John Philliben
John signed for Albion as a 16 year old from Gairloch United, and made his debut just a few weeks later in a First Division match against Clydebank. He was the youngest player in the history of the club – a record which he retained until season 1997/98, when Steven Nicholas made his first team debut. Philliben has a real Albion pedigree – his father played for the club in the 1950s. John’s talent as a defender was quickly recognised by manager Alex Smith who recommended him to Andy Roxburgh for trials for the Scotland Youth Squads. Throughout 1981/82 and 1982/83 John played in the Scotland squad at Under 18 and Under 19 levels – they won the European Championships in Finland, and reached the Quarter Finals of the World Championships in Mexico. John scored one of the goals in the final of the European Championships and kept Dave McPherson of Rangers out of the team. He put together more than 100 first team games for Albion before his 20th birthday, and his ability drew attention from a number of clubs. However, it was another old Stirling connection that led to his transfer to English football. Billy Bremner was then manager of Doncaster Rovers and he paid out a fee of £65,000 to take John to Bellevue – this remains the record transfer fee that Albion have received. In his first few months with Doncaster John helped them to promotion from the Fourth Division. However, his stay in England was not as successful as he hoped with Doncaster struggling to compete in the Third Division. John had a spell on loan at Cambridge United, before accepting a return to Scotland with Motherwell, early in 1986/87. And there he remained – an invaluable member of the Motherwell squad, although often the player to be left out by a succession of managers. However, it is testament to his ability that despite not being a regular at all times, Motherwell were keen to keep Philliben, and his attitude and ability made him very popular with the club’s supporters. John was released by Motherwell at the end of season 1999/00, and quickly accepted the chance to come to Forthbank Stadium as full time player coach. However, two seasons of relative mediocrity meant that his contract was not renewed. He played in around half the matches, whilst first team coach, either from the start or as a substitute. However, the fans were on his back and the biggest surprise was probably that he remained in charge until the end of the season. In his two spells with Albion John Played a total of 165+14 games, scoring three goals. On leaving the Albion John returned to Motherwell, where he took up the role of Youth Coach. |