Elliot Collier (born 22 February 1995) is a New Zealand professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a forward for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

club

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

and the New Zealand national team.

Club career

Semi-professional & college (2012–2017)

After spending time in his native

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

playing semi-professionally with Hamilton Wanderers, Waikato United and Island Bay United, Collier moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to play college soccer at

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

. Collier played four years with the Ramblers, scoring 15 goals and tallying 11 assists in 69 appearances. Collier also appeared for USL PDL sides Chicago FC United and

Michigan Bucks Flint City Bucks is an American soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mid-Michigan Bucks, playing in Saginaw, and began playing in 1996. In ...

Chicago Fire (2018–2021)

On 21 January 2018, Collier was selected with the 49th overall pick of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by the Chicago Fire. Collier signed with the club on 28 February 2018. Collier made his professional debut on 10 March 2018 as an 88th-minute substitute during a 3–4 loss to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

. Collier made 16 appearances for the Fire in his debut season, scoring one goal and making one assist.

Loan to Indy Eleven (2018)

On 10 August 2018, Collier joined

club

on loan for the remainder of the 2018 season. Collier made 11 appearances for the Eleven, including five starts, and scored one goal.

Loan to Memphis 901 FC (2019)

Collier was loaned to USL Championship club Memphis 901 FC in his second full year with the Fire. Collier made 26 total appearances for Memphis, scoring six goals including the club's first ever competitive goal in a 1–1 draw at Loudoun United on 16 March and the club's first hat-trick in a 4–1 victory over

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

on 6 July.

Return to Chicago (2020–2021)

Collier returned to his parent club at the conclusion of the 2019 season, signing a new contract under new head coach

Raphaël Wicky Raphaël Wicky (born 26 April 1977) is a Swiss football coach and a former defender. He was most recently the manager of Swiss Super League club Young Boys, whom he led to a domestic double. He was a defensive midfielder who could also play i ...

. Collier would make 21 appearances, including two starts, for the MLS club in the 2020 season. Collier returned with the Fire for the 2021 MLS season, making 17 appearances, including three starts. Collier's contract option was declined by Chicago and he was released by the club at the conclusion of the 2021 season.

San Antonio FC (2022)

Collier signed with San Antonio FC in the

on 7 January 2022. Collier made 25 total appearances for San Antonio, scoring four league goals and one in the U.S. Open Cup. Collier made one substitute

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

appearance for San Antonio, coming on in the 97th minute of the team's 3–1 victory over Louisville City in the final. Collier was released by San Antonio at the end of the 2022 season.

San Diego Loyal (2023)

On 27 December 2022, it was announced that Collier would play the 2023 season with San Diego Loyal in the USL Championship. Collier ended the season with two goals and three assists, with San Diego in third in the Western Conference, qualifying for the

Return to Indy Eleven (2024–present)

Collier returned to

on 17 January 2024 ahead of the

2024 USL Championship season The 2024 USL Championship season was the 14th season of the USL Championship and the seventh season under Division II sanctioning. The 2024 season had 24 teams participating in two conferences during the regular season. Conference realignment mov ...

. He made his second debut for the club on 9 March in the club's season opening 2–1 defeat at Oakland Roots, replacing fellow debutant Karsen Henderlong in the 66th minute. Collier scored his first goal of the 2024 season on 4 May in a 1–0 victory over Monterey Bay FC. Collier scored his second goal of the season on 5 July in a 3–3 away draw against Rhode Island FC. He ended the season with 37 total appearances, including in Indy Eleven's

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

defeat to Rhode Island FC and their historic

semifinal A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

appearance in the U.S. Open Cup. On 20 November 2024, Indy Eleven announced that Collier would remain with the team for a second season.

International career

Collier was born in New Zealand to an English mother and Kiwi father, and was eligible to represent both national teams. Collier received his first call-up to the New Zealand men's national team in November 2019 and made his international debut in a 3–1 friendly defeat to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

on 14 November 2019, replacing winger Callum McCowatt in the 85th minute. Collier made his first start for New Zealand in a 1–0 friendly defeat to

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

on 17 November 2019.

Personal life

Collier was a close friend and teammate of New Zealand futsal player Atta Elayyan, who was murdered in the Christchurch mosque shootings on 15 March 2019. Collier wore a black armband in remembrance of Elayyan in a 1–1 draw with Loudoun United the next day while on loan at Memphis 901 FC. Collier scored for Memphis, the first goal in the club's history, and later dedicated the goal to Elayyan.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Elliot 1995 births Living people Men's association football forwards Chicago FC United players Chicago Fire FC draft picks Chicago Fire FC players Indy Eleven players Memphis 901 FC players Loyola Ramblers men's soccer players Major League Soccer players Flint City Bucks players San Antonio FC players San Diego Loyal SC players New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers Association footballers from Hamilton, New Zealand USL League Two players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen