Written by Keith Brookman
EARLY DAYS
From being a young dressing room joker who wasn’t that confident in his own ability, Ellis Harrison has matured into a fine footballer over the years and he’s certainly a much better player now than when he first left the club for Ipswich Town back in 2018.At that time, it’s doubtful if any of us thought that we would, some years later, see him back playing for the club that first gave him his opportunity in professional football. That he was taken back into the Gas family was justified, certainly in the second half of last season, with eight goals in eight matches as we finished the season with a flourish.
He’s been rewarded for his efforts last time around with a new one year contract and, with a full pre-season behind him, something he missed out on last summer, expect to see another successful campaign from this time around.
We decided to look back at his Rovers career and it begins with a 15-year old Newport born striker joining our Centre of Excellence before being offered a two year scholarship.
The first mention of Ellis in a Rovers shirt we can find is this little snippet from September 2009 when a match report of an U-16 game against Cheltenham Town which ended in a 5-1 win says this reveals that whilst he didn’t score, he went on as a second half substitute and his manager at the time, Stewart Naughton, said; ‘Substitutes Harrison and Thwaite went on and did a good job.’
Before the season was out Ellis had been involved with the U-18 side and had every reason to feel satisfied with his progress during his first year at the club.
The following season, 2010/11, whilst being a pretty unsuccessful one for the first team, saw managerial changes and, ultimately, relegation to League Two. However, in the youth ranks, Ellis appears to have been thriving and he was amongst the goals for the U-18 side, scoring twice in a 6-3 beating of Exeter City in an U-18 fixture in September 2010, prompting his manager, Jerry Gill, to say this; ‘Ellis deserves a special mention as he went on after an hour, as part of a front three, and he worked tirelessly and fully deserved to score two goals.
‘He’s a player who hasn’t had much game time as yet and he now needs to put the effort he did in this game into his training. There are times when he could put more into his training, but if he shows like that every day on the training ground then he will be a great asset to us.’
There was also a goal in the Second Round of the FA Youth Cup as Rovers beat Dagenham & Redbridge away from home, 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Ellis, who had entered the fray as a second half substitute, levelled the scores minutes before the end of ninety minutes, drawing this comment from Gill; ‘Ellis was terrific when he went on and gave a very powerful display.’
Victory meant that Gill’s side would face Aston Villa, at The Mem, in Round Three. Before that, though, he was put on the spot in a programme Q & A and, as a patriotic Welshman, this was his answer to the question about the sporting event he would pay the most to see – and to miss; ‘I’d pay to see the World Cup Final between Wales and England but there’s no way I would pay to watch cricket, especially the Ashes!’
The FA Youth Cup Tie against Aston Villa saw Rovers lose 1-0, though they made their Premiership opponents fight hard for their victory. However, there was some good news for the First Year Scholar before the season was out, as he was selected for the first team squad that travelled down to Southampton for the game at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday 16th April 2011.
He made his first team debut that afternoon in a 1-0 defeat, handed his opportunity by caretaker manager Stuart Campbell. He became the 804th player to make his league bow for the club and afterwards he said this; ‘I first came to Rovers and played for the U-15’s and was offered a scholarship last summer.’
He admitted he was more scared of his singing than his football on that trip because, as is customary, any player who travelled with the squad for an away game for the first time was required to sing in front of the staff and all of the other players. It was apparent, when he sang for his supper, that he was a very nervous young man. All we will say about it is that it’s simply not true that every Welshman can sing! ‘It was the worst feeling ever,’ said a traumatised Ellis after his ‘audition.’
The feeling was very different following the match against The Saints; ‘It was great to make my league debut in front of such a big crowd (23,647) and I’m so grateful for being given the chance.’
He’d had no idea that he was to be part of the matchday squad, and thought he had travelled just for the experience; ‘If, at the start of the season you had told me that I’d make a first team appearance before the end of the season I wouldn’t have believed it. I really have to thank Youth Team Manager Darren Patterson for the opportunity, as he was the one who offered me a scholarship last year and he’s pushed me to the limits recently.’
Also making his debut that afternoon was Lamar Powell, who was given a cameo three minute appearance from the bench. A very highly though of youngster, he had already been handed a pro contract and it was thought that he would have a great future in the game. However, it turned out to be his only senior appearance for the club and demonstrates, perhaps, how precarious the life of a professional footballer can be.
