Martin John "Buster" Phillips (born 13 March 1976) is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 former professional footballer.

Phillips was born in Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

 and began his football career as a trainee with his local side Exeter City

Exeter City F.C.

Exeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003...

, turning professional in July 1994. He soon attracted the attention of higher division clubs and moved to Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 in November 1995 for a fee of £500,000. He struggled to establish himself at Maine Road and was loaned to Scunthorpe United

Scunthorpe United F.C.

Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....

 in January 1998 and back to Exeter City in March 1998.

He left Maine Road in August 1998, moving to Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

 for a fee of £100,000. Again he struggled to establish himself and spent a month on loan to Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

 in February 1999. In August 2000 he returned to Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, joining Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...

 in August 2000 for a fee of just £25,000. He was released at the end of the 2003-04 season, after spending much of the season struggling with injuries.

He joined Torquay United

Torquay United F.C.

Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

 on a free transfer in July 2004, becoming one of a growing band of former Plymouth players signed by Leroy Rosenior

Leroy Rosenior

Leroy Rosenior is a professional football coach and pundit. He is a former professional footballer whose clubs included Fulham, Queens Park Rangers , Bristol City and West Ham United.As one of the few black football managers in England, Rosenior has spoken openly about the racism...

, others including Craig Taylor

Craig Taylor (footballer)

Craig Taylor is an English professional footballer.Taylor was born in Plymouth. He began his professional football career with Exeter City in June 1992, but failed to make the first team before dropping into the non-leagues with Dorchester Town.In April 1997 he joined Swindon Town for a fee of...

, Brian McGlinchey

Brian McGlinchey

Brian McGlinchey is a retired Northern Irish football defender. He made a total of 195 competitive appearances in an eleven year career as a professional player before he was forced to retire in 2006, aged 28, due to injury....

, Martin Gritton

Martin Gritton

Martin Francis Jeremy Gritton is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker who currently plays for Stockport County. He is a journeyman player and has previously played for Plymouth Argyle, Shelbourne, Torquay United, Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Mansfield Town, Macclesfield Town,...

 and Matthew Villis

Matthew Villis

Matt Villis is an English footballer. He currently plays for Weston-super-Mare, having played in The Football League for Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United.-Career:...

.

In November 2006, the BBC linked him with a possible move back to Exeter City, by now a Conference National

Conference National

Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...

 side, but the move fell through and Phillips remained at Plainmoor

Plainmoor

Plainmoor is a suburb of Torquay, Devon, but is best known as the name of the stadium in which Torquay United Football Club currently play.-History:...

. He failed to appear again for Torquay and in May 2007 it was announced that he had been forced to retire due to suffering chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is the most common name used to designate a significantly debilitating medical disorder or group of disorders generally defined by persistent fatigue accompanied by other specific symptoms for a minimum of six months, not due to ongoing exertion, not substantially...

.

Honours

Plymouth Argyle:

• 2001-02
  2001-02 in English football
  The 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...
  
   Division Three
  Football League Third Division
  The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
  
   Champions
• 2003-04
  2003-04 in English football
  The 2003-04 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game....
  
   Division Two
  Football League Second Division
  From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
  
  Champions