Matthew Stephen Elliott (born 1 November 1968) is a former professional footballer, most notably as a defender for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Born in England, he was never selected to play for them on an international level; he instead played for the Scotland national team, for whom he was eligible due to his Scottish grandmother. He captained Leicester to victory in the

2000 Football League Cup Final The 2000 Football League Cup Final was played between Leicester City, in their third final appearance in four years, and First Division side Tranmere Rovers at Wembley Stadium on 27 February 2000. It was the 34th and last League Cup Final to be ...

scoring both goals.

Club career

Elliott began his career in non-league football with

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

and Epsom & Ewell, before getting his first taste of professional football with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. Unable to break into the Charlton first-team, he moved to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

within a year. He then worked his way up the ladder, signing for Scunthorpe United in March 1992, moving on to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

in November 1993, and finally getting his chance in the Premiership when he was signed by

in early 1997 for a transfer fee of £1.6 million. This remained the record for a sale by Oxford until 2016, when

Kemar Roofe Kemar Roofe (born 6 January 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker, winger or attacking midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Born in England, he represents the Jamaican national team. Club career West Bromwic ...

moved to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. He was cup-tied for their victory in the

1997 Football League Cup Final The 1997 Football League Cup Final was played between Middlesbrough and Leicester City. The first game at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 6 April 1997 ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time. Fabrizio Ravanelli opened the scoring only for Leicester's ...

. Elliott became a mainstay in a Leicester side that surprised many in the top flight, and also performed well in cup competitions. The defender became synonymous with The Foxes' bruising style of play that made them one of the hardest sides to play in the Premiership. Elliott sometimes courted controversy with his discipline throughout his time at Leicester, but remained a key player under both Martin O'Neill and his successor Peter Taylor. Elliott was influential in Leicester's run to the

, and their victory in the game itself. He scored the only goal of the two-legged semi final against Aston Villa and then scored both goals in the final as Leicester beat

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

2–1. When

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

left to manage Celtic in July 2000, he made an attempt to lure Elliott to the club in a £3.5 million bid (O'Neill would raid his former club for the likes of

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

and

Steve Guppy Stephen Andrew Guppy (born 29 March 1969) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who now coaches at Nashville SC. A winger, he started his senior career with Wycombe Wanderers in 1989, over a five-year period he mad ...

). It was unsuccessful when Elliott signed the last contract of his career in August 2001, which would last until June 2005. Elliott's made his last European appearance in a 3–1 defeat to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

in Vienna on 28 September 2000 in the 2001 UEFA Cup. He had a loan spell at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

before his retirement. His final season was thwarted by a knee injury and, after making only three appearances, Elliott retired from football in January 2005.

International career

Elliott won 18 caps for the Scotland national team, scoring one goal which was a header from an Allan Johnston cross in a 2–0 win against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

. He made 16 starts and two appearances from the bench, including his debut against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in November 1997. He was in the Scotland squad for the 1998 World Cup although he did not appear in any of the games.

After retirement

Coaching

On 9 June 2008, Elliott was unveiled as the new assistant manager to former Torquay teammate

Dean Edwards Dean Edwards (born July 30, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, singer, writer and musician. His work as a voice actor includes Scottie Pippen and Spike Lee in ''Celebrity Deathmatch'', a robot in ''Robotomy'', and Donkey in ''Scar ...

at Northern Premier League team Hednesford Town. After a season that saw the Pitmen finish just outside the play-offs, Elliott stepped down from his position at Keys Park in May 2009 to concentrate on other business interests. He then became assistant manager of Midland Alliance side Oadby Town, until in October 2010 he became assistant manager of

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

club Stafford Rangers, working under

Tim Flowers Timothy David Flowers (born 3 February 1967) is an English football manager and former player who recently was the manager of Stratford Town. He played as a goalkeeper from 1984 until 2003, notably in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers w ...

. Elliott was appointed

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

after Flowers resigned from his managerial role on 11 January 2011. In January 2014, Elliott became manager of Thailand Premier League side Army United, a club affiliated with Elliott's former club, Leicester City. Elliott left Army United in June 2014 with the side in 11th place, in order to take up a role with Leicester City. In September 2015

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...

announced that Elliott had been appointed first team coach for the University's men's and women's teams.

Media

In August 2014, Elliott took over as an analyst for

BBC Radio Leicester BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Nicholas Place in Leicester. According to RAJAR, the station ...

. On 10 October 2015, Elliott was interviewed on

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fami ...

's 5Live radio show, discussing his life and career.

Honours

Oxford United * Division Two: runner-up 1995–96 Leicester City *

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

: 1999–2000; runner-up 1998–99 * First Division: runner-up 2002–03 Individual *

Alan Hardaker Trophy The Alan Hardaker Trophy is an annual association football award presented to the Man of the Match in the EFL Cup final (also currently known as the Carabao Cup). The trophy is named after Alan Hardaker, the EFL's former secretary who conceived ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

References

External links

*
Profile and stats
at FoxesTalk {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Matt 1968 births Living people Anglo-Scots Association football defenders Association football utility players Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Leatherhead F.C. players Epsom & Ewell F.C. players