John Phiri

John "JP" Phiri (born 3 May 1962) is a Zimbabwean retired footballer.

Early life
Born on 3 May 1962, John Phiri is the son of former Rhodesia striker July Phiri.

He first played with foremost local team, Rio Tinto FC Under-13s (renamed Eiffel Flats in the mid-70s).

Football career
Phiri was coached at Rio Tinto by Peter Phiri (c.1938 – 23 March 2023).

He also played for Mangula, as well as State House Tornadoes (1983), and Darryn Textiles in Zimbabwe, before heading to Europe. He missed a chance to sign for English side Nottingham Forest, and signed for Polish side Miliarder Pniewy in 1993 instead, along with Norman Mapeza.

He first played for the national team in 1982, against Malawi and after that played regularly until the 1990s. Official figures recorded 94 matches, four less than Coventry City star Peter Ndlovu, but he believes he played a lot more.

His last team was the Cape Town Spurs in South Africa, from 1995 to 1997.

After retirement
After retirement from football, Phiri worked at his business in Budiriro, Harare, but it struggled in the face of the economic downturn of the country around 2000, and moved into printing.

In 2014 he was appointed a board member at the Zimbabwe Football Association, concentrating on development.

Personal life
He has two sons.