Simon Russell (footballer)

Simon Craig Russell (born 19 March 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Simon Russell

Russell in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Simon Craig Russell[1]
Date of birth	(1985-03-19) 19 March 1985 (age 39)[1]
Place of birth	Hull, England
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
0000–2002	Hull City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2004	Hull City	1	(0)
2004–2008	Kidderminster Harriers	134	(14)
2008–2010	York City	24	(0)
2009	→ Tamworth (loan)	11	(0)
2010	→ Cambridge United (loan)	15	(0)
2010–2011	Cambridge United	31	(6)
2011–2012	Lincoln City	26	(1)
2012–2013	Alfreton Town	15	(0)
2013–2016	Gainsborough Trinity	125	(26)
2016–2018	North Ferriby United	20	(1)
2018–2020	Gainsborough Trinity	1	(0)
2020–2022	Tadcaster Albion	30	(4)
Total		433	(52)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He previously played in the Football League for Hull City and Kidderminster Harriers before moving into Non-League with York City, Tamworth, Cambridge United, Lincoln City, Alfreton Town and North Ferriby United and Gainsborough Trinity.

Career

Born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Russell began his career as a trainee at Hull City.^[1] He made his first-team debut after coming on as a 60th minute substitute in a Football League Trophy match against Port Vale on 22 October 2002, which was lost 3–1.^[2] He made his league debut in the Third Division in a 4–1 victory against Kidderminster Harriers on 26 April 2003.^[2] He made no appearances for Hull's first team during the 2003–04 season,^[3] but helped the reserve team win the East Riding Senior Cup after scoring in the final, which finished 3–0.^[4] He was released by Hull in the summer of 2004 after making two substitute appearances for the club, and was signed by League Two club Kidderminster in July 2004 on a two-year contract, whose manager Jan Mølby described him as, "... [having] a tremendous engine and is likely to pop up with a goal or two."^[5]

He finished his first season aft Kidderminster with 29 appearances and 2 goals as they were relegated to the Conference National.^[6] He received a broken wrist in November 2005 that ruled him out for three months of 2005–06,^[7] but made his return after two months when he featured as a 63rd-minute substitute against Altrincham on 2 January 2006.^[8] He finished the season with 35 appearances and 2 goals.^[8] After making 52 appearances and scoring 6 goals in 2006–07,^[9] he signed a new one-year contract with the club, which saw him become their longest serving current player.^[10] He picked up a thigh injury that ruled him out of the beginning of 2007–08 and returned to action in a 3–1 victory against Droylsden on 18 September 2007.^[11][12] He finished the season with 36 appearances and 6 goals.^[13]

Russell after playing for York City in the 2009 FA Trophy Final

Having made three appearances for Kidderminster up to that point in 2008–09,^[14] Russell signed for fellow Conference Premier club York City on a free transfer on 22 August 2008.^[15] He made his debut a day later as a 54th-minute substitute in a 2–2 draw against Northwich Victoria.^[16] He suffered from a tight hamstring during York's match against Grays Athletic in December,^[17] which resulted in him missing the Histon match.^[18] He scored his first goal for York directly from a corner kick in a 3–1 defeat to Barrow in the Conference League Cup on 20 January 2009.^[16] He came on as a substitute in the 2009 FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium on 9 May 2009, which York lost 2–0 to Stevenage Borough.^[16] Russell turned down loan moves to two Conference North clubs in September 2009, as he wanted to stay and fight for his place at York.^[19]

He joined York's Conference Premier rivals Tamworth on 17 September 2009 on a one-month loan,^[20] after failing to play any matches for York up to that point in 2009–10.^[21] The loan was extended until 1 January 2010 in October.^[22] He returned to York on 19 December 2009^[23] and joined Cambridge United on loan until the end of 2009–10 on 22 January 2010.^[24] He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Crawley Town on 6 February 2010.^[25] He returned to York at the end of the season after making 17 appearances on loan at Cambridge,^[25] and manager Martin Ling said Russell would be offered a permanent contract by the club if he was to be released by York.^[26] He re-signed for Cambridge permanently on a two-year contract on 10 May.^[27] Russell started 2010–11 in fine form for Cambridge, scoring his first goal in the 2–2 home draw against Crawley on 17 August^[28] and adding four more to lead the club's goalscoring charts in November.^{[citation needed]}