Ellis might have been forgiven for thinking there would be more first team appearances during the following season, but it would be fair to say that chances didn’t arrive due to more managerial changes. Paul Buckle arrived at the club in the summer of 2011 and he brought a number of new signings with him, suggesting that the club’s youngsters wouldn’t get much of a look in.
That was certainly true of a manager who, how shall we put it, was not too popular with the club’s fanbase. Buckle limped on in charge until early January 2012 and he was replaced by Mark McGhee whose task was really to save the club from a second successive relegation and so playing some of the club’s youngsters in the first team simply wasn’t on his radar.
And so, Ellis didn’t appear for the first team at all in 2011/12 but continued to progress in the club’s U-18 side, now managed by Jamie Fullarton. To be fair, though, Ellis missed a number of games at the start of that season after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his foot and, when fit again, had to wait for his opportunity to play again. It wasn’t until October 29th that he returned to the side, going on as a substitute in a 2-1 win against Rovers counterparts from Swansea.
A few days later, on 1st November, he was back on the goal trail, scoring in a 4-1 win against Maidenhead United in a First Round FA Youth Cup Tie at The Mem. It was the fourth goal, scored two minutes from time as he controlled the ball well before one touch took him past his marker and he beat the goalkeeper with some aplomb.
He did travel with the first team when they played their Second Round FA Cup Tie against AFC Totton but watched from the stands as two of his teammates, Jordan Goddard and Darren Jefferies were named on the bench. Whilst not adding to his solitary first team appearance during the season, he obviously made an impression, as he was offered his first pro contract in May 2012 and was named in a number of pre-season squads after being handed the number 17 shirt.
That summer also saw the arrival of Marcus Stewart as Development Coach, an ideal mentor for Ellis, who still had to bide his time whilst waiting for another first team opportunity. The Development side’s first outing, with Ellis in the side, was a 1-0 win against Exeter City, played at the training ground at Cribbs. There was no goal for him on this occasion, though. He had scored nine goals in his 26 U-18 matches prior to joining the pro ranks and there had also been a goal against Yeovil Town Reserves around the time he put pen to paper.
Once again, though, he had to bide his time in waiting for another first team opportunity and it wasn’t until McGhee was sacked and John Ward had taken over that his first team career began to blossom.
FIRST TEAM OPPORTUNITIES
Ward included him in the starting lineup for a game up at Fleetwood on 12th January 2013 when we recorded a 3-0 win and it was also the game in which his good friend, Tom Lockyer (who he shared digs with when the two young Welshmen first arrived at the club), made his Rovers league debut. Two weeks later, at Rotherham, he scored his first league goal after entering the fray as a 50th minute substitute at a snowy Rotherham. The young striker collected the ball some 40 yards from goal and advanced into the penalty areas before slotting the ball home; ‘The lads all jumped on me to celebrate and I couldn’t breathe at the bottom of it all, but it was a great moment and I loved it.’ He said after the game.
Rotherham’s boss that day was none other than Steve Evans and he had watched Rovers and Rotherham supporters help clear the pitch of snow before the pitch was deemed playable at 11.00am on the morning of the match. (He probably wished the game hadn’t gone ahead!)
Ellis scored two more goals that season, a brace against Rochdale in a 2-1 home win and ended the 2012/13 campaign having appeared in 13 league games for the club, all in the second half of the season under manager Ward, who seemed prepared to give some of the club’s younger players an opportunity as he guided the side away from the foot of the League Two table.
However, it was really only a stay of execution and the following season saw Rovers relegated on the final day of the season, following a home defeat against Mansfield Town, and faced the prospect of playing non league football after an unbroken stint of 94 years as a Football League club.
Ward was moved upstairs before that season was out, and would be gone before the following campaign began, replaced by Darrell Clarke, who was to have quite an influence on the career of the young striker.
It is, perhaps, worth noting that Ellis scored only one league goal in that relegation campaign, in the 25 matches he appeared in, but during that season he made his debut for the Welsh U-21 side and played in a 2-0 win against Lithuania in October 2013 and then scored in a 4-0 win against San Marino five days later. He was to represent his country on 14 occasions in total, scoring three goals.
