- 2020 Atlantic 10 Champions

- 2020 NCAA Championship berth

Phil Bannister begins his fifth season on the Fordham coaching staff in 2023.  After three seasons as an assistant coach, Bannister was promoted to associate head coach in the spring of 2022.

In year two with Rams, Bannister coached the Rams through the adversity of a pandemic to capture the program's fourth Atlantic 10 Championship.  After an unbeaten regular season, Fordham knocked off Saint Louis and George Washington in the Atlantic 10 Championship to win the title, as Matt Sloan was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Championship after scoring in each match, while six other players were named to the All-Championship Team.  Additionally, Luke McNamara was named First Team All-Atlantic 10, while McNamara, Sloan, and Josh Levine were named All-Southeast Region by United Soccer Coaches.  Academically, McNamara and Jacob Bohm were selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, while Bohm also earned Academic All-Conference honors from the Atlantic 10.

Bannister is very familiar with Fordham head coach Carlo Acquista having been on his coaching staff at Adelphi University.  Bannister spent two seasons with the Panthers and was a part of the 2017 East Region Coaching Staff of the Year after Adelphi won the Northeast-10 regular season championship and finished with a #14 national ranking.  In 2018, the Panthers once again claimed the NE-10 regular season championship, while also winning the tournament championship.

Prior to Adelphi, Bannister spent three years at St. John's University.  He served his first two years as a graduate assistant with the Red Storm before transitioning to the position of volunteer assistant and joined St. John's after one season as a graduate assistant with the women's soccer team at Bloomsburg.

Following a standout collegiate career at Loyola (Md.), the Wallsend, England native was drafted by the Colorado Rapids in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft. Bannister went on to play for the DC United U-23 team before returning home to England to play semi-professionally for Blyth Spartans AFC.

A four-time All-MAAC selection, Bannister was a two-time first team choice and a two-time second team honoree. As a freshman, the forward earned MAAC Rookie of the Year honors and led all Division I freshmen in scoring after totaling 13 goals and seven assists. Bannister finished his career ranked eighth in program-history in goals (40), a mark that included 13 game-winners, tied for first in assists (29) and sixth in points (109). 

A Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Finalist as a senior, Bannister was a two-time ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America selection. Bannister, who owns FA Level 1 and FA Level 2 coaching badges, graduated from Loyola in 2011 with a degree in marketing and earned an MBA in finance from St. John's.