One of Leeds United’s heroes of the recent past made his first start for the club as they travelled to Molineux to face Wolves in the Championship 10 years ago.
Although Daniel Farke was unhappy with Leeds’ business on transfer deadline day, the squad available to him is unrecognisable from the Whites side that travelled to Molineux to face Wolves at the back end of the 2014/15 season.
Leeds arrived in the West Midlands under the familiar cloud of turmoil that persisted throughout the Massimo Cellino era. Neil Redfearn was in charge of the Whites, having been appointed as their third manager of the season, following unsuccessful stints by David Hockaday and Darko Milanic.
However, Redfearn’s position was uncertain after the suspension of assistant coach Steve Thompson prompted the popular former Academy Coach to state that he was considering his position at the club.
Although Leeds would succumb to a dramatic 4-3 defeat against Wolves, Redfearn handed a first start to Kalvin Phillips, as he took his first steps towards becoming a modern-day icon at the club.
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Kalvin Phillips made his first Leeds United start against Wolves in 2015
Although Redfearn was only ever handed short stints in the top job at Elland Road, he left an indelible mark on the club by trusting the next generation of young players from the Leeds United Academy.
Redfearn named four academy products in his starting line-up to face Wolves on the 6th April 2015, as Phillips took his place alongside Sam Byram, Alex Mowatt and Charlie Taylor, as well as future favourites Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi.
Taylor gave Leeds the lead in the game when he pounced on a poor attempted back pass to slot home from close range before Nouha Dicko hit back for Wolves.
The home side then looked destined to run away with the game as Dicko and Benik Afobe scored twice in quick succession to either side of half-time to give Wolves a 3-1 lead, helped by some questionable Leeds defending.
However, Redfearn’s young side showed their never-say-die attitude as they turned the game on its head. First, Danny Batth sliced into his own net after a speculative ball from Mowatt to give Leeds a lifeline. Then Mowatt scored a goal of his own, firing home with a spectacular strike from the edge of the box.
Unfortunately, Leeds were unable to cling on to parity, as David Edwards scored in the dying moments to break their hearts. Phillips played the full 90 minutes for the Whites and would soon become an established regular in the Leeds side.
Phillips thanked Neil Redfearn for ‘honour’ of first-team debut
Although he would eventually play the majority of his football as a holding midfielder, Phillips started his career in a more attacking role before being transformed under Marcelo Bielsa.
Speaking to Sky Sports after his first game against Wolves, Phillips thanked Redfearn for handing him the “honour” of making his senior debut for the club and stated that he would treasure the experience for the rest of his life.
“It was an honour, putting the white shirt on for the first team is something that I’ll treasure for the rest of my life,” Phillips said, “It’s a lot easier when you’ve got people like Cookie, Mowatt, Chaz and Byram in there. It’s a lot easier for me to settle in.”
“Redders pulled me to one side and said, ‘Are you feeling alright?’ “I said ‘yes’ and he said ‘well, you’re playing on Monday’. Then I told my mum, and she wanted to tell everybody in the world. I told her to keep it quiet!”
Phillips has been linked with a return to Leeds in recent months; however, he could still make his mark for Manchester City after being included in their 25-man squad this season.
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