Tony Ellis
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| Tony Ellis | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Joseph Ellis | |
| Date of birth | October 20, 1964 (age 42) | |
| Place of birth | Salford, England | |
| Height | 5'11" | |
| Nickname | Elvis | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Hyde United (assistant manager) | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1985-1986 | Northwich, Horwich RMI | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1986-1987 1987-1989 1989-1992 1992-1994 1994-1997 1997-1999 1999-1999 1999-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003 2003- |
Oldham Athletic Preston North End Stoke City Preston North End Blackpool Bury Stockport County Rochdale Burnley Leigh RMI Mossley Hyde United Total |
8 (0) 86 (27) 77 (19) 72 (48) 147 (55) 38 (8) 20 (6) 59 (17) 10 (1) ? (?) ? (?) ? (?) 518 (181) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Anthony Joseph "Tony" Ellis (born October 20, 1964 in Salford, Greater Manchester) is a former English football player who, although a relative latecomer to the professional game, more than made up for lost time.
Contents |
[edit] Oldham and Preston
Signed in August 1986 at the age of 21 by Joe Royle for Oldham Athletic (10 games 0 goals) after spells with non-league Horwich RMI and Northwich Victoria, Ellis was spotted by Preston North End manager John McGrath banging in the goals for Oldham's reserve team. McGrath decided to pay £23,000 in October 1987 to take Ellis to Deepdale, where a last-minute winner on his debut against Port Vale turned him into an instant hero with the fans in a game that also marked the debut of a certain Brian Mooney.
[edit] Life at the Potters
In a little over two seasons with Preston, Ellis scored 32 goals in 106 games before Alan Ball at Stoke City tabled a £250,000 offer for him. For Preston, the money was too good to turn down, and Ellis found himself leaving for the Victoria Ground in December 1989. His time at Stoke was disrupted by injury, but in two and a half years he scored 20 goals in 106 games.
[edit] Back at Preston
In August 1992, Preston came back for him, paying Stoke £150,000 plus striker Graham Shaw. His second spell at Preston was even more productive than his first: Ellis scored 56 goals in only 88 games and was named the club's official player of the year in 1992/93 and 1993/94. One of the highlights of his second spell was a hat-trick against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road in a 3-2 win by Preston. His final game for the Lilywhites turned out to be Preston's 1994 play-off final defeat against Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley.
[edit] Blackpool
After a much-publicised fall out with Preston boss John Beck over a new contract and his role within the club, Ellis signed for arch-rivals Blackpool for £165,000 - a move for which many Preston fans have never forgiven him. However in November 1995 Ellis handed in a transfer request fueling rumours of a return to Deepdale, by now managed by Gary Peters. Blackpool though got around this problem by offering Ellis an extention to his contract. In three and a half years at Bloomfield Road, Ellis scored 65 goals in 173 games.
[edit] Latter career
In December 1997, Ellis was on the move again, this time to Bury for £70,000. He scored 12 goals in 38 games at Gigg Lane. Further spells at Stockport County (a £25,000 price tag and 6 goals in 23 games) and Rochdale (free transfer and 18 goals in 66 games) only further enhanced Ellis' now-legendary goalscoring reputation. After being released by Rochdale at the end of the 2000-01 season, Ellis found himself without a club and semi-retirement and a return to non-league football looked likely until Burnley boss Stan Ternent offered him a lifeline. In his only season at Turf Moor, Ellis played ten games, all as a substitute, scoring at the age of 37 an excellent winner against Bradford City in a 3-2 win at Valley Parade.
[edit] Non-league and management
After leaving Burnley at the end of the 2001-02 season, Ellis enjoyed a short spell playing in Australia[citation needed] before returning to the English game with Leigh RMI (formerly Horwich RMI) in the Nationwide Conference. In 2003-04 Ellis took on his current role as player/assistant manager of Nationwide Conference North club Hyde United after a spell with Unibond League side Mossley
Tony Ellis was one of the deadliest strikers to grace the lower reaches of the Football League in modern times, commanding combined transfer fees of nearly £750,000 and scoring 206 goals in 613 games and although he has been retired from the full time game for four years now he still to this day turns out occasionally for Nationwide Conference North side Hyde United, where he is assistant manager.
Ellis has also taken on the role of coaching the Burnley under-15s at the Turf Moor club's Centre of Excellence.
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1964 births | Living people | English footballers | Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players | Preston North End F.C. players | Stoke City F.C. players | Blackpool F.C. players | Bury F.C. players | Stockport County F.C. players | Rochdale A.F.C. players | Burnley F.C. players | Hyde United F.C. players