Russell signed for newly relegated Conference Premier club Lincoln City on 20 July 2011 on a one-year contract after he was made available by Cambridge.^[29] He finished 2011–12 with 30 appearances and 1 goal for Lincoln^[30] before signing for Alfreton Town on a one-year contract on 13 July 2012.^[31] He signed for Conference North club Gainsborough Trinity on a free transfer on 10 January 2013.^[32]

Russell signed for newly promoted National League club North Ferriby United on 14 June 2016.^[33] In January 2018 Russell re-joined Gainsborough Trinity.

Russell signed for Tadcaster Albion ahead of the 2020–21 season.^[34] In June 2022, Russell announced his retirement.^[35]

Career statistics

As of match played 29 April 2017

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hull City	2002–03[2]	Third Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	2	0
	2003–04[3]	Third Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
Kidderminster Harriers	2004–05[6]	League Two	28	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	29	2
	2005–06[8]	Conference National	31	2	1	0	—		3[lower-alpha 2]	0	35	2
	2006–07[9]	Conference National	42	4	1	0	—		9[lower-alpha 3]	2	52	6
	2007–08[13]	Conference Premier	30	6	1	0	—		5[lower-alpha 4]	1	36	7
	2008–09[14]	Conference Premier	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
	Total		134	14	4	0	—		17	3	155	17
York City	2008–09[16]	Conference Premier	24	0	2	0	—		7[lower-alpha 5]	1	33	1
	2009–10[21]	Conference Premier	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	Total		24	0	2	0	—		7	1	33	1
Tamworth (loan)	2009–10[36]	Conference Premier	11	0	1	0	—		—		12	0
Cambridge United (loan)	2009–10[25]	Conference Premier	15	0	—		—		2[lower-alpha 3]	0	17	0
Cambridge United	2010–11[30]	Conference Premier	31	6	3	1	—		3[lower-alpha 3]	1	37	8
	Total		46	6	3	1	—		5	1	54	8
Lincoln City	2011–12[30]	Conference Premier	26	1	1	0	—		3[lower-alpha 3]	0	30	1
Alfreton Town	2012–13[30]	Conference Premier	15	0	0	0	—		0	0	15	0
Gainsborough Trinity	2012–13[30]	Conference North	15	4	—		—		4[lower-alpha 3]	1	19	5
	2013–14[30][37]	Conference North	40	10	1	0	—		1[lower-alpha 3]	0	42	10
	2014–15[30][38]	Conference North	35	7	2	0	—		0	0	37	7
	2015–16[30][39]	National League North	35	5	4	0	—		2[lower-alpha 3]	0	41	5
	Total		125	26	7	0	—		7	1	139	27
North Ferriby United	2016–17[30]	National League	20	1	1	0	—		0	0	21	1
Career total			402	48	19	1	0	0	40	6	461	55

1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
2. Two appearances in Football League Trophy, one in FA Trophy
3. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
4. Three appearances in FA Trophy, two appearances and one goal in Conference League Cup
5. Two appearances and one goal in Conference League Cup, five appearances in FA Trophy

