Stephen William Elliott (born 6 January 1984) is an Irish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for Manchester City, Sunderland, Wolves, Preston North End, Heart of Midlothian, Coventry City Carlisle United, Shelbourne, Drogheda United and Morpeth Town, and had a loan spell at Norwich City.
He played in nine international matches for the Republic of Ireland between 2004 and 2006, scoring once.
Club career
Elliott began his career as a youth player with Belvedere. and Stella Maris.
Manchester City
Elliott began his professional career as a youth player at Manchester City after impressing in a trial match with Stella Maris in which he scored five goals in the space of half an hour. 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. He failed to establish himself in the first team, making only one further appearances as a substitute, with his development at City hampered by a serious back injury that ruled him out for a season.
Sunderland
Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy signed him from Manchester City on 1 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 of around £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 instalments 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 made his debut on 7 August against Coventry in their 2–0 defeat, with his first goal for the club coming on 10 August against Crewe Alexandra, scoring the winner in their 3–1 win. He quickly established himself as first-team regular, making 47 appearances scoring 16 goals in his debut season as the team finished as champions in 2005, helping him win the clubs young player of the season award. And in July 2005 he signed a contract extension extending his stay until 2008.
However, his first Premiership season was largely disrupted by injury, only managing 15 appearances although prior to his injuries he scored two long-range goals against Manchester United and Newcastle United.
On Sunderland's return to the Championship the following season, he showed good form when fit, but again was disrupted by an ankle injury which kept him out for two months. In all he made 88 appearances for Sunderland scoring 23 goals.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Elliott moved to Wolves in July 2007 for an undisclosed fee signing a three-year contract, linking up with Mick McCarthy, his former manager at Sunderland. He made his debut on 11 August 2007 in their 2–1 defeat to Watford, going on to score his first goal for the club on 15 September scoring the opening goal against Sheffield United. 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.
He made one more appearance for Wolves the following season in the League Cup against Rotherham. In all he made 32 appearances for Wolves scoring five times.
Preston North End
On 1 September 2008, Elliot signed for Championship side Preston North End on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut as a substitute on 16 September against Nottingham Forest, and scored his first goal for the club on 18 October 2008 against Reading, with the winning goal in their 2–1 win. He scored a brace against his former team Wolves at Molineux in their 3–1 win in January. He was to form a partnership with Jon Parkin in Preston's attack. In his debut season he made 39 appearances scoring six times.
The following season he made 13 appearances scoring twice before falling out of favour and in March 2010 he joined Norwich on loan. On his return on 7 August he negotiated an early release from his Preston contract.
Norwich City
On 6 March 2010, Elliot signed on an emergency loan deal with Norwich City until the end of the season and was given the number 11 shirt. He made his debut on 6 March 2010 against Yeovil in League One, scoring his first goals for the club the following week, scoring a brace against Huddersfield in their 3–1 win. In all he made ten appearances scoring twice.