Bernard Harry "Bryn" Elliott (3 May 1925 - 15 February 2019) was an English retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a half-back in the 1940s and 1950s. He started his career at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, before joining

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 1949, where he was to remain for the next ten years.

Football career

Elliott was born in Beeston, near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and was educated at Beeston Fields School. He was a member of the Beeston Lads Club during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

who played and defeated local

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

clubs,

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

and

. Elliott was signed by Forest in October 1942 and remained with them until August 1949, making ten appearances in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

. He then dropped down to

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

, joining

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

of the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

from where, in October 1949, he was signed by

's recently-appointed manager,

Sid Cann Sydney Thomas Cann (30 October 1911 – 1 November 1996) was an English professional football defender and football manager. He was capped twice by England at Schools level. Playing career Born in Babbacombe, Torquay, Sid Cann joined Torquay U ...

, together with his team-mate Tom Lowder. He made his debut for the reserve team on 5 October 1949 before making his first-team debut on 25 February 1950 in front of a crowd of over 70,000 at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

. Elliott played at

left-half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in a 4–0 defeat by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

; despite the result, he retained his place in the team for the next match, before returning to the reserves. At the end of the season, the "Saints" finished fourth in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, missing promotion on

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

, with Tottenham Hotspur being promoted as champions. Described as "the owner of a neat, precise style" with "enthusiasm, combined with forceful and tenacious tackling", he soon became an established member of the Southampton side, making 23 league appearances in 1950–51 and 27 in the following season, in both of which Southampton finished mid-table. In 1952–53, Elliott only missed one match in a defence that conceded 85 goals, with the team being relegated to the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

for the first time in over 30 years. He was in-and-out of the side over the next few years, making 31 appearances in 1953–54, 19 in 1954–55, 36 in 1955–56 and 34 in 1956–57. In 1957–58, he had two long runs in the side until he was dropped after a 5–2 defeat at Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in February 1958. Elliott spent the 1958–59 season in the reserves, before he was released in the 1959

close season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

. In his ten years at The Dell, Elliott made a total of 251 first-team appearances, scoring twice.

Later career

Following his release, he played part-time for Poole Town of the Southern League (managed by former Southampton player Mike Keeping), along with Southampton teammates

Pat Parker Pat Parker (born Patricia Cooks; January 20, 1944June 17, 1989) was an American poet and activist. Both her poetry and her activism drew from her experiences as an African-American lesbian Feminism, feminist.Pat Parker. Contemporary Authors On ...

, Sam Stevens and Barry Hillier. He ran an

off-licence A liquor store is a retail shop that predominantly sells prepackaged liquors – typically in bottles – usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence (i ...

business in Waterloo Road in

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington, Hampshire, Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. ...

until the 1990s and continued to play golf at Stoneham into his 90s.

References

External links

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Southampton career detailsSaints Legends You Have Never Heard Of ! Photograph of Bryn Elliott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Bryn 1925 births 2019 deaths People from Beeston, Nottinghamshire Footballers from Nottinghamshire English footballers Association football midfielders Nottingham Forest F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players