Simon John Elliott (born 10 June 1974) is a New Zealand football manager and former player who most recently served as head coach of USL Championship side Sacramento Republic FC. A defensive midfielder, he spent his professional career in the |A-League, the |MLS and the Premier League. At international level, he made 69 appearances for the New Zealand national team, scoring 6 goals.

Simon Elliott
Elliott playing for Columbus Crew
Personal information
Full name Simon John Elliott
Date of birth (1974-06-10) 10 June 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Wellington, New Zealand
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1980–1989 Waterside Karori
1989–1992 Wellington College
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 Stanford Cardinal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992 Wellington United
1993–1995 Wellington Olympic 27 (14)
1996–1997 Miramar Rangers 36 (13)
1997 Western Suburbs FC
1999 Boston Bulldogs 3 (0)
1999–2003 Los Angeles Galaxy 122 (10)
2004–2005 Columbus Crew 59 (1)
2006–2008 Fulham 12 (0)
2009 San Jose Earthquakes 15 (0)
2010 Wellington Phoenix 4 (0)
2011 Chivas USA 24 (0)
Total 302+ (38+)
International career
New Zealand U20
2008 New Zealand Olympic (O.P.) 3 (0)
1995–2011 New Zealand 69 (6)
Managerial career
2018–2019 Sacramento Republic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Semi-professional and college career

edit

Elliott was born in Wellington. He played for several clubs in the New Zealand semi-professional Central Premier League in the 1990s, and attended Wellington College prior to moving to the United States. Elliott subsequently played college soccer at Stanford University, where he scored 13 goals and made 12 assists.[1]

Club career

edit

Elliott began his professional career with A-League (now USL First Division) team Boston Bulldogs in 1999,[2] playing three games,[3] before joining Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy in May 1999.[1] He was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2000 after scoring five goals and making five assists, and helped the club to win the CONCACAF Champions' Cup in 2000, the U.S. Open Cup in 2001 and the MLS Cup in 2002.[1] He made 122 appearances for Galaxy in five seasons, scoring ten goals.[1] In 2001, Elliott trained for two months with Manchester United in England,[4] but eventually returned to the United States.[5]

Elliott was traded in January 2004 to the Columbus Crew in exchange for a first round pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft.[1] He played every game in the 2005 season but was unable to help the Crew to the MLS Cup Playoffs as they finished bottom of the Eastern Conference.[2]

Elliott caught the eye of Chris Coleman, manager of Premier League club Fulham, during a pre-season friendly game in July 2005 and joined Fulham in training after the end of the MLS season.[2] He then joined Fulham in January 2006 on a free transfer[6] and made 13 league and cup appearances during the remainder of the 2005–06 season.[7] During the summer he injured a calf muscle,[8] and missed the entire Premier League 2006–07 season through injury; he played in some reserve games towards the end of the season.[9] He was released by Fulham in May 2008.[10] After his release from Fulham, Elliott joined Motherwell on trial in January 2009.[11]

Elliott returned to Major League Soccer in 2009, signing with the San Jose Earthquakes. He was waived from San Jose prior to the 2010 season opener.[12]

In November 2010, Elliott signed for hometown professional A-League club Wellington Phoenix as an Injury Replacement Player for Oscar Roberto Cornejo.

In February 2011, Elliott went on trial with Chivas USA in the MLS and signed with the club on 9 February 2011.[13] At season's end, his contract expired and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Elliott was not selected in the draft and became a free agent.

He served as head scout during the 2012 season but was not retained for a second year.[14]

In February 2018, Elliott was hired as head coach for the Sacramento Republic FC.[15] After finishing 7th place in the USL Championship season and getting knocked out in the conference semifinals of the USL Championship Playoffs, Sacramento Republic decided not to extend Elliott contract.[16]

International career

edit

Elliott scored on his full New Zealand national team debut in a 3–0 win over Singapore on 21 February 1995[17] and earned his 50th A-international cap in a 3–0 win over New Caledonia on 10 September 2008, accruing 6 goals en route to his milestone.[18][19] He appeared in qualifying matches for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France.[1] Elliott was included in the New Zealand U-23 squad for their first appearance at the Olympic Games as one of three over age players, alongside Ryan Nelsen and Chris Killen[20] He was named as part of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup New Zealand squad to travel to South Africa.[21][22]

On 10 May 2010, Elliott was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, despite not being under contract at any club.

