football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach and former professional footballer who is a coach with the Rangers Academy. He played for
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League.
The club has won f ...
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...
and
Stirling Albion
Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in as a member of the Scottish Profession ...
. As a coach, he has twice served as
caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...
at
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
and managed Queen's Park between May and December 2021.
Playing career
Ellis was born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. He started his senior career with
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League.
The club has won f ...
after joining from Edinburgh amateur club Links United. Ellis debuted on 12 December 1998 versus
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...
in the
Scottish First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...
. Ellis made over 90 appearances for the
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...
club during his first spell and scored his first league goal on 25 November 2000 in a defeat versus
Ayr United
Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the , the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is The Honest Men, fro ...
.
Ellis remained at the
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
club until 2003, when he signed for St Mirren. Ellis debuted on 2 August 2003 versus Queen's Park in the
Scottish League Challenge Cup
The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup, and stayed with the Paisley club for two seasons, before leaving at the end of the 2004–05 season when his contract expired. After being released by the ''Buddies'', Ellis returned to his former club at
Stark's Park
Stark's Park is a football stadium in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It is the home ground of Raith Rovers, who have played there since 1891. The ground has an all-seated capacity of .
History
Raith started using the ground in 1891 and it seats . It i ...
, debuting for a second time on 30 July 2005 versus Elgin City in the
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...
club for one season before joining their local
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
rivals
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...
, whose manager was his former St Mirren team-mate
Mixu Paatelainen
Mika-Matti Petteri "Mixu" Paatelainen (born 3 February 1967) is a Finnish former professional football player and manager who is currently serving as the sporting director of Scottish club The Spartans. He scored 18 goals in 70 appearances for ...
.
Ellis debuted for the ''Blue Brazil'' on 5 August 2006 versus
Alloa Athletic
Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They compete in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League.
According to the official club hist ...
in the
Scottish Second Division
The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013.
History
The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SF ...
and went on to feature in all but four of their matches during the 2006–07 season, scoring six goals. At the end of the season he returned to play in the
First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to:
Military
Airborne divisions
*1st Parachute Division (Germany)
*1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)
* 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine)
* 1st Guards Airborne Division
Armoured divisions
*1st Armoure ...
, after signing for newly promoted
Stirling Albion
Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in as a member of the Scottish Profession ...
on 1 June 2007. Ellis debuted for the ''Binos'' on 4 August 2007 versus
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
. During May 2008, Ellis returned for a third spell at
Stark's Park
Stark's Park is a football stadium in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It is the home ground of Raith Rovers, who have played there since 1891. The ground has an all-seated capacity of .
History
Raith started using the ground in 1891 and it seats . It i ...
, after one season at Forthbank . During August 2010, Ellis played his 250th match for Raith Rovers and on 15 October 2011 Ellis played his 300th game, scoring in a 2–0 win over the ''Harry Wraggs''.
Managerial and coaching career
In July 2012, Ellis took up a role as first-team coach at Raith, as well as continuing as a player. In May 2016, he moved to
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
as assistant manager to Ray McKinnon. In October 2017, when McKinnon departed the club, Ellis was appointed caretaker manager. Ellis stayed on at United as assistant manager to Csaba László. On 30 September 2018, Ellis was appointed caretaker manager for a second occasion, after László departed the ''Terrors''. Ellis was also assistant manager to
Robbie Neilson
Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of USL Championship club Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Neilson, who played as a right-back, started his senior career with ...
at Tannadice for a brief spell until Neilson got his backroom team organised.
Ellis was appointed as assistant manager to
Gary Naysmith
Gary Andrew Naysmith (born 16 November 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former player, who is the manager of Scottish League One side Stenhousemuir.
Naysmith, who played as a left-back or left-winger, started his senior career with Hea ...
at Queen of the South in March 2019, but left the club two months later when Naysmith was sacked. After working for a time alongside Keith Wright at one of the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...
Performance Schools, he joined Queen's Park as assistant manager in January 2020, once again working under McKinnon.
Ellis was appointed as head coach of Queen's Park on 21 May 2021, replacing former head coach Ray McKinnon. On 31 December, Ellis was relieved of his duties as manager following a downturn in form.
In July 2022, Ellis joined
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
Scottish Second Division
The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013.
History
The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SF ...