Stephen Elliott (footballer)

Stephen Elliott

Personal information
Full name	Stephen Elliott
Date of birth	6 January 1984 (1984-01-06)
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Number	10
Youth career
	Belvedere
	Stella Maris
	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2004	Manchester City	2	(0)
2004–2007	Sunderland	81	(22)
2007–2008	Wolverhampton Wanderers	29	(4)
2008–2010	Preston North End	46	(7)
2010	→ Norwich City (loan)	10	(2)
2010–	Heart of Midlothian	47	(11)
National team‡
	Republic of Ireland U21	?	(6)
2004–	Republic of Ireland	9	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 January 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 September 2008

Stephen Elliott (born 6 January 1984 in Dublin) is an Irish international footballer who plays as a striker for Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League.

Club career

Manchester City

Elliott began his professional career as a youth player at Manchester City, but failed to establish himself in the first team, making only two appearances as a substitute. His league debut came on 21 February 2004 when Kevin Keegan used him as a late substitute in a 3–1 win at Bolton Wanderers.

Sunderland

Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy signed him from Manchester City in June 2004 for an initial fee of £125,000, set by a tribunal, with well over £250,000 of additional payments linked to his subsequent performance at the Black Cats (viz. £100,000 if Sunderland were promoted to the Premier League; £50,000 if he played in a competitive game for the Republic of Ireland; five installments of £20,000 for each set of ten appearances he made for Sunderland up to a maximum of 50 games; and 25% of any sell-on transfer fees). McCarthy later admitted that he had bought him outrageously cheaply, although that was before all of the above add-ons were ultimately realised.

He quickly established himself as first-team regular, scoring 15 goals as the team finished as champions in 2005. However, his first Premiership season was largely disrupted by injury, although prior to his injuries he scored spectacular long-range goals against Manchester United and Newcastle United. On Sunderland's return to the Championship, he showed good form when fit, but again injury problems blighted his career.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Elliott moved to Wolves on 17 July 2007 for an undisclosed fee (reportedly around £750,000), linking up again with Mick McCarthy, his former manager at Sunderland. However, he failed to make a strong impact at Molineux, and was transfer-listed at the season's end after the club missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.

Preston North End

Elliot signed for Preston North End on 1 September 2008 for an undiclosed fee.

On 18 October he scored his first goal for Preston against Reading, it turned out to be the winning goal. He scored a brace against his former team Wolves at Molineux. He was to form a partnership with Jon Parkin in Preston's attack. On 4 March 2010, Elliot signed on an emergency loan deal with Norwich City.

Heart of Midlothian

On 9 August 2010 Elliott joined Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian on a two-year deal. He made his debut as a 66th minute substitute on 14 August against St Johnstone at Tynecastle, going on to make his first start on 7 November against rivals Hibernian in the first Edinburgh Derby of the season scoring the second goal in a 2–0 victory for Hearts. He scored his first home goal for the club on 10 December to make the score 3–0 in a 5–0 victory against Aberdeen.

Elliott has become renowned for his crucial goals away from home. Of his seven goals for Hearts, as of April 3, 2011, six have come away from home including doubles at Hamilton Accies in a 2-0 win, and at Kilmarnock in a 2-1 victory, the latter coming after Elliott had come off the substitutes bench for the second half to reverse a 1-0 deficit.

Arguably Elliott's most vital goal so far came in the third Edinburgh Derby of the season, when he scored in the 83rd minute to rescue Hearts after they had gone 2-1 down, despite having played for over an hour with 10 men. This dramatic volley ensured Elliott's name would be written into Hearts folkore.

International career

Elliott's good start for Sunderland in 2004 led to a call-up to the Republic of Ireland, and he made his international debut against Croatia at Lansdowne Road on 16 November 2004. He had previously represented Ireland's U-20 team at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, where he was their top goalscorer, and the Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team where he is the joint top scorer.

He scored his first senior International goal to beat Cyprus 1–0 in a World Cup qualifier on 8 October 2005. He has yet to play under head coach Giovanni Trapattoni.

Career statistics

As of 27 January 2012

Club statistics

Club	Season	League		Fa Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Manchester City	2003-04 season	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Sunderland	2004-05 season	42	15	2	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	46	16
	2005-06 season	15	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	16	2
	2006-07 season	24	5	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	26	5
Wolves	2007-08 season	29	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	5
	2008-09 season	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Preston North End	2008-09 season	37	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	39	6
	2009-10 season	9	1	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	13	2
Norwich City	2009-10 season	10	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	2
Heart of Midlothian	2010-11 season	30	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	8
	2011-12 season	17	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	20	3
Total		215	46	8	1	8	2	3	0	1	0	235	49

a. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including League play offs and Scottish Challenge Cup.

Honours

Sunderland

• Football League Championship (II): 2005, 2007

External links

• Transfermarkt Profile
• Preston Noth End profile