Stuart Elliott

Stuart Thomas Elliott (born 27 August 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a defender or midfielder in the Football League for 11 clubs.

He is the manager of club Newcastle Benfield.

Born in Hendon, Greater London, Elliott started his career as a schoolboy with Arsenal's youth system in 1993 before being released by the club.

Elliott started his career as a schoolboy at Arsenal, and after being released by the club he signed an apprenticeship with Newcastle United in 1995.

He spent five years with the club, during which time he was loaned out seven times.

He never made a first-team appearance for Newcastle, but appeared on the substitutes' bench on six occasions and eventually became captain of the reserve team.

He was then offered an apprenticeship with Newcastle United in August 1995, and on 29 August signed a professional contract with the club.

He was promoted to the first-team squad at Newcastle in the 1996–97 season.

He was named on the substitutes' bench for the first time for Newcastle in an away match against Southampton in the Premier League in January 1997, which was Kenny Dalglish's first match as manager.

His first loan came on 28 February 1997 when he joined Hull City, and was sent off in the 90th minute of his debut in a 1–1 draw with Northampton Town on 1 March.

He made three appearances for Hull before returning to Newcastle on 31 March 1997.

He joined Swindon Town on loan on 20 February 1998, making his debut in a 3–1 defeat away to Manchester City in the First Division the following day.

He made two appearances during this spell with Swindon.

The 1998–99 season saw Elliott loaned out to three clubs, the first being Gillingham for a one-month period on 23 October 1998.

He made five appearances in the Second Division for them before his loan ended on 23 November 1998.

He made 10 appearances for the club before returning to his parent club at the end of 1998–99.

A loan spell at Hartlepool United in the Third Division followed, whom he joined on 29 January 1999.

He made five appearances for the club before returning to Newcastle on 1 March 1999.

He joined Wrexham of the Second Division on loan on 22 March 1999, and on the following day made his debut in their 3–2 home defeat by Wigan Athletic in the Football League Trophy Northern final second leg.

AFC Bournemouth signed him on loan on 3 December 1999, who he made eight Second Division appearances for in 1999–2000, having returned to Newcastle on 26 January 2000.

He left the club in 2000 to join Darlington, where he played for most of the 2000–01 season before joining Plymouth Argyle in 2001.

His final loan spell was with Stockport County, whom he joined on 25 February 2000, where he played until the end of 1999–2000, making five First Division appearances.

During his time at Newcastle, he was named as a first-team substitute on six occasions, but never made it onto the pitch.

Elliott, however, was a regular in the Newcastle reserve team and eventually became the team's captain.

His final Newcastle reserve appearance saw him win the Northumberland Senior Cup for the second time, after scoring a goal from 35 yards in the final against Newcastle Blue Star in May 2000.

After failing to break into the Newcastle first team, Elliott joined Third Division club Darlington on 21 July 2000.

He made his debut in a 1–1 draw with Rochdale on 12 August 2000.

His first goal in the professional game came against First Division team Nottingham Forest in a first round first-leg League Cup tie on 22 August 2000 after scoring a penalty kick.

In the second-leg on 6 September 2000, Elliott scored with a 50-yard strike from the centre circle in the 85th minute, which gave Darlington a 2–1 away win over Forest, and 4–3 on aggregate.

He made 33 appearances and scored four goals before moving to Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer on 8 March 2001.

Elliott's debut came in a 3–0 home win over Third Division league leaders Chesterfield on 10 March 2001 and he finished 2000–01 with 12 appearances for Plymouth.

Following an impressive trial with Scarborough of the Football Conference during the 2001–02 pre-season, he was offered a contract by the club in August 2001.

However, he instead joined Carlisle United for a one-month trial in August 2001, signing a short-term contract on 16 August.

His debut came in a 0–0 away draw with Leyton Orient in the Third Division on 18 August 2001.

After making seven appearances for the team, Elliott was released after not being offered a new contract and signed for non-League club Durham City, of the Northern League Division One, on 2 October 2001.

Only several days later, he signed for Scarborough on 5 October 2001 as a replacement for Denny Ingram, making his debut in a 2–2 away draw against Boston United a day later.

He eventually dropped down to non-League football with Durham City and Scarborough, before making a brief return to the Football League with Exeter City in 2002.

After making 10 appearances and scoring one goal for Scarborough he was offered a week-long trial with Exeter City in January 2002.

After impressing for the reserves against Yeovil Town he signed for the club on 1 February 2002, but on a non-contract basis due to financial constraints at the club.

Since then, he has played in non-League football, mostly with Northwich Victoria and York City before joining Grays Athletic in 2008.