We spend a day in the life of Man City star Phil Foden, and it’s all very chill
With the Premier League season coming to an end, it’s time for footballers to prepare to relax and recharge over the coming weeks. And for Manchester City star Phil Foden, relaxation means a spot of fishing.
“It’s just that switch off from football,” he tells the MEN. “It’s completely different to football – it’s quiet, no one to bother you.
“My old man [his dad, Phil Snr] first got me into it and I just love doing it in my spare time, I find it a good way of switching off from the world. When I want to relax, it’s fishing.”
Stockport-raised Phil is aware of how unusual his hobby is in the world of football, despite his attempts to spread the word of the benefits of the pursuit.
He says: “I don’t think I know any other footballers who are into fishing.”
We delved into a day in the life of homegrown footballing hero Phil this week, as he headed to a Warrington fisheries to partake of his favourite hobby away from the football field.
Earlier, he had taken part in a shoot for his role as a long-term ambassador for McDonald’s Fun Football, a programme that provides free football coaching to children aged 5-11 of all skill levels.
On the pitch, City have had an unusually quiet season, and the one perk of that for Phil has been extra time to pursue his angling passion.
I ask how much time he gets to go fishing at the moment, and he said: “More time than normal I’d say, because we’re normally in every competition and so we’re getting a little bit more time off recently I’d say, so I’ve had a few more days to go fishing than normal.
“Normally it’s quite difficult up until we finish the season to get fishing, but I’ve got a few sessions in recently.”
While many footballers jet off on luxury beach holidays for the summer, Phil loves to head to France and Spain to continue to enjoy his fishing.
He said: “When I get to the time at the end of the season I like to go to France because the fish are a little bigger over there. The biggest catch I’ve had was a 128lb catfish – there was about three of us holding it! That was in Spain.”
He adds: “I’ve never eaten one I always put them back. I do eat fish from time to time but not the ones I catch.”
Phil, 24, is now dad to three young children, and his oldest son Ronnie, 6, has just started following in his dad’s footsteps – both in fishing and football.
On fishing, Phil says of Ronnie: “He’s loving it! He’s growing into it, the more I’m taking it the more he’s getting into it.
“He’s been doing a little bit in the garden because I’ve got a lake in there with some little fish in, so he’s loving it. It’s how I started it, going fishing with my dad, so it’s nice to pass it on. Hopefully he’ll continue to do it.”
Phil has achieved so much at such a young age, making his debut for City at just 17 – becoming the youngest ever player to win the Premier League, and winning multiple young player of the year awards in the process.
He started playing the sport at an early age, and is excited that his son Ronnie is also beginning to enjoy the game he loves too.
Phil says: “Ronnie’s starting a little bit, he was on and off before, but now he’s been asking off his own bat, wanting to play football so it’s good to see.
“He’s been doing a bit of training as well which is nice. And the main thing is that he enjoys it at that age, not put any pressure on him, so it’s good to see him doing it off his own bat.”
One of the reasons Phil is an ambassador for McDonald’s Fun Football programme is his passion for getting children involved in sport, and outdoor activities, from an early age.
He said: “I think it’s incredibly important, there’s so many distractions now with computers and stuff for kids, but with this it’s fun, it’s free and anyone can do it so it’s great.
“I remember when I was young there was everyone out on the street playing, but I guess times are changing.”
At his latest shoot for the campaign he met with a number of children to go through a session. Fun Football is McDonald’s initiative to give kids aged 5-11 free access to football, hailed as the largest free grassroots participation programme in the UK.
The Fun Football curriculum includes introductory activities perfect for children with no footballing experience, helping them develop their all-round skills in a safe, fun and pressure-free environment.
He said: “The shoot I went on and seen all the kids, to see all the kids smiling and enjoying it, it’s a real pleasure that’s all you want for the kids to enjoy it.”
His advice for parents wanting to get children more seriously involved in football? He says: My advice would be let them do it in their own time, don’t put pressure on them, just try and enjoy it when you’re young.”
A day in the life of Phil Foden
We asked Phil to go through his typical day’s routine as a Premier League footballer.
He said: “I get up about 8am, leave the house for 8.30am for training at 9.30. Then we have some time before training at 11 so I get a bit of gym work in and treatments.
“Training is at 11, I finish around 1, and get home for 2.30 – 3ish and then it’s about catching up with the kids, see what they’ve done at school, spend some time with them.
“I love sitting in my garden and looking at all the wildlife. With how good the weather has been I just go to the garden.
“There are three meals I love – I love a Chinese, pesto pasta and steak and chips. I’m very fortunate to have a chef so he cooks it all and it’s unbelievable.
“I’ll maybe get a little bit of fishing in. Then we might have some friends over.
“We love to play Ludo and board games and stuff like that. That’s it really, I’m a really chilled guy. I like to chill and relax really.”
On family life
Family is everything for Phil, being dad to three young children with his childhood sweetheart Rebecca Cooke. They are parents to Ronnie, 6, daughter True who is 4 and welcomed their third baby last summer.
I ask what are their favourite things to do as a family. Phil said: “We do a lot of things, we go to the zoo, go to the cinema, or just get out in the garden, hire bouncy castles and stuff. We like to plan things and enjoy our time.”
As for Phil’s favourite ever family day out? He smiles: “The best family day out we’ve been on is Disneyland, when I went there with the kids it was a really nice trip. I didn’t go myself when I was a kid, so I went the first time not so long ago with the kids – they loved it, it’s not just for kids, I loved it there.”
On his hometown of Stockport
While he no longer lives in his hometown, Phil remains a proud Stopfordian. He said: “We go back there all the time, we have a lot of family still in Stockport, it’s where I grew up, and somewhere I enjoy spending time so we’re always there.”
He also supports local businesses in the town, and he’s notably held a lot of his recent family celebrations, including birthday parties and baby showers over at Stockport County FC.
He said: “When we have birthdays and stuff they let me hire the room there at Stockport County all the staff there are really nice, we have that connection with them. I like to go to Stockport, it makes it easy to go back there when we have birthdays and parties.”
He also cites his favourite park is in Stockport – Alexandra Park in Edgeley.
He says: “Alex Park, that’s the best one. It’s got a lovely park, a play area and it’s got a football pen, there’s a skateboarding bit now, it’s just a lovely park for families.”
Phil on music
As for the music Phil plays to soundtrack his life, he says he’s strictly “old school”. He said: “I love R ‘n’ B to be fair, I’m stuck in the past grew up with my parents listening to it, so it’s all old school from the 2000s and stuff like Ja Rule, people like that.”
Phil Foden was celebrating the latest free wave of McDonald’s Fun Football sessions this Summer, available to all children aged 5-11 across the UK. You can sign up now for your nearest free session at mcdonalds.co.uk/football
