Stephen Blain Elliott (born 15 September 1958) is an English former

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

the 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 ...

during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Professional career

His opportunities 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 ...

were limited and after only four League appearances in three years, he was subsequently allowed to move to Preston North End in 1979. In five seasons at Deepdale he made 208 League appearances, scoring 70 goals, and it was this firepower that encouraged Luton manager David Pleat to invest £95,000 to bring him to Kenilworth Road in the summer of 1984. Although scoring within three minutes of the start of his debut against Stoke City on the opening day of 1984–85, he struggled and was used in the part-exchange deal that brought David Preece to Kenilworth Road from Walsall in December 1984. Elliott rediscovered his scoring boots at Fellows Park and after two successful years there he joined Bolton Wanderers for £25,000. At Burnden Park though, his scoring rate slowed a little as proved by a return of 11 in 60 appearances over two seasons. Spells at both Bury and Rochdale then followed before he dipped out of League football in 1990 to join AFC Guiseley.Guide to Rochdale
/ref> Stephen was diagnosed with early onset dementia due to repeated head trauma aged 59 and is one of a number of former professional footballers currently living with the disease.

References

English men's footballers 1958 births Living people Nottingham Forest F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Northumberland People from Haltwhistle English Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1950s-stub