Career statistics

edit

Club

edit
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League MLS Cup National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Los Angeles Galaxy 1999[23] Major League Soccer 23 2 5 0 28 2
2000[23] 28 5 5 0 33 5
2001[23] 21 1 7 0 28 1
2002[23] 26 1 6 0 32 1
2003[23] 24 1 2 0 26 1
Total 122 10 25 0 0 0 147 10
Columbus Crew 2004[23] Major League Soccer 27 0 2 0 29 0
2005[23] 32 1 32 1
Total 59 1 2 0 0 0 61 1
Fulham 2005–06[24] Premier League 12 0 1 0 0 0 13 0
2006–07 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 12 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
San Jose Earthquakes 2009[23] Major League Soccer 15 0 15 0
Wellington Phoenix 2010–11[23] A-League 4 0 4 0
Chivas USA 2011[23] Major League Soccer 24 0 24 0
Career total 236 11 27 0 1 0 264 11
  1. ^ Includes Open Cup, FA Cup.
  2. ^ Includes League Cup.

International

edit
Appearances and goals by national team and year[25]
National team Year Apps Goals
New Zealand 1995 9 1
1996 6 1
1997 9 1
1998 0 0
1999 0 0
2000 6 3
2001 7 0
2002 2 0
2003 6 0
2004 3 0
2005 0 0
2006 0 0
2007 0 0
2008 2 0
2009 9 0
2010 9 0
2011 1 0
Total 69 6
Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elliott goal.
List of international goals scored by Simon Elliott
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 21 February 1995 Tauranga, New Zealand   Singapore 2–0 3–0 Friendly [26]
2 1 October 1996 Muscat, Oman   Oman 2–1 Friendly [27]
3 11 June 1997 North Harbour Stadium, North Shore, New Zealand   Papua New Guinea 5–0 7–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification [28]
4 16 January 2000 Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou, China   Jamaica 1–0 1–2 Friendly [29]
5 25 June 2000 Stade Pater, Papeete, Tahiti   Solomon Islands 1–0 2–0 2000 OFC Nations Cup [30]
6 2–0

Honours

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f "L.A. Galaxy Acquire First round Pick in 2005". OurSports Central. 12 January 2004. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  2. ^ a b c Nierman, Jonathan (1 June 2006). "Elliott leaves Crew, signs with Fulham". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 3 July 2008. [dead link]
  3. ^ "Brown's save on Ruiz bicycle kick a beauty". Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA). 11 October 2002. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  4. ^ All is happy in the house of Elliott nzherald.co.nz
  5. ^ A former All Whites hero ponders the state of the modern game the spinoff.co.nz
  6. ^ "Fulham swoop to sign midfielder". BBC Sport. 3 January 2006. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Games played by Simon Elliott in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Archived from the original on 5 August 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  8. ^ "Fulham hit by Elliott injury fear". BBC Sport. 1 June 2006. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  9. ^ Bech, Duncan (12 February 2008). "Elliott makes comeback". PA Sport. Sporting Life UK Ltd. Retrieved 3 July 2008.[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ "Bocanegra heads Fulham clear-out". BBC Sport. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
  11. ^ "Blues loan keeper Krysiak to Well". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 2 January 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  12. ^ Quakes waive three players (centerlinesoccer.com) Archived 3 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Chivas USA signs Simon Elliott and Andrew Boyens". Chivas USA. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011.
  14. ^ "Chivas part ways with Fraser as restructuring continues". MLSsoccer.com.
  15. ^ "Sacramento Republic FC hire former MLS, PL and World Cup player Simon Elliott as Head Coach". Sacramento Republic FC. February 2018. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Republic FC parts ways with coaches Simon Elliott and Benjamin Ziemer following 2019 season". Sacramento Republic FC. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  17. ^ "A-International Lineups". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
  18. ^ "A-International Appearances – Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  19. ^ "A-International Scorers – Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  20. ^ "Olympic Football Squads Named". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
  21. ^ "New Zealand – All Whites name Confederations Cup squad". Oceania Football confederation. 7 May 2009. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009.
  22. ^ "2009 Confederations Cup – New Zealand squad". FIFA. Archived from the original on 13 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Simon Elliott » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  24. ^ "Games played by Simon Elliott in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  25. ^ Simon Elliott at National-Football-Teams.com
  26. ^ "New Zealand vs. Singapore". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  27. ^ "Oman vs. New Zealand". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  28. ^ "New Zealand vs. Papua New Guinea". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  29. ^ "Jamaica vs. New Zealand". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  30. ^ "New Zealand vs. Solomon Islands". National Football Teams. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
edit
Sporting positions
Preceded by Chivas USA captain
2011
Succeeded by