Harry Phipps is the latest recruit to make the switch to Gander Green Lane this summer, arriving from an extended spell at Dagenham & Redbridge.

Seven seasons spent in East London proved a successful time of not just Harry’s career, but life as well, and after making the difficult decision to part ways with his family fresh off the Daggers’ relegation to the National League South, he decided a move across London was the correct move as he reached the prime years of his career.

After arriving in SM1 for a medical, Phipps put to paper to make his move to Sutton official, and followed up a tour of his new home by Head Coach Steve Morison by sitting down with SUFCtv.

“It feels fantastic [to join]” said Phipps, “I’m buzzing to get it over the line.”

“It’s been a busy, long summer so far with family going away and also I did my coaching badges across the summer but it was a decision I didn’t rush, took my time with, had lots of good conversations, but after meeting the gaffer I knew this was the place for me.”

“What drew me to Sutton? I think it was, not just from a personal standpoint but also as a team, the direction that he [the gaffer] would like to go in, I was very much on board with. After the conversation I came away, I was buzzing with it and that was the feeling I wanted to have for the next two years.”

“My ambitions are to get Sutton back into the league. I played Sutton a couple times last year and I hope that I can help strengthen the side and hopefully we can go in that direction this year.”

A midfielder-turned defender, Phipps has spent his entire career so far in non-league, spending the bulk of his early years in home county in Kent before making the move to Dagenham, and spoke on how much he respects and cherishes his former club after such a long time at Victoria Road.

“At 17 I made my Conference South debut for Margate, and not long after that I moved to Maidstone who were in the Conference at the time. I spent two years there and went on a couple of loan spells and then went onto Dagenham, which I signed for under Peter Taylor and had four managers in total, and then spent seven seasons there. I have nothing but good things to say about Dagenham, I very much enjoyed my time there but now obviously, a new chapter and a new journey with Sutton.

“It’s always a difficult decision [to leave] because it’s more of a family once you’re there for seven seasons. I had a good conversation with the manager over there as well, they offered a good contract so I can’t have any complaints about that side of things, but my family are Croydon-based, I live this way and more than anything it’s about staying in this league and after speaking to the gaffer my decision was made up for me.”

While he has managed to forge a successful spell in the National League so far, his career could have easily gone south early on, with a significant injury after an impressive start to life in East London proving a setback that lasted around two years, but Phipps again commented on the impact Dagenham has had on him as well as touching on what he learned from his stint on the sidelines.

“First of all I had a good team around me from Daryl [McMahon] who at the time was manager to John Gowans who is now at Southend as a physio – good people, good network – as well as my family.”

“More than anything it taught me how much I want to make this work with football and it just drives the hunger, and ever since just do everything on and off the pitch to make sure I stay as fit as possible, and it’s shown from the last few seasons that I’ve racked up a good amount of games.”

After recovering from his injury, Phipps finally started to enjoy his football again with a three-season spell of consistent football, and his form for the Daggers saw him rewarded with one of his biggest honours so far: being able to represent his country.

“That was a fantastic experience [being called up to England C], going away and spending some time at Altrincham, it was good. Obviously the boys were very talented; it was all the best at that age group at the time, so that was good playing with different people, and ultimately we got the result that we hoped for that day [against Wales C] so it made it a nice occasion.”

As mentioned, the 26-year old is a midfielder-turned-defender, and spoke on some of his influences in that position. Chelsea legend John Terry was one name that Phipps mentioned, but more recently, Manchester City defender John Stones is someone he tried to model his game off, notably with the way he brings the ball out of defence, and is a weapon he believes can benefit his new side next season.

“I’m predominantly a centre half, I played the last three seasons after transitioning from a midfielder” he said.

“I like to win the ball, I also like to get on the ball as well, play out as much as I can; it all depends on the style of the manager, like I said I had four different ones at Dagenham and each person had a different style so, whatever the gaffer at Sutton would like is what I’ll try and perform in.”

Versatility is always a desirable trait for a coach, but the extent to which Phipps will go to prove his determination and willingness to play for the badge isn’t summarised any better than the time he was forced to play as a striker for Dagenham, and enjoyed a handful of games leading the line in which he managed to pop up with a couple of goals in that position. Phipps displayed his footballing intelligence by commenting on how he used his own experiences as a defender to weaponise his attacking play, and thus particularly scored a cracking goal against Altrincham, latching onto a long ball from Josh Rees before cutting inside and drilling the ball into the bottom corner to put the cherry on top of a 3-1 win.

“That was just due to injury problems in the team and I did a four game stint up there, managed to score a couple goals as well.”

“I think it made it quite easy as I knew what I didn’t like to defend against so I tried to do that to the defenders that I did come up against, and it actually went really well in that little period.

“It’s been important across my career so far but wherever you put me I’ll always give 100% and die for the badge – I can guarantee that.”

Watch the full interview with Phipps here.