the national men’s team.
Phillips made his GB debut at the age of twenty at the 2003 IIHF World Championship Division I Group B in Zagreb.
His first goal came in a 5-4 defeat by Belarus in Norway in 2004, the first of twenty he would score whilst wearing a Great Britain jersey.
Phillips was appointed Captain for the 2008 Olympic Qualifiers in Sanok and eventually took over the full-time captaincy of the national team in 2012.
His career spanned some of the worst and best times in international hockey for his country.
Relegation in 2013 sent Great Britain back to the third tier and in the following campaign, the team were not even serious contenders for immediate promotion, finishing fourth.
Back-to-back silver medals in the two following campaigns were doubtless frustrating but in 2017, Phillips had the honour of captaining GB on home soil.
Belfast hosted the IIHF Division 1, Group B tournament and Great Britain excelled, winning all five games with consummate ease.
Winning gold and promotion turned the narrative and belief around the senior men’s program.
The proof was in the pudding as Great Britain won an unlikely gold medal in Hungary twelve months later. Promotion to the top tier was assured with two late goals against the host nation on the final day of the tournament.
On the biggest stage of all, Great Britain handled themselves with great dignity and made friends along the way with Phillips leading from the front.
Not only did they handle themselves with class off the ice, but GB also surprised many with their level of performance against the world’s best.
Needing a victory of any kind against France in the final game of the group to stave off relegation, what transpired is now folklore. Early in the second period, Great Britain trailed 3-0 despite playing well to that point. An epic comeback to tie the score at 3-3 meant overtime was required.
Phillips and Ben Davies draw up a plan from a defensive zone draw and pulled it off to perfection.
Davies sent the puck into open ice and Phillips won the ensuing footrace before holding off two French players.
The pass by Phillips to Davies was inch-perfect and the finish was even better.
Cue pandemonium as Great Britain pulled off one of the biggest shocks in world hockey. A huge moment for the nation in a hockey context and perhaps the defining moment of Phillips’ career.
The pandemic robbed Phillips of more international caps and his next milestone would be achieved behind closed doors in Latvia.
It was somewhat fitting that Phillips would earn his 100th cap in a milestone victory.
Great Britain defeated Belarus in regulation, the highest-ranked nation beaten during Phillips’s tenure as Captain.
There was no relegation in 2021 due to the continued effects of Covid19 but Great Britain finished out of the relegation placings in any event.
The 2022 tournament in Finland saw Phillips pass Ashley Tait to move into the all-time lead of 111 appearances for Great Britain.
Relegation from the top tier was a disappointment but Great Britain had once more gone toe-to-toe with the world’s best.
The stars aligned in 2023.
A fantastic job by those in charge to earn the honour of hosting IIHF Division 1, Group A, would present Phillips the opportunity to once again Captain his nation on home ice.
The return of key players to the roster plus the emergence of excellent newcomers gave Great Britain a fantastic chance to win gold and an immediate return to the top division.
Having announced he was retiring back in February, what better way for Phillips to end his career than by helping his country back to the promised land?
Rarely do sports entertain fairytale endings but on this occasion the script was word-perfect.
Great Britain won all five games including a nervy last-day victory against Italy to secure promotion.
Phillips admitted after the tournament that he had been carrying a hand injury from the Lithuania game but nothing was to keep him from representing his country one last time.
Both teams and 6,000 fans bore witness to a tribute video produced for the man affectionately known as ‘Jono’. As the video played, bottom lips were trembling around the arena, no more so than Phillips himself, as the emotion of the moment took over after the game.
It was the 116th and last appearance for Jonathan Phillips in a GB jersey and the perfect way for him to finish an illustrious career.
A true leader and inspirational captain for the national team, the like we may never see again.
His legacy is the bond of the GB group he leaves behind and the belief that Great Britain can not only compete against the world’s best but that they deserve to be there.
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