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2003). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004. Queen Anne Press. p. 372. ISBN 978-1-85291-651-0.
2. "Games played by Simon Russell in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
3. "Games played by Simon Russell in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
4. "Tigers victorious in East Riding Senior Cup Final". Hull City A.F.C. 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
5. "Harriers snap up trio". BBC Sport. 20 July 2004. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
6. "Games played by Simon Russell in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
7. "Harriers must do without Russell". BBC Sport. 8 November 2005. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
8. "Games played by Simon Russell in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
   "Altrincham 3–0 Kidderminster". BBC Sport. 2 January 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
   "Kidderminster Harriers 0(0) v (0)1 Grays Athletic". St@tto's Kidderminster Harriers Site. Retrieved 13 December 2012. ^{[dead link]}
9. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2007). Non-League Club Directory 2008. Kingsbridge: Tony Williams Publications. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-1-869833-57-2.
10. "Russell signs new Harriers deal". BBC Sport. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
11. "Russell steps up comeback efforts". BBC Sport. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
12. "Scholesy's back in action". Kidderminster Harriers F.C. 20 September 2007. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
13. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2008). Non-League Club Directory 2009. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 96–97. ISBN 978-1-869833-59-6.
    "Guiseley 1 (1) v (0) 2 Kidderminster". St@tto's Kidderminster Harriers Site. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
14. Williams, Tony; Wright, James, eds. (2009). Non-League Club Directory 2010. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 110–111. ISBN 978-1-869833-66-4.
15. "City land Harriers winger". The Press. York. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
16. Williams; Wright (eds.). Non-League Club Directory 2010. pp. 162–163.
17. Flett, Dave (8 December 2008). "York City boss Martin Foyle admits "we've got problems" after Grays Athletic defeat". The Press. York. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
18. Carroll, Steve (9 December 2008). "Brodie and Sodje add to York City's striking options". The Press. York. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
19. Flett, Dave (2 September 2009). "York City winger Simon Russell turns down switch to Blue Square North". The Press. York. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
20. "Tamworth seal Russell loan deal". BBC Sport. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
21. "Games played by Simon Russell in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
22. Flett, Dave (27 October 2009). "York City winger Craig Nelthorpe in loan move request". The Press. York. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
23. "'Scholesy' is hoping for a January return". Tamworth Herald. 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
24. "York City sign Courtney Pitt on loan from Cambridge". BBC Sport. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
25. Williams; Wright (eds.). Non-League Club Directory 2011. pp. 50–51.
26. "Nine players shown Cambridge United door". BBC Sport. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
27. "Cambridge United swoop for four new players". BBC Sport. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
28. "Cambridge vs Crawley Town". Cambridge United F.C. 17 August 2010. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012.
29. "Imps snap up midfielder Russell". Lincoln City F.C. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
30. "S. Russell". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
31. "Alfreton sign Lincoln City midfielder Simon Russell". BBC Sport. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
32. "Trinity pick up Russell". Non-League Daily. 11 January 2013. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
33. Withers, Phil (14 June 2016). "Second new signing and two familiar faces". North Ferriby United A.F.C. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
34. "Simon Russell – Tadcaster Albion AFC Tadcaster Albion".
35. CLUB CAPTAIN SIMON RUSSELL HANGS UP HIS BOOTS, tadalbion.com, 23 June 2022
36. Williams, Tony; Wright, James, eds. (2010). Non-League Club Directory 2011. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-1-869833-68-8.
37. Marshall, David (28 September 2013). "Match report: Gainsborough Trinity 2 Rushall Olympic 0". Lincolnshire Echo. Lincoln. Retrieved 23 January 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
    Smith, Kristan. "Leamington 2 Gainsborough Trinity 0". Gainsborough Trinity F.C. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
38. McMillan, Dave. "Gainsborough Trinity 4–0 Marine". Marine F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2017 – via Pitchero.
    Marshall, David (29 November 2014). "Gainsborough Trinity 2 Brackley Town 1: Match report". Lincolnshire Echo. London. Retrieved 3 January 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
39. Hinsley, Dawn (26 September 2015). "Gainsborough Trinity 2 Boston United 0: Match report – FA Cup joy for the Blues". Lincolnshire Echo. London. Retrieved 3 January 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
    Willis, Dan (10 October 2015). "Gainsborough overcome Droylsden comeback in FA Cup thriller". Quays News. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
    Hobson, Steve. "Gainsborough Trinity 0–0 Ashton United". Ashton United F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2017 – via Pitchero.
    "Gainsborough Trinity sent crashing out of FA Trophy as lower league Ashton United roar back from early setback". Gainsborough Standard. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2017.

External links

• Simon Russell profile at the North Ferriby United A.F.C. website
• Simon Russell at Soccerbase