Simon John Elliott (born 10 June 1974) is a New Zealand

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who most recently served as head coach of

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that competes in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, t ...

. A

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, he spent his professional career in the ,

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

, the ,

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

and the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. 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 Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. He played for several clubs in the New Zealand semi-professional

Central Premier League The Central League, known as the Dettol Central League for sponsorship reasons, is a competition run by the Capital Football for association football clubs located in the southern and central parts of the North Island. It is a New Zealand top-t ...

in the 1990s, and attended Wellington College prior to moving to the United States. Elliott subsequently played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where he scored 13 goals and made 12 assists.

Club career

Elliott began his professional career with

(now

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

) team Boston Bulldogs in 1999, playing three games, before joining

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

in May 1999. 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 The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

in 2000, the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

in 2001 and the

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

in 2002. He made 122 appearances for Galaxy in five seasons, scoring ten goals. In 2001, Elliott trained for two months with Manchester United in England, but eventually returned to the United States. Elliott was traded in January 2004 to the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

in exchange for a first round pick in the

2005 MLS SuperDraft The 2005 MLS SuperDraft, held in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 14, 2005, was the sixth incarnation of the annual MLS SuperDraft. Expansion club Real Salt Lake had the first pick as the result of a coin toss (fellow newcomers C.D. Chivas USA g ...

. 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. Elliott caught the eye of Chris Coleman, manager of

club

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

, during a pre-season friendly game in July 2005 and joined Fulham in training after the end of the MLS season. He then joined Fulham in January 2006 on a free transfer and made 13 league and cup appearances during the remainder of the 2005–06 season. During the summer he injured a calf muscle, and missed the entire

2006–07 season through injury; he played in some reserve games towards the end of the season. He was released by Fulham in May 2008. After his release from Fulham, Elliott joined

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

on trial in January 2009. Elliott returned to Major League Soccer in 2009, signing with the

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

. He was waived from San Jose prior to the 2010 season opener. In November 2010, Elliott signed for hometown professional

club

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

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. At season's end, his contract expired and he entered the

2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 5, 2011 (Stage 1) and December 12, 2011 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs participated. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as the traditional Wai ...

. 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. In February 2018, Elliott was hired as head coach for the Sacramento Republic FC. 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.

International career

Elliott scored on his full New Zealand national team debut in a 3–0 win over

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 21 February 1995 and earned his 50th A-international cap in a 3–0 win over

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

on 10 September 2008, accruing 6 goals en route to his milestone. He appeared in qualifying matches for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and in the

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivi ...

in France. Elliott was included in the New Zealand U-23 squad for their first appearance at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

as one of three over age players, alongside

Ryan Nelsen Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a former New Zealand professional football player and former head coach of Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. Nelsen commonly played as a defender, and his professional career began in 1995. He ...

and Chris Killen He was named as part of the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

New Zealand squad to travel to South Africa. On 10 May 2010, Elliott was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, despite not being under contract at any club.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elliott goal.''

Honours

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

: 2000 *

: 2002 *

MLS 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 199 ...

: 2002 *

: 2001

References

External links

*
NZ Football Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Simon 1974 births Wellington United players Boston Bulldogs (soccer) players Chivas USA players Columbus Crew players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics People educated at Wellington College, Wellington Fulham F.C. players Living people LA Galaxy players New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers New Zealand men's association footballers Olympic association footballers for New Zealand Association footballers from Wellington City Major League Soccer players Premier League players San Jose Earthquakes players Stanford Cardinal men's soccer players Miramar Rangers AFC players Wellington Phoenix FC players A-League Men players Wellington Olympic AFC players Men's association football midfielders Sacramento Republic FC coaches Waterside Karori players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand association football managers 1996 OFC Nations Cup players 2000 OFC Nations Cup players 2002 OFC Nations Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players 2008 OFC Nations Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players