Simon Elliott

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography 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.

Semi-professional and college career

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.<ref name="OurSports Central ">Template:Cite news</ref>

Club career

Elliott began his professional career with A-League (now USL First Division) team Boston Bulldogs in 1999,<ref name="MLS">Template:Cite news Template:Dead link</ref> playing three games,<ref name="WT&G">Template:Cite news</ref> before joining Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy in May 1999.<ref name="OurSports Central " /> 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.<ref name="OurSports Central " /> He made 122 appearances for Galaxy in five seasons, scoring ten goals.<ref name="OurSports Central " /> In 2001, Elliott trained for two months with Manchester United in England,<ref>All is happy in the house of Elliott nzherald.co.nz</ref> but eventually returned to the United States.<ref>A former All Whites hero ponders the state of the modern game the spinoff.co.nz</ref>

Elliott was traded in January 2004 to the Columbus Crew in exchange for a first round pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft.<ref name="OurSports Central " /> 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.<ref name="MLS" />

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.<ref name="MLS" /> He then joined Fulham in January 2006 on a free transfer<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and made 13 league and cup appearances during the remainder of the 2005–06 season.<ref name="sbase0506">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the summer he injured a calf muscle,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and missed the entire Premier League 2006–07 season through injury; he played in some reserve games towards the end of the season.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref> He was released by Fulham in May 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After his release from Fulham, Elliott joined Motherwell on trial in January 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Quakes waive three players (centerlinesoccer.com) Template:Webarchive</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In February 2018, Elliott was hired as head coach for the Sacramento Republic FC.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

International career

Elliott scored on his full New Zealand national team debut in a 3–0 win over Singapore on 21 February 1995<ref name="alup">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="aapp">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="agoal">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He appeared in qualifying matches for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France.<ref name="OurSports Central " /> 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<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was named as part of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup New Zealand squad to travel to South Africa.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			MLS Cup		National cupTemplate:Efn		League cupTemplate:Efn		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Los Angeles Galaxy	1999<ref name="wf">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Template:Nowrap	23	2	5	0			–				28	2
	2000<ref name="wf"/>	28		5	5	0			–				33	5
	2001<ref name="wf"/>	21		1	7	0			–				28	1
	2002<ref name="wf"/>	26		1	6	0			–				32	1
	2003<ref name="wf"/>	24		1	2	0			–				26	1
	Total		122	10	25	0			0	0			147	10
Columbus Crew	2004<ref name="wf"/>	Major League Soccer	27	0	2	0			–				29	0
	2005<ref name="wf"/>		32	1					–				32	1
	Total		59	1	2	0			0	0			61	1
Fulham	2005–06<ref>Template:Soccerbase season</ref>	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
Template:Nowrap	2009<ref name="wf"/>	Major League Soccer	15	0					–				15	0
Wellington Phoenix	Template:Nowrap	A-League	4	0					–				4	0
Chivas USA	2011<ref name="wf"/>	Major League Soccer	24	0					–				24	0
Career total			236	11	27	0	1	0					264	11

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref>Template:NFT player</ref>

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	Template:Abbr
1	Template:Dts	Tauranga, New Zealand	Template:Fb	2–0	3–0	Friendly	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2	Template:Dts	Muscat, Oman	Template:Fb	–	2–1	Friendly	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
3	Template:Dts	North Harbour Stadium, North Shore, New Zealand	Template:Fb	5–0	7–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
4	Template:Dts	Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou, China	Template:Fb	1–0	1–2	Friendly	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
5	Template:Dts	Stade Pater, Papeete, Tahiti	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	2000 OFC Nations Cup	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
6				2–0

Honours

• CONCACAF Champions League: 2000
• MLS Cup: 2002
• MLS Supporters' Shield: 2002
• U.S. Open Cup: 2001

External links

• Template:MLS player
• NZ Football Profile
• Template:FIFA player
• Template:Soccerbase