Recruited to CCFPA in August 2021 we have another pleasant duty today to wish our former Irish international striker Stephen Elliott ‘Many Happy Returns’ of the day! Born in Dublin on 6th January 1984 Stephen is celebrating his big 60th birthday today! Congrats Stephen!!
He spent just one season (2012-13) with the Sky Blues and both before and since is a widely travelled footballing professional! Stephen’s only Sky Blues season saw him used sparingly, often from the bench and he ended up with 25 appearances in the Sky Blue shirt and just four goals scored including his first in his home debut against Sheffield United and an away brace against MK Dons when the Sky Blues came back to win 3-2. Stephen’s reflections on his short Sky Blue career (self described as the ‘beginning of the end of his career’) which was given to the club’s website in 2020 can be found here.
Stephen started out as youth with Dublin junior sides both Belvedere and Stella Maria before joining Manchester City‘s youth set-up where he eventually was give a first team chance in 2004. After a couple of Premier League outings for Kevin Keegan‘s side, Black Cats ‘gaffer’ Mick McCarthy took him to Sunderland for the 2004-05 season for a sizeable fee and, in fact, he made his debut against the Sky Blues in our 2-0 defeat of the Mackems!
He became a regular at the Stadium of Light (with periodic interruptions for injury) and, nevertheless, the striker scored an impressive 23 times in his 88 games over three seasons before signing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 2007 joining up with McCarthy again. In two season at Molineux Stephen contributed five goals in 32 outings before moving again to Championship side Preston North End. There, in two seasons, he notched eight goals in 52 appearances plus a further two in ten games on loan with Norwich City in his second season (2009-10).
The next two seasons the Irishman spent in Scotland with SPL side Heart of Midlothian where he was reunited with former strike partner at Sunderland (and former Sky Blue) Kevin Kyle developing a knack of scoring crucial goals particularly in away matches. With Hearts he also got his first taste of European football in the Europa Cup and helped tham to a Scottish Cup win in the 2011-12 final. When Stephen’s contract was not renewed the Sky Blues moved in to bring him to the Ricoh on a free for a one year contract and ‘gaffer’ Steven Pressley saw him debut from the subs bench in the 69th minute coming on for Gary McSheffrey on 14th August 2012 in a 1-0 League Cup tie win at Dagenham & Redbridge (which City won with a last minute Kevin Kilbane penalty)!
On 7th August 2014, having left CCFC Stephen signed up on a free in a one-year deal with recently relegated to League Two side Carlisle United scoring just once in eighteen games in 2014-15. In search of more football Stephen then returned to Ireland signing up for Irish Premier League outfit Shamrock Rovers at the back end of the 2015-16 season in April 2016, then First Division side Shelbourne for the new season making just seven appearances for them. He got more game time in 2017-18 linking up with newly promoted Premier League outfit Drogheda United notching two goals in 21 appearances.
Our new recruits footballing swansong before hanging up his boots came in the North East of England in 2017-18 with Northern League D1 side Morpeth Town where he helped himself to a decent total of five goals in his ten appearances giving him a more than acceptable total of 61 goals in 311 professional games in his fifteen year career. Since the turn of the millenium Stephen has represented his country from U17 to full Cap level. His international career peaked as he represented the Republic of Ireland nine times (scoring once) at senior level between 2004-06.
We hope you have agreat day today Stephen! We look forward to entertaining you back in Coventry whenever you are able to visit us for a Sky Blues home game or one of our CCFPA reunions!
Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young for sourcing the images.