Danny Elliott (footballer)


Daniel Elliott is an English footballer who plays as a forward for National League North side Chester.
A former youth-team player at Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, he played college soccer is the United States with Hofstra Pride and later represented North Carolina FC U23 and the Long Island Rough Riders. He joined Spanish club San Cristóbal in October 2018 and then signed with English Football League side Port Vale in January 2019. Released by Port Vale in May 2019, he signed with Chester two months later. He was loaned out to Alfreton Town in January 2020.

Early and personal life

Born in Nottingham, Elliott attended West Bridgford School. He earned a BA in economics from Hofstra University in May 2018.

Career

Elliott began his career with the youth teams of Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
He played college soccer for the Hofstra Pride between 2014 and 2017. He also spent time with North Carolina FC U23, and the Long Island Rough Riders. He made his PDL debut for the Rough Riders on 24 June 2018, in a 1–0 defeat at Reading United. He made a further five appearances, scoring one goal in 3–2 victory over Evergreen at the Hofstra University Soccer Stadium.
He signed for Spanish Tercera División club San Cristóbal in October 2018. He left the club in January 2019 to trial with English League Two club Port Vale. The trial was successful and later that month he signed for Port Vale until the end of the 2018–19 season. He made his debut in the English Football League on 19 January, coming on for Ricky Miller as a 75th-minute substitute in a 1–0 win at Crawley Town. After the match, Port Vale manager Neil Aspin said that "Danny is a gamble. We have put him on today but if we had more strikers he wouldn't be thrown in the deep end". After three months playing reserve team football, he returned to the first-team to impress new manager John Askey as a substitute against Stevenage on 19 April. However Askey confirmed that he would not be offering Elliott a new contract on 16 May.
Elliott joined National League North club Chester on a one-year deal in July 2019, following a successful trial spell in which he scored against Wigan Athletic in a pre-season friendly at the Deva Stadium. He moved on loan to league rivals Alfreton Town in January 2020. He scored a hat-trick on his debut for the "Reds" in a 6–1 victory over Gloucester City at North Street on 28 January.
He ended the loan spell with five goals from five games and was put back into the first-team following his return to the Deva Stadium. He scored three goals in 21 appearances for Chester in the 2019–20 season, which was permanently suspended on 26 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, with Chester in the play-offs in seventh place. They were knocked out of the play-offs with a 3–1 loss at Altrincham.

Career statistics