Paul Elliott (footballer)

Paul Marcellus Elliott CBE (born 18 March 1964) is an English former footballer who played as a defender.

Paul Elliott
CBE

Personal information
Full name	Paul Marcellus Elliott[1]
Date of birth	(1964-03-18) 18 March 1964 (age 60)[1]
Place of birth	Lewisham,[1] London, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1980–1983	Charlton Athletic	63	(1)
1983–1985	Luton Town	66	(4)
1985–1987	Aston Villa	57	(7)
1987–1989	Pisa	23	(1)
1989–1991	Celtic[3]	52	(2)
1991–1994	Chelsea	42	(3)
Total		303	(18)
International career
1981–1982	England Youth	6	(0)
1984–1986	England U21	3	(1)
1991	England B	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Starting his career with Charlton Athletic in the early 1980s, Elliott signed for First Division Luton Town in 1983. He then joined Aston Villa in 1985 and spent two years at Italian club Pisa before joining Celtic in 1989. In his final season at Parkhead, Elliott was awarded the Scottish Footballer of the Year award. In the summer of 1991, he signed for Chelsea for £1,400,000.^[4]

In September 1992, Elliott sustained a serious knee injury, resulting from a challenge by Liverpool's Dean Saunders. He never played again and on 10 May 1994 – just four days before Chelsea lost to Manchester United in their first FA Cup final since 1970 – Elliott announced his retirement after failing to recover from the injury.^[5] Player and club had been confident of a return to action in 1993–94 and he had been issued with the number 22 shirt with the introduction of squad numbers in the FA Premier League.^[6]

Just after his retirement, Elliott filed a lawsuit against Saunders seeking damages for the career-ending injury. However, he lost the case when a civil court found that Saunders was not at fault.^[7] Elliott was often a pundit on Football Italia.^{[citation needed]}

Post-playing career

In 2003, Elliott was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his work with young players and his involvement with anti-racism initiatives in football.^[8] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to equality and diversity in football.^[9][10]

Elliott resigned from his roles with The FA, as a member of the Association's Judicial Panel and as a nominated member of UEFA committees on 23 February 2013. He also left his role at Kick It Out. The FA accepted his resignation following a reported text conversation in which "discriminatory abusive comments" were made to fellow former footballer Richard Rufus.^[11] On 15 July 2014, Elliott rejoined the Inclusion Advisory Board.^[12]

Elliott was a victim of Rufus's multi-million-pound investment fraud, for which Rufus was jailed for seven and a half years in 2023.^[13]

Honours

Individual

• SPFA Players' Player of the Year: 1990–91
• Chelsea Player of the Year: 1992

References

1. "Paul Elliott". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
3. "Celtic player details: Elliott, Paul". Fitbastats. Bobby Sinnet & Thomas Jamieson. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
4. "Meet our latest Weekend Wonder: Paul Elliott". Weekend Wonders (FourFourTwo). Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
5. Winter, Henry (10 May 1994). "Football: Elliott 'devastated' by knee diagnosis: Chelsea's popular defender bows out of the professional game". The Independent. London, UK. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
6. "Chelsea – 1993/94". FootballSquads. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
7. Midgley, Simon (11 June 1994). "Injured footballer loses pounds 1m damages case: Better insurance for players urged as defender whose career was ended faces huge costs. Simon Midgley reports". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
8. Profile, kickitout.org; accessed 27 March 2015.
9. "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 7.
10. "Notice of CBE for Paul Elliott". BBC Sport. 16 June 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
11. Paul Elliott statement, thefa.com; accessed 27 March 2015.
12. Elliott rejoins Inclusion Advisory Board, thefa.com; accessed 27 March 2015.
13. Kirk, Tristan (12 January 2023). "Ex-Premier League footballer Richard Rufus jailed over £15 million pyramid scheme fraud". Evening Standard. Retrieved 12 January 2023.