Biography
Winger Kevin Ellison signed for Peter Taylor’s Hull City side in January 2005 for a £100,000 fee. Ellison was known to Taylor from their time together at Leicester City, the City boss having inherited the player when he was appointed first team manager at Filbert Street in June 2001. Ellison was slotted straight into Taylor’s League One promotion chasing side and he opened his scoring account with an equaliser in a March 2005 3-1 victory at Tranmere Rovers. Elevated to the Championship for the 2005/06 season, Taylor used Ellison less regularly though he was on-hand to score a superb equaliser in an October 2005 draw at Southampton. He left the Tigers in May 2006.
Kevin Ellison was born in Liverpool and came into professional football via the non-league route. He scored an impressive number of goals in Liverpool junior football as a teenager but wasn’t picked up by a Football League club and instead joined the youth team setup at Conference National side Southport at the start of the 1996/97 season. He made his first team debut for the Sandgrounders against Telford in March 1997 and ended the season with four appearances.
In September 1997 he transferred to Northern Premier League side Chorley where he made four appearances, then in March 1998 he moved to League of Wales side Conwy United. Retained for the 1998/99 season, Ellison became a first team regular for Conwy and his goals helped the side reach the semi-final of the Welsh Cup, losing out to Carmarthen Town at the last-four stage. In April 1999 he had a trial at Premier League side Everton that came to nothing. In July 1999 Ellison joined Northern Premier League side Altrincham, a move that enhanced his reputation further amongst Football League scouts. Kevin was prominent as Alty lifted the Northern Premier League title at the end of the 1999/00 season and he scored 14 goals in 37 Conference National appearances for Altrincham during the 2000/01 season.
In February 2001 Ellison finally made the move into professional football and signed for Premier League side Leicester City in return for a £50,000 fee. Manager Martin O’Neill gave Ellison his Foxes debut against Manchester United in a March 2001 Premier League match, but that turned out to be his only senior appearance for the Filbert Street side. In November 2001 he joined League Division 1 strugglers Stockport County on loan, within a fortnight the move was made permanent in return for a £55,000 fee. He inhabited the fringes of the Hatters’ first team for a season and a half, scoring his first goal for the club in October 2002 against Blackpool.
He was a first team regular for Stockport during the early months of the 2003/04 season before again falling out of favour – in March 2004 he joined League Division 3 side Lincoln City on a two month loan, making 13 appearances and playing in both end of season play-off semi finals against Huddersfield Town. Kevin left Stockport County at the end of the 2003/04 season having scored two goals in 52 appearances. In August 2004 Ellison joined League Two side Chester City and from September 2004 onwards he hit a rich vein of form that delivered eleven goals in 30 appearances. He left Chester City in January 2005 to join Hull City.
In June 2006 Ellison left Hull City and joined League One side Tranmere Rovers where he was a regular starter for much of the 2006/07 season, scoring four goals in 38 appearances. However he dropped out of the first team picture at Prenton Park during the closing weeks of the season and rejoined Chester City, still a League Two side, in June 2007. In two seasons at Chester Ellison scored regularly in a struggling side, netting a hattrick in September 2008 against Grimsby Town, but when Chester were relegated to the Conference National league at the end of the 2008/09 season Kevin moved on having scored 20 goals in 81 appearances.
In May 2009 Ellison joined Rotherham United, another League Two side, and he was a regular scorer during the 2009/10 season. He dropped out of the side as Christmas 2010 approached and in February 2011 he joined League Two rivals Bradford City on a one month loan, scoring on his Bantams debut against Wycombe Wanderers and making 7 appearances. He left Rotherham United at the end of the 2010/11 season having scored 15 goals for the Millers in 74 appearances.
In July 2011 Kevin signed for League Two side Morecambe, commencing a nine-season association with the Fylde Coast side. He was a regular starter and scorer for eight seasons, only dropping out of the first team picture during the 2019/20 season as he approached the age of 41. His best season in front of goal was his first, netting 15 times in the 2011/12 season, but he consistently either reached or approached double figures in every season with the club. In October 2019 he was briefly joint caretaker manager at Morecambe when Jim Bentley left the club and Kevin played less regularly during the rest of the 2019/20 season. When he left Morecambe in the 2020 close season Ellison had scored 88 goals in 390 senior appearances, burnishing his reputation as a reliable lower league goalscorer founded on a no-nonsense chippy approach to the game.
In September 2020 Kevin signed a one year deal with League Two side Newport County after an impressive trial, combining playing duties with coaching the Welsh club’s strikers. In May 2021 Ellison played in the League Two play-off semi-final second leg, scoring against Forest Green Rovers, then also came on during the Wembley final against his former club Morecambe, becoming the oldest player to play in a Football League play-off match. Ellison remained at Newport for the 2021/22 season, during his two seasons at Rodney Parade he scored four goals in 45 appearances, the majority of which were as a substitute.
In August 2022 Ellison dropped out of the Football League at the age of 43, joining Northern Premier League side Warrington Rylands where he scored once in 3 appearances. A month later in September 2022 he moved to Northern Premier League rivals City of Liverpool where he scored five goals in 28 appearances. Ellison’s retirement was announced in the 2023 close season but that lasted only until September 2023 when he joined North West Counties League side Runcorn Town, scoring two goals in 14 appearances. In March 2024, days after he turned 45, Ellison’s odyssey continued when he signed for Northern Premier League side Vauxhall Motors, scoring twice in 6 appearances.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 23 February 1979, Liverpool
Hull City First Game: 5 January 2005, Peterborough United H (League One), 25 years, 327 days old
Hull City Final Game: 30 April 2006, Watford A (Championship), 27 years, 66 days old
Clubs
Southport (1996-1997), Chorley (1997-1998), Conwy United (1998-1999), Altrincham (1999-2001), Leicester City (2001), Stockport County (2001-2004), Lincoln City (2004, loan), Chester City (2004-2005), Hull City (2005-2006), Tranmere Rovers (2006-2007), Chester City (2007-2009), Rotherham United (2009-2011), Bradford City (2011, loan), Morecambe (2011-2020), Newport County (2020-2022), Warrington Rylands (2022), City of Liverpool (2022-2023), Runcorn Town (2023-2024), Vauxhall Motors (2024-current)
Hull City Record
Career: 41 apps, 2 goals
Kevin Ellison| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004/05 | 11 (5) | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2005/06 | 15 (8) | 1 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – |