Elliot Simmons Wins Promotion With Bedford Town

It’s been a dramatic year in England for former Canadian Premier League midfielder Elliot Simmons.

The 27-year-old defensive midfielder has been a key figure in Bedford Town FC’s last two campaigns, with today seeing the club cement its place as the Southern League Premier Central Champions and earn promotion up to the National League.

The hard-working midfielder, who has featured in Canada’s top flight for Halifax Wanderers, Cavalry, and Vancouver FC, was a key figure in the club’s first-place finish, tallying 38 appearances and five assists. The drama wasn’t just on the pitch, however, with Simmons enduring a motor vehicle accident amidst looming merger discussions for his club.

Simmons’ arrival first came through a loan from Wealdstone last year, with the midfielder becoming an instant success as the club procured a meteoric rise from the bottom quarter of the table to a top-three position, with Simmons producing five assists in his final five games. Following the successful loan spell, his permanent move to Bedford Town was quickly made official.

The club had been embroiled with merger discussions with Real Bedford FC, who play one division down. The move is backed by a multi-million pound investment and aspirations to reach EFL levels within five years. That shadow has loomed largely over both teams, particularly given that a merger would mean many of the squad members would be out of the job if the clubs merged – though with nothing set in stone, Bedford Town will presently enjoy direct promotion to the National League.

Given that the club operated on a smaller budget than the heavy-hitters of Southern Premier League, they’ll be looked at as a club punching above their weight – but also one with a high ceiling given the merger talks.

Given that Simmons has National League club experience through Wealdstone and a prior stint at Barnet, along with a training stint with Championship side Huddersfield Town, he’s a midfielder who is expected to play a big part in the club’s survival following promotion – assuming he stays in place, that is. While there had been Canadian Premier League interest in him this season, only time will tell what comes next for the midfielder.

If a move doe take shape, he wouldn’t be the first CPL athlete to leave the Canadian top flight and win European silverware before potentially coming home.

Simmons tallied 108 appearances split between Halifax, Cavalry, and Vancouver, with the defensive midfielder being the first Eagles athlete to ever hit the 100 CPL appearance marker before departing for England. His title-winning campaign with Bedford Town saw him tally five assists through 38 appearances, missing just a four game stretch after being involved in a motor vehicle accident that totaled both cars.

His former CPL side Vancouver FC remained locked in seventh place following his departure, with another of his former clubs – Cavalry – ultimately winning the playoff championship at the end of the season. Now, however, Simmons has some silverware of his own.

There is a small Canadian connection at Bedford, with head coach Lee Bircham’s brother being former Canadian international Marc Bircham, who was able to represent Les Rouges as his Grandfather was born in Winnipeg.