A FORMER Gillingham FC player has had to put hopes of reviving his career on hold after he and his family were brutally beaten up in Portugal during Euro 2004.

Midfielder Michael Phillips suffered a broken nose and jaw, and saw his mother punched in the face and his girlfriend beaten in an attack he claims was carried out by Portuguese police and security guards.

The incident is now being investigated by Interpol, the global police force.

Mr Phillips, of St Andrew’s Park, Barming, Maidstone, his girlfriend, Alex Day, 24, and brother, Christopher, were on holiday with his parents, Tina and Michael, of Leybourne, who own a timeshare apartment in Albufeira.

They arrived in the popular tourist resort on Tuesday, June 15, a day after English fans clashed with Portuguese police in the town, resulting in 12 British arrests.

The Phillips family were not there for the football and were undeterred by the trouble. But five days into their holiday the situation turned nasty.

Mr Phillips, 21, said security guards at their apartment complex refused to let his mother and father back into their apartment when they returned from a meal out.

He says they punched his mother in the face, before breaking his nose and jaw, and beating his girlfriend to the floor. His father was pushed to the ground.

Mr Phillips said: “I just could not believe what was happening. Mum was trying to explain to the guards that they were staying in the apartments and just out of the blue they punched her in the face.

“I was trying to calm things down but then all I remember was being smashed in the face, falling to the floor and being hit a couple more times in the body with a cosh.

“Alex sat me down and tried to help me because blood was pouring from my nose, but then they started hitting her and beat her to the floor. It was absolutely horrendous.”

Miss Day, a dancer, said a van containing Portuguese police armed with extendable batons joined in the beating after being radioed by the guards.

She added: “The blows were coming from everywhere. It was just the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life and I think it was just because we were English."

The family flew home the next day and have vowed never to return to the Algarve resort.

Mr Phillips, who made his full Gillingham debut against Blackburn in 2001, is not expected to recover from the attack for at least three weeks and has been in and out of hospital ever since.

Although he retired from the Gills with a calf injury five months ago, he was hoping to start training this month to attract the interest of another club. The attack has put paid to those plans.

“It’s been hard for me and I’ve tried to keep my chin up,” he said.

“This has set me back a few months. I should have been training since returning from holiday but now I won’t be training for at least three weeks and then I’ll have to take it easy. Albufeira was a family resort. We weren’t there for the football, just to relax, and for this to happen, it’s just a joke.”

Gianna Pollero, spokesman for Maidstone and Malling Police, said police in the UK could not investigate the crime as it happened overseas. However, the force has taken statements from those attacked and passed them to Interpol, who will now take it up with the Portuguese authorities.

She said: “This was a horrible situation and these people were badly assaulted. Jurisdiction means we actually can’t investigate it, but we have done as much as we possibly can for the victims.”