Gordon Henry Simms (born 23 March 1981) is a Northern Irish former professional

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 defender. He played in

the 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 ...

for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartl ...

Career

Simms made his Irish League debut aged 15 for his hometown club,

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

, before his performances soon earned him a move to England. He signed for English First Division side

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

in Summer 1997 for £40,000. During almost four years at Molineux, he failed to make a first team appearances, and departed for Third Division

on a free transfer in March 2001 after completing a trial with them. The defender made his

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 ...

debut on 15 September 2001 when he came on as a substitute during a goalless draw at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. This was the first of eleven appearances during the season as the club reached the play-offs. However, he made only two appearances further appearances during the following season, the last being in a 0–5 exit from the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

at the hands of Tranmere. During this time he won fourteen caps for the Northern Ireland under-21 side. The first coming on 27 March 2001 in a European qualifier against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

. He had previously represented them at schoolboy, under-18 and under-16 level. Simms was released by Hartlepool at the end of the 2002–03 season and returned to his native Northern Ireland to join Derry City. However, he soon departed on loan to

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the ...

in early 2004; a move made permanent that summer. After two and a half years at The Showgrounds, he signed a short-term deal with

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was t ...

in the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. ...

in January 2007. At the conclusion of this, he returned to English football by signing for

non-league 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 ...

club Hednesford Town for the 2007–08 season.

References

External links

*
Profile at Northern Ireland's Football Greats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simms, Gordon 1981 births Living people People from Larne Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland under-21 international footballers Association football defenders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Finn Harps F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players NIFL Premiership players Northern Premier League players