Philip Billing

Philip Billing
Billing with AFC Bournemouth in 2019
Personal information
Full name Philip Anyanwu Billing[1]
Date of birth (1996-06-11) 11 June 1996 (age 28)[2]
Place of birth Esbjerg, Denmark
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 AFC Bournemouth
Number 29
Youth career
Jerne IF
–2013 Esbjerg
2013–2014 Huddersfield Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2019 Huddersfield Town 81 (5)
2019– AFC Bournemouth 181 (28)
International career‡
2014 Denmark U19 1 (0)
2017–2019 Denmark U21 7 (2)
2020– Denmark 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2023 (UTC)

Philip Anyanwu Billing (born 11 June 1996) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and the Denmark national team.

Club career

Huddersfield Town

Billing was born in Esbjerg.[4] After signing for Esbjerg in his native Denmark, he joined Huddersfield Town in 2013 on a youth contract. Billing signed a four-year professional contract in October 2013.[5] After performing well for both the under-18s and under-21s, he made his first team debut for the club as a substitute in their 2–0 loss against Leicester City at the John Smith's Stadium on 26 April 2014.[6]

His first start for the Terriers came 18 months later in their 2–2 draw against Reading at the Madejski Stadium on 3 November 2015. His first goal for the club came from a 30-yard strike against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in a 2–0 win for the Terriers on 13 February 2016.[7] On 19 November 2016, he scored his second goal for the club with a volley from 32 yards out in a 3–2 loss against Cardiff City.[8]

Billing got slowly more and more space in the squad. After 10 good matches in the 2015–16 season, Billing signed a contract extension in March 2016.[9] He got his breakthrough in the 2016–17 season. "In-form" Billing was linked with a transfer to Premier League club Crystal Palace.[10] He played 24 games and scored two goals in total in that season. After the season, Billing was named as the youth player of the season in Huddersfield and his goal against Cardiff City in November 2016 was voted goal of the season.[11]

In March 2019, Billing suffered racial abuse on social media; the matter was reported to police.[12]

AFC Bournemouth

On 29 July 2019, Billing signed for Premier League AFC Bournemouth on a long-term contract for a £15 million fee. He was given the No. 29 jersey.[13][14] Billing made a strong start to his first season with Bournemouth, starting the first four Premier League games of the season and being nominated for the club's Player of the Month award for August.[15] Billing scored his first goals for the club in the FA Cup third round fixture against Luton Town, as Bournemouth won the game 4–0.[16] He then scored his first Premier League goal for the club, netting the opening goal against relegation rivals Aston Villa in a 2–1 win for the home side on 1 February.[17]

Billing was involved in a controversial VAR decision in a 3–0 away loss to Burnley in the Premier League on 22 February, when his knock-down from a corner to Joshua King was judged to be a handball by the VAR officials. This was one of two Bournemouth goals disallowed for handball in the match.[18]

Billing scored eight goals in the Championship for the 2020–21 season, which was also his most prolific goalscoring season to date.[19]

On 4 March 2023, Billing scored the opening goal in a 3–2 away defeat to Arsenal. Timed at just 9.11 seconds, his goal was the second fastest ever scored in the Premier League.[20]

On 21 August 2023, it was announced that Billing had signed a new contract, keeping him at the club until 2027.[21] On 16 December 2023, during a Premier League match against Luton Town, Billing was the first person to summon assistance to opponent player Tom Lockyer, who had suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch, before the arrival of the medical staff; following Lockyer's discharge from the hospital, Luton publicly thanked Billing in an official press statement.[22]

International career

Billing was born in Denmark to a Danish mother and Igbo Nigerian father.[23] Billing is a Danish youth international, having represented the U19 and U21 teams.[24]

He made his single appearance for the Danish U19s on 4 September 2014 as a substitute in their 2–1 win over Norway in Lyngdal.[25] On 9 March 2017, he was called up to the Denmark under-20 team to face the Czech Republic and Romania.[26] He earned his first cap for the Danish U21 team in a qualifying match for the 2019 European Championship against the Faroe Islands on 31 August 2017. It ended in a 3–0 win. He played another qualifying match a week later, a 6–0 win against Lithuania.[27]

