Laurie Ellis (born 7 November 1979) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer who is currently a coach with the Rangers Academy. He played for Raith Rovers over three spells, as well as St Mirren, Cowdenbeath and Stirling Albion. As a coach, he has twice served as caretaker manager at Dundee United and managed Queen's Park between May and December 2021.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Laurence Ellis | ||
| Date of birth | 7 November 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rangers (Academy coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Links United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2003 | Raith Rovers | 90 | (1) |
| 2003–2005 | St Mirren | 44 | (2) |
| 2005–2006 | Raith Rovers | 35 | (3) |
| 2006–2007 | Cowdenbeath | 32 | (3) |
| 2007–2008 | Stirling Albion | 33 | (1) |
| 2008–2016 | Raith Rovers | 162 | (6) |
| Total | 396 | (16) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2015 | Raith Rovers (caretaker) | ||
| 2017 | Dundee United (caretaker) | ||
| 2018 | Dundee United (caretaker) | ||
| 2021 | Queen's Park | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career
editEllis was born in Edinburgh. He started his senior career with Raith Rovers after joining from Edinburgh amateur club Links United. Ellis debuted on 12 December 1998 versus Greenock Morton in the Scottish First Division.[1] Ellis made over 90 appearances for the Kirkcaldy club during his first spell and scored his first league goal on 25 November 2000 in a defeat versus Ayr United.[2]
Ellis remained at the Fife club until 2003, when he signed for St Mirren.[3] Ellis debuted on 2 August 2003 versus Queen's Park in the Scottish League Challenge Cup[1] and stayed with the Paisley club for two seasons, before leaving at the end of the 2004–05 season when his contract expired.[4] After being released by the Buddies, Ellis returned to his former club at Stark's Park,[5] debuting for a second time on 30 July 2005 versus Elgin City in the Scottish League Challenge Cup.[1] Ellis remained at the Kirkcaldy club for one season before joining their local Fife rivals Cowdenbeath, whose manager was his former St Mirren team-mate Mixu Paatelainen.[6]
Ellis debuted for the Blue Brazil on 5 August 2006 versus Alloa Athletic in the Scottish Second Division[1] 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, after signing for newly promoted Stirling Albion on 1 June 2007. Ellis debuted for the Binos on 4 August 2007 versus Partick Thistle.[7] During May 2008, Ellis returned for a third spell at Stark's Park, after one season at Forthbank .[8] 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.[9]
Managerial and coaching career
editIn July 2012, Ellis took up a role as first-team coach at Raith, as well as continuing as a player.[10] In May 2016, he moved to Dundee United as assistant manager to Ray McKinnon.[11] In October 2017, when McKinnon departed the club, Ellis was appointed caretaker manager.[12] Ellis stayed on at United as assistant manager to Csaba László.[13] On 30 September 2018, Ellis was appointed caretaker manager for a second occasion, after László departed the Terrors.[14] Ellis was also assistant manager to Robbie Neilson at Tannadice for a brief spell until Neilson got his backroom team organised.[citation needed]
Ellis was appointed as assistant manager to Gary Naysmith at Queen of the South in March 2019,[15] 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 Performance Schools, he joined Queen's Park as assistant manager in January 2020, once again working under McKinnon.[16]
Ellis was appointed as head coach of Queen's Park on 21 May 2021, replacing former head coach Ray McKinnon.[17] On 31 December, Ellis was relieved of his duties as manager following a downturn in form.[18]
In July 2022, Ellis joined Rangers in a coaching role within the club's Academy.[19]
Managerial statistics
edit- As of match played 29 December 2021[20]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Raith Rovers (caretaker) | 27 April 2015 | 22 May 2015 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dundee United (caretaker) | 24 October 2017 | 8 November 2017 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 100.00 |
| Dundee United (caretaker) | 30 September 2018 | 8 October 2018 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00 |
| Queen's Park | 21 May 2021 | 31 December 2021 | 26 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 38 | 27 | 11 | 30.77 |
| Total | 30 | 10 | 13 | 7 | 44 | 32 | 12 | 33.33 | ||
Honours
editRaith Rovers
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Soccerbase Profile on Laurie Ellis". Soccerbase. CenturyComm. Archived from the original on 10 February 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
- ^ "Ayr United 4–2 Raith Rovers". BBC Sport. 25 November 2000. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ^ "McGowne returns to Love Street". BBC Sport. 26 June 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2003.
- ^ "Gillies and Ellis to leave Saints". BBC Sport. 25 April 2005. Retrieved 25 April 2005.
- ^ "Ellis back at Stark's Park". BBC Sport. 27 May 2005. Retrieved 27 May 2005.
- ^ "Cowdenbeath sign up Rovers' Ellis". BBC Sport. 29 June 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2006.
- ^ James Smith. "Stirling Make First Signing". StirlingAlbion.com. Stirling Albion FC. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2007.
- ^ "Ellis set to depart from Albion". BBC Sport. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
- ^ "Rovers Are Too Sharp for the Jags". Retrieved 15 October 2011.[dead link]
- ^ "New Management Team Announced". Raith Rovers FC. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ McLauchlin, Brian (16 May 2016). "Ray McKinnon on Dundee United: 'Head, not heart ruled my decision'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
- ^ "Scottish Cup-winning boss Peter Houston out of running for Dundee United job". Evening Telegraph. DC Thomson. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
- ^ Currie, David (8 November 2017). "Dundee United: Promotion is only goal for new manager Csaba Laszlo". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Dundee United: Csaba Laszlo 'mutually agrees' to leave as manager". BBC Sport. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ^ "Laurie Ellis". Queen of the South FC. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
- ^ Woodger, Calum (16 January 2020). "Former Dundee United coach Laurie Ellis in new role with Queen's Park". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
- ^ "Queen's Park: Laurie Ellis is appointed head coach at Scottish League 2 champions". BBC Sport. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ "Queen's Park FC - Laurie Ellis". Queen's Park Football Club. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ Hendry, Mark (20 July 2022). "Laurie Ellis joins Rangers' staff as former Queen's Park boss lands academy role". footballscotland. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
- ^ "Laurie Ellis career sheet". footballdatabase. footballdatabase. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
External links
edit- Laurie Ellis at Soccerbase
