Bernard Harry "Bryn" Elliott (3 May 1925 - 15 February 2019) was an English retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a half-back in the 1940s and 1950s. He started his career at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, before joining

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

in 1949, where he was to remain for the next ten years.

Football career

Elliott was born in Beeston, near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

and was educated at Beeston Fields School. He was a member of the Beeston Lads Club during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

who played and defeated local

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

clubs,

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

and

. Elliott was signed by Forest in October 1942 and remained with them until August 1949, making ten appearances in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

. He then dropped down to

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

, joining

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is know ...

of the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History ...

from where, in October 1949, he was signed by

's recently-appointed manager,

Sid Cann Sydney Thomas Cann (30 October 1911 – 1 November 1996) was an English professional football defender and football manager. He was capped twice by England at Schools level. Playing career Born in Babbacombe, Torquay, Sid Cann joined Torquay Un ...

, together with his team-mate

Tom Lowder Thomas William Lowder (24 November 1924 – 15 May 1999) was an English footballer who played as an outside-forward in the 1950s, spending most of his career with Boston United as well as playing in the Football League with Rotherham United, S ...

. He made his debut for the reserve team on 5 October 1949 before making his first-team debut on 25 February 1950 in front of a crowd of over 70,000 at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition ...

. Elliott played at left-half in a 4–0 defeat by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

; despite the result, he retained his place in the team for the next match, before returning to the reserves. At the end of the season, the "Saints" finished fourth in the Second Division, missing promotion on

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or a ...

, with Tottenham Hotspur being promoted as champions. Described as "the owner of a neat, precise style" with "enthusiasm, combined with forceful and tenacious tackling", he soon became an established member of the Southampton side, making 23 league appearances in 1950–51 and 27 in the following season, in both of which Southampton finished mid-table. In 1952–53, Elliott only missed one match in a defence that conceded 85 goals, with the team being relegated to the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

for the first time in over 30 years. He was in-and-out of the side over the next few years, making 31 appearances in 1953–54, 19 in 1954–55, 36 in 1955–56 and 34 in 1956–57. In 1957–58, he had two long runs in the side until he was dropped after a 5–2 defeat at

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as Bo ...

in February 1958. Elliott spent the 1958–59 season in the reserves, before he was released in the 1959 close season. In his ten years at The Dell, Elliott made a total of 251 first-team appearances, scoring twice.

Later career

Following his release, he played part-time for Poole Town of the Southern League (managed by former Southampton player

Mike Keeping Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping (22 August 1902 – 28 March 1984) was an English footballer and manager. He coached Real Madrid CF from January 1948 to October 1950. His father was the Olympic medal winning cyclist Frederick Keeping. Playing ca ...

), along with Southampton teammates

Pat Parker Pat Parker (born Patricia Cooks; January 20, 1944June 17, 1989) was an American poet and activist. Both her poetry and her activism drew from her experiences as an African-American lesbian feminist.Pat Parker. Contemporary Authors Online, Gal ...

, Sam Stevens and

Barry Hillier Barry Guy Hillier (8 April 1936 – 10 December 2016) was an English footballer who played as a left-back. Career In 1953, Hillier signed for Southampton, initially playing in the reserves. During Hillier's time in the reserves at the club, ...

. He ran an off-licence business in Waterloo Road in

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. These were formerly t ...

until the 1990s and continued to play golf at Stoneham into his 90s.

References

External links

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Southampton career detailsSaints Legends You Have Never Heard Of ! Photograph of Bryn Elliott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Bryn 1925 births 2019 deaths People from Beeston, Nottinghamshire Footballers from Nottinghamshire English footballers Association football midfielders Nottingham Forest F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players