Jack Elliott (born 25 August 1995) is an English professional

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 plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

Youth

Elliott was born in London, England to

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

parents. Attending

Wilson's School Wilson's School is a state boys' grammar school with academy status in the London Borough of Sutton, England. It was founded as Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell in 1615, making it one of the country's oldest state schools. The school mov ...

in Wallington, he spent a year playing for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

at the age of 12 before being scouted by

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

whilst playing in the

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

Playing career

College and amateur

Elliott played four years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

between 2013 and 2017. He also played in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

for

South Florida Surf FC Florida U23, formerly known as Treasure Coast Tritons, North County United and South Florida Surf, is an American soccer club that plays in USL League Two. In January 2016, it was announced that the club had been granted a franchise license f ...

in 2016.

Club

Philadelphia Union

On 17 January 2017, Elliott was drafted in the fourth round (77th overall) of the

2017 MLS SuperDraft The 2017 MLS SuperDraft was the eighteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The first two rounds of the 2017 S ...

. He signed with Philadelphia on 24 February 2017. Elliott made his professional debut for the Union on 1 April as a substitute for Richie Marquez against

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. Elliott became a regular starter for the Union through the rest of the season earning 30 appearances; 29 as a starter. He scored his first professional goal against

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

, the first equalizer of an ultimate 2–2 away draw. Elliott's first season contributions earned him a nomination for the 2017

MLS Rookie of the Year The MLS Young Player of the Year Award (known as the Rookie of the Year Award from 1996 to 2019) is an annual award given to the top player in Major League Soccer under the age of 22. The award was initially awarded to a rookie, or a player who no ...

award, but ultimately finished third in the running behind

Abu Danladi Abu Danladi (born October 18, 1995) is a Ghanaian footballer. Career Amateur & College Abu Danladi graduated from Ghana's Right to Dream Academy. He attended Dunn High School in Los Olivos, California. He played college soccer with the UCLA ...

and winner

Julian Gressel Julian Emil Kurt Gressel (born December 16, 1993) is a professional soccer player who plays as a full-back for Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps. Born in Germany, he represents the United States national team. He began his career i ...

. During his first two seasons with the Union, Elliott earned two starts with

Bethlehem Steel FC Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. T ...

, the Union's second division team. Elliott scored his first brace for the Union during the 2018 season in a 3–2 win over the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

. During the 2019 season, Elliott developed a steady partnership next to the rotation of Union homegrown centerbacks Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie, starting every match in the season. In May 2019, he was awarded a new contract with the Union through 2021 with an option for 2022. During the Union's opening playoff match of the 2019 season, he scored the second goal in a 4–3 comeback victory against

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, the first playoff win in club history. The 2020 season, while disrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, earned Elliott's and the Union's first trophy winning the 2020 Supporters' Shield.

Career statistics

Honours

Philadelphia Union *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

runner-up:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

runner-up:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

*
West Virginia bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Jack (footballer) 1995 births Living people English men's footballers English people of Scottish descent English expatriate men's footballers West Virginia Mountaineers men's soccer players FC Florida U23 players Philadelphia Union players Philadelphia Union II players Men's association football defenders Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Philadelphia Union draft picks USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Footballers from Greater London