Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips was left speechless after picking up the gong for England’s BT Player of The Year. The Whites midfielder was awarded the honour by his Three Lions teammate Declan Rice and gave Leeds fans a special shout-out when presented the award. Over 40,000 fans took part in the vote and the 25-year-old came out Top of the Pops. Phillips’ inclusion in Gareth Southgate’s EURO2020 squad was questioned by the majority of fans prior to the tournament – excluding Leeds fans, of course – and the midfielder went from strength to strength as the Three Lions reached the final of the competition only to lose on penalties against Italy. The Leeds midfielder is currently with the England squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers with Hungary, Andorra and Poland. It was here that West Ham midfielder, Rice, surprised Phillips with the award. On the official England Twitter page,
Declan Rice said: “As you can see Kalvin Phillips is behind me and he’s England’s BT player of the year. He doesn’t know it yet. Top boy, top player. We’re going to go over there and surprise him with this amazing award. I better hide it behind my back.”
Phillips was kept busy by members of the England backroom staff and his reaction to receiving the award was pure class.
Kalvin Phillips said: “What? Swear down? Oh my God. I can’t believe it. It’s sick. I thought you were going to do something to me. I wasn’t even expecting to play to be honest. 40,000 people voted? That’s definitely Leeds fans. Thank you.”
