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MLS San Jose Earthquakes

Earthquakes Acquire New Zealand International Simon Elliott

March 19, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release


SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose Earthquakes announced today that the team has signed New Zealand National Team midfielder Simon Elliott. He will be added to the official roster upon receipt of his ITC. Per league and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We have always known that Simon was a quality player," said General Manager of Soccer Operations John Doyle. "He had a number of very good seasons in MLS and was able to move to England. It has been a pleasant surprise to see him overcome his Achilles' injuries. He once again looks like the Simon Elliott that we have always known."

The 5-11 midfielder comes back to Major League Soccer after a two-and-a-half year stint with English Premiership club Fulham F.C. He appeared in 14 matches with the club during that stretch, as he was hampered by injuries.

Elliott played for two MLS teams over a seven-year period, appearing in 181 games for the Columbus Crew and Los Angeles Galaxy. He scored 11 goals and recorded 54 assists over that stretch. He reached double digits in assists four times and finished in the top 10 in the league in assists in all four of those years. Most recently with the Columbus Crew, Elliott had two standout seasons in 2004 and 2005. He played every minute of every match in 2005 and scored one goal, while notching 11 assists, good for third in the league in assists. He recorded 10 assists in 2002, a number that placed him in a second place tie in the league.

With the Galaxy, he had five solid seasons, helping the team win its first MLS Cup Championship in 2002. He netted 10 goals and notched 33 assists for the Galaxy. He posted double-digits in assists in back-to-back seasons in 2001 and 2002 for Los Angeles. He set a career high for goals in 2000 with five.

He started his professional career with the Boston Bulldogs of the A-League (now USL-1) and played three matches there before signing with the Galaxy.

He has appeared in 54 matches for the New Zealand national team, for which he has scored eight goals. In his debut at the senior level, Elliott scored a goal in the All White's 2-1 victory over the Danish Olympic team in January of 1995. He also played for New Zealand at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as one of the team's three overage players. He played 90 minutes in all three matches for his country.

The New Zealand native played his college soccer at Stanford University, and helped lead the Cardinal to its first ever NCAA College Cup Final. In 1998, he was a third team NCAA All-American selection and led the team in points with 25 (nine goals and seven assists). In 1997, Elliott was named NSCAA Far West Region and helped lead Stanford to the NCAA College Cup.

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