Stuart Elliott (footballer born 1978)

Stuart Elliott

Personal information
Full name	Stuart Elliott
Date of birth	23 July 1978 (1978-07-23)
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	St. Andrews (Northern Ireland)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2000	Glentoran
2000–2002	Motherwell	70	(22)
2002–2008	Hull City	193	(65)
2008	→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)	10	(0)
2008–2010	Doncaster Rovers	9	(0)
2009	→ Grimsby Town (loan)	11	(2)
2010	Hamilton Academical	5	(0)
2010	→ Stirling Albion (loan)	7	(1)
National team‡
2000–2007	Northern Ireland	36	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:47, 23 March 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:25, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Stuart Elliott (born 23 July 1978 in Belfast) is a former Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a left-winger between 1998 and 2010. Elliott notably played for Motherwell and Hull City having also played for Glentoran, Doncaster Rovers, Grimsby Town, Hamilton Academical and Stirling Albion.

Club career

Glentoran

Elliott started his career at St Andrews FC, from Belfast, then moved on to Glentoran (also in Northern Ireland) before joining Scottish Premier League club Motherwell.

Motherwell

He became a fans favourite at Fir Park and his impressive performances earned him his first cap for Northern Ireland against Malta in September 2002. In May 2002, Motherwell went into administration and as a result had to sell many of their best players. During his time at the club, Elliott scored 22 goals in 77 appearances.

Hull City

Elliott joined Hull City for £230,000 and in his first season finished as the club's top scorer in 2002/03 with 12 goals. In 2003/04, he continued to impress and again hit double figures for his club. As Hull City clinched a place in The Championship in 2004/05, Elliott enjoyed a fantastic season netting 27 goals in the league (which earned him the golden boot, albeit shared with Dean Windass) as well as 2 in the cup, while also starring for Northern Ireland. This goal scoring tally is perhaps made all the more impressive given that Elliott does not play as a striker and was out for 6 weeks with an injury during mid-season.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Elliott was unable to maintain this incredible goal scoring form in the Championship. In fact, he found himself in-and-out of the team, but despite this he still finished 2005/06 as Hull's top scorer with 7 league goals. In 2006 it was revealed that he was suffering from a form of exercise-induced asthma, which affects his ability to perform for the full ninety minutes. In 2006/07 he was mainly used as an 'impact player' coming off the bench late in the game, such as in the 13 January match against QPR when he came on with eleven minutes to go and scored twice to give the Tigers a 2–1 victory.

Doncaster Rovers

On 31 January 2008, Elliott signed for Doncaster Rovers on loan until the end of the season with a view to a permanent deal. Elliott had already snubbed moves to Southend United and Darlington, citing a desire to remain in the local area. He signed a 2 year deal with Doncaster Rovers on 1 July. On 27 September 2008, Elliott became one of three men in the Rovers team to successfully hit the bar on the "Crossbar Challenge" on Soccer AM. On 8 January 2009 Elliott joined Grimsby Town on a one month loan deal, this was extended for another month with Elliott eventually returning on 8 March.

Hamilton Academical

Elliot was released by Doncaster on 1 January 2010 and signed for Hamilton Academical two days later until the end of the season.

He was then loaned to Stirling Albion two months later.

In August 2010, Elliott announced that he wished his contract cancelled to be able to concentrate on his faith, with a view to perhaps entering ministry.

International career

Elliott earned 36 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring 4 goals including an impressive free kick against Azerbaijan. He played in Northern Ireland's famous victory over England but soon after began to struggle for his place in the team due to emerging young talents Sammy Clingan and Chris Brunt.

Personal life

Elliott attended Ashfield Boys School in his native East Belfast, and worked as a window cleaner before becoming a full-time footballer. He was nicknamed "Zico" by fans of Glentoran, after the legendary Brazilian player of the 1980s.

He is a born-again Christian, belonging to Living Hope Christian Church in Hull, where he is a frequent speaker. There are only three churches of this denomination in the world; these being in Belfast, Motherwell and Hull, which by no coincidence correspond exactly to where he has played his club football.

Elliott is married with 2 children, Hannah and Nathan Elliott.

External links

• Doncaster Rovers F.C. profile
• Hull City A.F.C. profile
• Stuart Elliott career stats at Soccerbase

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Gary Alexander	Hull City Player of the Season 2002-2003	Succeeded by Damien Delaney
Preceded by Damien Delaney	Hull City Player of the Season 2004-2005	Succeeded by Boaz Myhill