In November 2018, Billing turned down an approach to switch his international allegiance to Nigeria.[28] In March 2019, he received his first call-up to the Danish senior national team.[29] He debuted in a 4–0 friendly win over the Faroe Islands on 7 October 2020.[30]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Huddersfield Town 2013–14[19] Championship 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
2014–15[19] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2015–16[19] Championship 13 1 0 0 0 0 — 13 1
2016–17[19] Championship 24 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 28 2
2017–18[19] Premier League 16 0 4 0 2 1 — 22 1
2018–19[19] Premier League 27 2 0 0 0 0 — 27 2
Total 81 5 8 0 2 1 0 0 91 6
AFC Bournemouth 2019–20 Premier League 34 1 1 2 1 0 — 36 3
2020–21[19] Championship 34 8 4 0 2 0 2[a] 0 42 8
2021–22[19] Championship 40 10 1 0 1 1 — 42 11
2022–23[19] Premier League 36 7 1 0 1 0 — 38 7
2023–24[19] Premier League 29 2 2 0 2 0 — 33 2
2024–25[19] Premier League 8 0 0 0 0 0 — 8 0
Total 181 28 9 2 7 1 2 0 199 31
Career total 262 33 17 2 9 2 2 0 290 37
  1. ^ Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 26 March 2023[31]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Denmark 2020 1 0
2022 2 0
2023 2 0
Total 5 0

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Philip Billing: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Philip Billing - AFC Bournemouth". AFC Bournemouth. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Philip Billing". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  5. ^ bold.dk. "Prof-kontrakt til dansk Huddersfield-talent". bold.dk.
  6. ^ "Huddersfield Town 0-2 Leicester City". BBC Sport. 26 April 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Nottingham Forest 0–2 Huddersfield Town". BBC Sport. 13 February 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Cardiff City 3–2 Huddersfield Town". BBC Sport. 19 November 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  9. ^ Billing forlænger med Huddersfield‚ bold.dk, 31 March 2016.
  10. ^ PL-interesse for formstærk Billing‚ bold.dk, 31 January 2017.
  11. ^ a b Flere priser til Philip Billing ved Huddersfields prisuddeling, tipsbladet.dk, 1 May 2017 (in Danish).
  12. ^ "Philip Billing: Huddersfield contact police after midfielder racially abused on social media". BBC Sport. 13 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Transfer roundup: Bournemouth sign Huddersfield's Philip Billing for £15m". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  14. ^ a b c "AFC Bournemouth have completed the signing of Danish central midfielder Philip Billing". AFC Bournemouth. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Vote now for August Player of the Month". AFC Bournemouth. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  16. ^ "AFC Bournemouth 4–0 Luton Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  17. ^ "AFC Bournemouth 2–1 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Burnley 3–0 AFC Bournemouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "P. Billing: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  20. ^ Smith, Emma (4 March 2023). "Nelson's 97th-minute stunner gives Arsenal victory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Billing Signs New Deal With The Cherries". afcb.co.uk. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  22. ^ Bosher, Luke (21 December 2023). "Lockyer discharged from hospital following cardiac arrest". The Athletic. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  23. ^ Adewoye, Gbenga (21 May 2020). "'I told Rohr I wanted to play for Denmark' – Super Eagles target Billing". goal.com. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  24. ^ "DBU Profile". dbu.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  25. ^ "Landsholdsdatabasen spiller information". DBU (in Danish). Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  26. ^ David Threlfall-Sykes (9 March 2017). "BILLING RECEIVES FIRST DENMARK U20 CALL-UP". htafc.com. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  27. ^ "Landsholdsdatabasen spiller information". DBU (in Danish). Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  28. ^ "'I see myself as a Dane' – Huddersfield Town & Denmark U21 midfielder Philip Billing rules out Nigeria switch | Goal.com". goal.com.
  29. ^ "| Futaa.com". futaa.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  30. ^ "Denmark vs. Faroe Islands – 7 October 2020 – Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com.
  31. ^ "Philip Billing". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  32. ^ "Mohamed Salah and Sam Kerr win PFA player of year awards". BBC Sport. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  33. ^ "Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced". efl.com. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  34. ^ a b "Swansea consider bid for £10m Huddersfield midfielder Philip Billing". Telegraph. Retrieved 29 July 2019.