Karl Elsey

A midfield player who was discovered by Queens Park Rangers playing Welsh League football for Pembroke Borough, where he mixed football with his full time job as a chrome plater. He signed professional in January 1979 and made 7 League appearances for Rangers before he got a move back to South Wales when Newport County recruited him in July 1980, at a time that they were enjoying some of their best seasons in many years. In 4 seasons he made 123 League appearances for County, scoring 15 goals, as the club rose to the upper reaches of the Third Division, won the Welsh Cup for the first time, and made it through to the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners Cup. He arrived at City as part of a bizarre 5 man transfer deal, with Nigel Vaughan, and played roles not only in midfield but full back and on the odd occasion, left wing. An inconsistent performer, a little slow and overweight, it was no surprise when he was given a free transfer at the end of the 1984-85 season, and he moved on to Gillingham. He played 3 seasons there, making 128 League appearances with 13 goals before moving on to Reading in the close season of 1987. In 2 seasons there he made 44 League appearances with 3 goals before making his final move, to Maidstone United, where he bowed out of League football after a further 72 League games, with 5 goals. He then joined Sittingbourne F.C. for a while, but rejoined Maidstone after they dropped out of the Football League. He played for Maidstone's 1998-99 Nuclear Electric Kent League Division One West side, but it was a short lived return as he retired after 2 games due to a knee injury.