Melissa Phillips awarded LMA Manager of the Month

London City Lionesses Manager Melissa Phillips has been awarded The FA Women’s Championship Manager of the Month trophy for January by the LMA Panel.

The Lionesses began the month with two hard-fought goalless draws against Crystal Palace and London Bees, before consecutive victories against Blackburn and Charlton moved them into 5th place in league, unbeaten in 5 games.

Upon receiving the Manager of the Month trophy Phillips said: "I’m grateful to work with such incredible people and proud to accept the award on behalf of everyone at London City. Any individual award is a reflection of the team, as there is a tremendous amount of work put in behind the scenes and on the training ground from the players, staff and board to produce these performances.

"We are pleased with our recent run of form to start the new year and look forward to continually raising our standard throughout the rest of the season."

Chairwoman Diane Culligan said: "We are absolutely delighted to see Melissa receive this well-deserved accolade. It's a testament to her leadership and the hard work of everyone involved, players, coaching and administration staff.

The board and I are convinced that this is the first of many awards and recognition for Melissa and the team and we are looking forward to her continued success and development with London City Lionesses."

Chair of the League Managers Association panel Marieanne Spacey-Cale MBE added: "Melissa has made a real impact since her appointment in October. Her team has become very difficult to beat and their impressive form continued throughout January, earning them eight points and climbing two places in the table.

"If Melissa can keep the team focused in the final six games of the season, they will have a great chance of finishing in the top four."

The LMA panel for the monthly awards involves three highly experienced individuals with specialist knowledge of the women’s game and football management, including Marieanne Spacey-Cale MBE (LMA Member and Southampton FC Head of Girls and Women’s Football/Head Coach), Jen O’Neill (Editor of She Kicks - women's football magazine) and Alan Curbishley (LMA Board Member and LMA Manager of the Year 1999/2000).