Nathan Ellington profile

Nathan Levi Fontaine Ellington was born in Bradford on 2 July 1981. He began his career with non-League Tooting & Mitcham, making one first team appearance at 16 years of age. He played regularly for the youth team there, but was frustrated by a lack of first team chances, so he moved to Walton & Hersham, before moving to Bristol Rovers in February 1999 for £150,000.

He made his professional debut on 23 February 1999, coming on as a second-half substitute for Jamie Cureton in a 1–0 home defeat to Gillingham. He came off the bench to score his first goal on 6 March 1999, helping his team to a 2–0 win over York. His highest point for Rovers was scoring a hat-trick in a 3–1 win against Premiership team Derby in the FA Cup on 6 January 2002. This was the first time a team from the Third Division had beaten a Premiership team in the FA Cup. It was also the second of three hat-tricks scored by Ellington for Rovers, with all three coming within the space of a month. He was named in the PFA Division Three team of the year for 2001/02.

On 28 March 2002 Ellington signed for Wigan by Paul Jewell for a then club record fee of £1.2 million. He scored on his debut in a 2–1 win at Chesterfield on 6 April 2002. His only hat-trick for Wigan came against West Brom in a 3–1 League Cup victory on 2 October 2002, his second career hat-trick against Premiership opposition. He was named Division One player of the month for February 2004 and was a major factor in the club's promotion to the Premiership in the 2004/05 finishing as the leading scorer in the Championship and formed a formidable partnership with Jason Roberts, with whom he had previously played at Bristol Rovers. Both players were named in the PFA Championship team of the season. Ellington joined West Brom on 16 August 2005 for £3,000,001. With the player unable to agree a new contract with Wigan, Albion used a clause in his existing contract that allowed him to leave for any fee over £3 million.

Ellington made his West Brom (and Premier League) debut in a 4–0 away defeat at Chelsea on 24 August 2005, replacing Jonathan Greening and scored twice in a 4–1 League Cup win against Bradford on 20 September 2005, his first goals for the club. He generally struggled in his first ever season in the Premier League, as his season was damaged by a series of niggling injuries and a shoulder problem but still managed to score eight goals.

After failing to settle in the area, Ellington submitted a transfer request in the 2007 January transfer window. On 29 August 2007, Ellington joined Watford on a four-year deal. Watford paid a club record £3.25 million for the striker, rising to £4.25 million depending on appearances. He made his Watford debut three days later, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 win over Ipswich, hitting the post a few minutes after entering the field. Ellington initially found it difficult to command a place in the Watford starting line-up and his first goal for Watford didn't come until he scored in a 1–1 draw against Charlton on 19 January 2008, and went on to score a further 2 goals in 3 games, but then didn't score again until 5 April against Coventry, his last of the season.

Derby signed Ellington on 30 May 2008 on a season long loan, with a view to him joining the Rams permanently on a free transfer at the end of the season in a move that re-united the player with manager Paul Jewell. Ellington had a successful pre-season with the Rams, scoring three times in seven matches. Ellington finished joint top scorer in the League Cup, with 6 goals including a hat-trick, but after scoring just 3 league goals in 27 games new manager Nigel Clough decided not to take up the option of signing Ellington, and he returned to Watford.

On 21 December 2009, Ellington signed for Greek side Xanthi FC on loan for the rest of the year. Having played in Greece for the whole of 2010, he returned to Watford in January 2011.

He trained with Preston in January 2011; scoring two goals in a 3-1 win over Shrewsbury in a reserve team fixture on 11 January 2011. He signed for Preston on 13 January 2011 on loan until the end of the 2010/11 season and will then be out of contract.