His career at club level blossomed under Clarke and, after an inauspicious start to their non league campaign, he scored 13 goals in 35 Conference League games. He also scored his first career hat trick, in a 7-1 thrashing of Dorchester Town in a preliminary round of the FA Cup, and then picked up a red card in the first leg of the play off semi final against Forest Green Rovers.
The resulting one match ban saw him miss the second leg of that tie, but he was recalled to the side for the Wembley Play Off Final, against Grimsby Town, and scored the goal that cancelled out Grimsby’s opener. As we all know, Rovers returned to the League thanks to a penalty shootout win against The Mariners and whilst it was Lee Mansell who earned all the plaudits for successfully converting the winning spot kick, the fact that it was Ellis who scored our goal from open play is often overlooked.
Back in League Two, he scored seven goals in 30 league games for Rovers, but also spent time on loan with Hartlepool United, playing just twice for them without scoring. It was a low point in his career and happened very quickly as the move came just hours after he had stepped off the bench for Rovers in a match against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium and scored an 88th minute penalty to give his side a 2-1 win.
Speaking of the move his manager said this; ‘It’s not my decision and I have to stress that I have a really good relationship with Ellis. It’s simply a case of him being frustrated at a lack of opportunities as a result of the form that Matty Taylor and Rory Gaffney have been in lately.’
He played in Hartlepool’s 3-1 defeat at Accrington and in a 1-1 draw at Cambridge, both games coming shortly after his move to the north east. He injured his ankle in the Cambridge match and didn’t play for Hartlepool again.
Following his return to Bristol and recovery from injury, his next match for Rovers was, ironically, a match against Hartlepool and he came off the bench in a 4-1 win at The Mem on 1st March. His first goal following his return was against his hometown side, Newport County and he scored again against Northampton Town (he developed quite a liking for scoring against them – more of that later) and at the end of the season he was celebrating a second successive Gas promotion following the final day win against Dagenham & Redbridge.
Back in League One, there were 37 league appearances and eight goals, four of which came in a remarkable thrashing of Northampton Town at The Mem, which included a seven minute first half hat trick and a fourth goal nine minutes into the second half.
Another highlight from that season was the 48th minute penalty he scored against Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge, in the EFL Cup when Rovers gave their Premiership opponents quite a fright before losing 3-2 after the home side had been 3-1 ahead, and coasting to victory.
There was another important EFL goal the following season, when his strike was enough to beat Fulham, at Craven Cottage. It was probably his best season, in terms of goals, as he scored 12 in 44 league games, including two more against his favourite team, Northampton Town!
His final game during his first spell at the club came in a drab, goalless draw against Southend, at Roots Hall, on the final day of the 2017/18 season and that summer he joined Ipswich Town for a fee of £750,000.
It was the beginning of a seven year absence from The Mem and as well as Ipswich, he turned out for Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town, Port Vale, MK Dons and Walsall. He scored against Northampton again, for Portsmouth and was reunited with Darrell Clarke at Port Vale and scored against Rovers when playing for them.
SECOND TIME AROUND
Released by MK Dons last summer, Clarke brought him back to Rovers, the club that’s always been closest to his heart and although he scored the goal, against Cambridge United, that gave us our first win of last season it would be fair to say that he struggled to make an impact during the torrid time we experienced before Christmas, with three of the six goals he scored during that time coming in Vertu Trophy games.
He came straight into the squad and, as already mentioned, had no pre-season behind him. As any player will tell you when that happens you are playing catch, up in terms of fitness, for a long time.
The appointment of Steve Evans as boss following the departure of Darrell Clarke seems to have turned his season around and he ended the campaign in excellent form and registered another hat trick in the 4-0 win against Cheltenham Town in the penultimate game of the season.
If you take a look at his statistics, they show a vastly experienced player who has, to date, made well over 400 senior appearances, almost half of which have been from the bench. His value as an impact substitute, therefore, should never be ignored. Ellis is, without doubt, a team player first and foremost and will do whatever it takes to get his side over the line. His presence in the dressing room and his defensive qualities are as important as his goalscoring ability and, like a fine wine, he has matured into a vital part of this Bristol Rovers squad that will go in search of a successful 2026/27 campaign.
Written by Keith Brookman