He soon made his mark by scoring a hat-trick in a 3–3 draw against Carlisle United in the 1988–89 season.
[3] He dropped into non-league football with Fleetwood and Barrow before joining Nantwich Town in March 1994.
He then served Marine, Burscough, Ashton United, Caernarfon Town and Bangor City.
[8] In 2020 McPhillips was appointed attack coach and set piece specialist at East Bengal to work alongside manager Robbie Fowler.
In April 2023, he joined League One club Forest Green Rovers as Chief Scout.