Mark Phillips played Championship football for Millwall, won promotion with Brentford during his playing days and now wants to raise awareness of ADHD in football.
After a playing career that spanned almost 20 years and included nearly 400 senior appearances, Mark Phillips was under no illusions about the challenges that life after football would bring.
But after quitting my job in 2022, as I began to come to terms with the realities of day-to-day life, it quickly became clear that something bigger was going on. In his own words, Phillips was struggling. As the days passed, he felt “lost” and “tired” for months on end.
At that time in his life, there were significant events that prevented him from resolving things: his divorce and the personal trauma of his father’s death. But even though Phillips didn’t fully understand the reasons behind the fatigue that had grown since her retirement, she knew she needed help.
Over the next few months, he pursued answers without much success. “I know most people struggle at the end of their careers, but I think I always knew there was more to it than that,” he admits.
read more: ‘It was very difficult to write’ – Ollie Arbruster reflects on Sheffield United’s breakthroughread more: Cardiff City star Dylan Lawlor talks about his Wales debut and dream start to League One life
In fact, it happened at home moments later, giving Phillips the lead he had previously eluded to. His son was diagnosed with ADHD at age 15, which led Phillips to think he might be neurodivergent, too, after recognizing some of the traits in himself.
“When I was having conversations (about ADHD) at my house, I started thinking that it might apply to me as well.”
Phillips sought confirmation of her neurodiversity and considers it a “life-changing” moment, the culmination of a nearly four-year journey. It wasn’t until March of this year that Phillips finally got clarity. The process consisted, among other things, of a three-hour evaluation (“I think we should actually have a new name, because this was kind of an informal discussion”), an old-fashioned report and a questionnaire for both him and his mother.
As the process progressed, more and more things came together in his own mind. His diagnosis at age 43 was cathartic, and things that never made sense during his playing days suddenly began to make sense.
“I learned the reality, not the stereotypes of what ADHD is. Suddenly, social media posts about ADHD made a lot more sense. My functioning, my organizational skills, my emotional regulation, I’ve always been very emotional and felt things from an early age. So all of this was very beneficial to me.”
“The process made me realize that my whole soccer career (ADHD) remained under the radar because I was training for three hours before games, in a team environment, at an elite level with real structure.”
Phillips rose through the academy ranks at his boyhood club Millwall and went on to play for the likes of Brentford, Southend United and AFC Wimbledon. A powerful centre-half, Phillips made 74 appearances for the Lions, 50 of them in the Championship, before being released in the summer of 2008.
After leaving The Den, Phillips played an early role in Brentford’s remarkable rise to England’s top tier, winning the League Two title at Griffin Park before moving to Southend, where he scored seven goals from centre-half in one season. Even after dropping to non-league, he continued to play until 2022, appearing in nearly 400 games as a senior.
Regardless, Phillips can’t help but look back and wonder. Despite playing in seven of English football’s top eight divisions, before his diagnosis, Phillips had characterized his almost 20-year playing career as a “failure”.
“I had all the talent in the world, but I always put a lot of pressure on myself,” recalls Phillips, who was in and out of the Millwall squad after graduating from the club’s academy.
“Most soccer players are perfectionists. In my experience, and it’s important to say my experience because neurodiversity is unique to each person, I strived for perfection and wanted to play a perfect game in every match. But my driving force was fear. I was so afraid of making mistakes. That’s not sustainable for anyone in any type of career.”
As further evidence of how his condition has affected him on and off the pitch, Philippe touches on another big aspect of his life as a professional footballer: transfers. While at Millwall, he turned down the chance to join the Scottish Premier League club on a one-month loan following interest from Genk, brokered by former teammate Bob Peters.
“I don’t want to use the word normal, but the feelings that other people might have[in that situation]were 100, 1000 times more intense for me. The sense of great change of moving to a new country and every possible negative emotion overwhelmed me.”
While Phillips recalls those experiences, he also acknowledges the benefits neurodiversity has had on his football career. And that is his mission now. It’s about highlighting the positives about the individual post-diagnosis.
“A big part of my journey right now is to focus on the positive, because I think it’s fair to say that most neurodiverse people have a lot of negative experiences from a young age, like being told that they’re different or that they’re less than other people. That can be very hard to hear. Many neurodiverse people, myself included, sometimes feel broken because we don’t fit in with how others see us. And it makes us feel less than. others).
“If it wasn’t for neurodiversity, I don’t think I would have been able to stay professional for as long as I have. I was very focused on fine-tuning every detail of the game, on and off the pitch, analysis, etc. I love football and I’m still obsessed with it.”
“What I really want to work on now is how can I help others?”
The possibility that Phillips could help others overcome ADHD was the driving force behind his decision to speak out. Recent Professional Footballers’ Association research suggests that 60 per cent of footballers with neurodivergent traits do not disclose this information to their clubs, but Phillips feels the number is likely to be higher.
This topic is rarely discussed in men’s soccer. Charlie Austin is one of the few former Premier League pros to share his diagnosis. England defender Lucy Bronze was one of the female players who discussed her neurodiversity.
Mr Phillips, who is the principal of a thriving football academy, now wants to use his platform to educate others. He is building a website, TheNDFootballer.com, which provides resources and insights from sports officials and doctors, and plans to use the reach of social media networks to share his message and tackle the stigma surrounding neurodiversity in sports.
Long term, Phillips hopes to work with football governing bodies and clubs to use workshops to raise awareness widely. He praised the support the PFA provided him after his diagnosis, including three phone calls a week. I hope this is the start of something bigger than just him.
“I feel like I can make a difference,” Phillips concluded. “It starts with sharing my story and then publishing quality content that actually educates people about the realities of neurodiversity so they can learn and ask more questions for themselves.
“I think we all have traits that make us unique, but I really want to reach out to people who are struggling, like I was struggling. The more we talk, the more we can only help.”
You can follow Mark’s journey at @TheNDFootballer on X, @thendfootballer on Instagram and @TheNDFootballer on YouTube.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports Premier League and EFL package discounts
£49
£35
sky
Get the deal here
Sky has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 on their bill and offering more than 1,400 live matches from Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will broadcast at least 215 live Premier League matches next season, with an increase of up to 100 more.
