Phillip "Phil" Alexander (born September 4, 1962 in England) is a retired association footballer and American footballer. He is now the Chief Executive of Crystal Palace.

[edit] Career

[edit] Association football

Phil's English football career began at Reading, where he played for the Royals' academy. Meanwhile, he also gained U-18 and U-19 caps for the England Schoolboys teams, before the Royals released him due their quota of trainees being filled.

Alexander then joined amateur Wokingham Town, before signing for Norwich City for £2,000 in 1981^[1]. He made just one substitute appearance for the Canaries before departing the club and indeed the country in 1983.

Phil joined New Zealand National Soccer League club Gisborne City, where he made a name for himself as part of their title-winning side, before moving across to fellow NSL side Miramar Rangers.

[edit] American football

He then came back to England in 1985 and switched codes, featuring as a place kicker for the Farnham Knights. He was successful in this role and was offered trials with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears, before signing for the newly-formed London Monarchs in 1991. The Monarchs' debut season was highly successful, with Alexander the World League of American Football's leading points leader as they went on to win the World Bowl I at Wembley Stadium, beating the Barcelona Dragons 21-0 in front of 61,108 fans.

[edit] Back to association football

Phil switched back codes to the association football game after his exploits with the Monarchs, joining Kingstonian for a brief spell, before rounding off his career with Bracknell Town, where he took over as manager in 1992. In his first season he managed to secure survival for the Robins, while his second season saw Alexander lead Bracknell to the Isthmian League Division Three title the following season.

As well as the Robins' exploits on the field, Alexander's tenure was notable for a lucrative sponsorship deal he negotiated for the club, and this led to him returning to The Football League, with Swindon Town appointing him as Marketing Controller in 1994. He remained in this role for two years before moving to a similar role at Crystal Palace. After Mark Goldberg's takeover of the club in 1998, Alexander was appointed the club's Chief Executive, a role he held through the administration period that followed. Under Simon Jordan's tenure as Chairman, Alexander is in charge of the commercial side of the club, as well as negotiating all player sales and acquisitions for the Eagles.

[edit] References