Official Release

LONDON, England – Queens Park Rangers FC (QPR) announced on Tuesday the signing of Carthage College sophomore center-back Giles Phillips, who becomes the first player in Carthage history to sign an international professional contract.
 
The turn to professional soccer means Giles, a Barrington, Illinois native, will forego his final two years of collegiate eligibility as he joins the English Football League's under-23 squad.  QPR is one of Europe's storied professional teams.

"Giles becomes a wonderful Carthage College and Carthage Soccer story with his recent signing.  We had an idea this may happen even at the end of his freshman year with his work ethic matching his goal of being a professional, and his dream of playing in the highest competition environments," Coach Steve Domin explains.  "At Carthage we aim to stack many successes in the areas of NCAA student-athlete achievement, this reaches beyond that, and proud we are part of that ladder.  Giles and his individual and team accomplishments, his progress and desire to become a top-level player, has been exciting to watch and build on.  The interesting thing, for future teammates and opponents, is he has always been able to match whatever pace in which he competes. I believe he could make a quick impact."  
 
In his two season's with the Red Men, Phillips helped Carthage to a pair of CCIW Tournament titles, the 2016 CCIW regular season and has garnered numerous awards conference and regional awards including twice being named All-CCIW first team, 2015 CCIW Newcomer of the Year, and a pair of NSCAA all-region first team awards.  For his efforts he was named Wisconsin's State Collegiate Defender of the Year in 2015, as well as Carthage's MVP in 2015 and 2016.
 
"Training officially begins tomorrow for me and at the club, which coincidentally falls on my birthday," Giles commenting about what's next.  "I'm eager to begin the next chapter in my soccer development. Its been a unique road to get to this point in my soccer career, and I want to thank my family and close friends, as well as my past youth and competitive coaches." 

Statistically, Giles led the solid backline that went 30-12-3 in two years while recording eight goals, nine assists and a pair of game winning goals.