| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Simon John Yeo | ||
| Date of birth | (1973-10-10)10 October 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Stockport, England | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Mossley (player-coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997 | Ards | 4 | (1) |
| 1997 | Curzon Ashton | 4 | (4) |
| 1997–1998 | Coleraine | 0 | (0) |
| 1998–2002 | Hyde United | 130 | (77) |
| 1998–1999 | →Atherton Collieries (loan) | 7 | (12) |
| 2002–2005 | Lincoln City | 122 | (37) |
| 2005 | New Zealand Knights | 11 | (4) |
| 2005–2006 | Lincoln City | 12 | (13) |
| 2006–2007 | Peterborough United | 13 | (2) |
| 2007–2008 | Chester City | 35 | (8) |
| 2008 | →Bury (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Macclesfield Town | 33 | (7) |
| 2009 | Droylsden | ||
| 2009–2010 | Harrogate Town | 9 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | New Mills | ||
| 2011 | Macclesfield Town | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 381 | (146) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:30, 17 April 2009 (UTC) | |||
Simon John Yeo (born 10 October 1973 ) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as aforward from 1997 to 2011 and is currently[when?] player-coach atMossley.
Yeo a former member of theBritish Army is most well known for his time atLincoln City, where he spent two spells with the club between 2002 and 2006. Yeo was part of the side managed byKeith Alexander that were defeated in theLeague Two play-off final several times. Before his spells atSincil Bank Yeo had played in Northern Ireland forArds andColeraine at non-league level forCurzon Ashton,Hyde United andAtherton Collieries. In 2005, he left Lincoln for the first time after he was scouted by newly formedA-League sideNew Zealand Knights and became one of the clubs marquee signings. His stay was only brief and he had returned to Lincoln only months later. In 2006, he followed Keith Alexander firstly toPeterborough United and laterChester City,Bury andMacclesfield Town. In 2009, he returned to non-league football by joiningConference North sideDroylsden before later joiningHarrogate Town andNew Mills. In 2011, he retired from competitive football but following the sudden death of Alexander who was then manager of Macclesfield, he re-signed for the club. Yeo went back into retirement a few months later.
Since retiring Yeo has continued to keep close links with Lincoln City and has appeared in several charity games. He was also a baggage handler at Manchester Airport.
After leaving school, Yeo began a two-year YTS as a carpet fitter before, in May 1992, joining the army with the22nd (Cheshire) Regiment. His army career included tours ofBosnia and Northern Ireland.[citation needed]
After leaving the army, he supplemented his semi-professional football career with numerous jobs such as working on building sites, making toilet seats and being a postman in his home town ofStockport. Whilst serving out his final army days in Northern Ireland, his football career began in earnest. Whilst based atClogher he played for,Fivemiletown United being part of the team who lost the 1995 Mulhern Cup Final, a competition organised by theFermanagh & Western FA, toEnniskillen Rangers.[1] He joinedArds in September 1997, signing a twelve-month deal and scoring three times in seven league and cup games before his contract was cancelled to allow him to return home to England to joinCurzon Ashton in October 1997. However, he quickly returned to Irish football, joiningColeraine the following month. This move proved controversial with the then Ards manager Roy Coyle claiming that Yeo had stitched him up[2] though Yeo argued that that was not the case and, having scored four goals in four games forCurzon Ashton, he was contacted byColeraine who offered to fly him in from Manchester for their games.
He remained withColeraine for the remainder of the 1997–98 season, scoring a total of six goals in 22 appearances,[3] before joining the then Northern Premier League Premier Division sideHyde United. In September 1998 he joinedAtherton Collieries[4] on loan, scoring twelve goals in seven games[5] before being sidelined by an ankle ligament injury.[6] Recalled to Hyde, he marked hisNorthern Premier League debut by scoring both goals in the 2–2 draw withLeigh RMI on 4 December 1998. He would go on to score 111 goals in a total of 169 league and cup appearances for them before joiningLincoln City in May 2002.
Yeo enjoyed two spells withLincoln City separated by a period playing for theNew Zealand Knights in the newly formedA-League. Yeo severed his contract with the Knights because of personal issues. He is something of acult hero inLincoln because of his vital goals at the end of the 2002–03 season. He came off the bench to score againstTorquay United to put the Lincoln into the Division Three playoffs. Yeo again came to Lincoln's rescue in the playoff semi-final first leg againstScunthorpe United. With the scores tied at 3–3 with 20 minutes remaining Yeo again came off the bench to score 2 goals which put Lincoln firmly in the driving seat. Yeo scored again in the away leg to send them to the final at theMillennium Stadium, which they lost.
Yeo then joinedPeterborough for the season of 2006–07 Then he joinedChester City for an undisclosed fee in January 2007, making his debut in a 1–0 win atAccrington Stanley. He was a regular in the starting line-up for the remainder of the season but has tended to be on the bench in the2007–08 season. On 3 January 2008, he moved toBury in a long-term loan deal. However, he failed to start a game for the Shakers and he was released by Chester at the end of the season.[7]
On 23 May 2008 it was announced that he would be joining up with his former ManagerKeith Alexander once again as he signed withMacclesfield Town, and after one season with Macclesfield, on 5 May 2009 Yeo announced his retirement from football.[8] However, it was later revealed that he joined non-league sideDroylsden.
In December 2009, Yeo linked up with his one-timeLincoln City teammateSimon Weaver atHarrogate Town,[9] making his debut for the club in the 1–1FA Trophy 1st Round tie atGateshead on 12 December 2009.[10] He made a total of eleven appearances for the club, nine in theFootball Conference North, scoring a solitary goal in the 2–0 victory atVauxhall Motors on 16 February 2010 before signing forNew Mills in April 2010.[11] He marked his debut for the Millers by scoring once in a 5–0North West Counties Football League Premier Division away victory overAlsager Town on 3 April 2010.
On 19 January 2011, he came out of retirement to re-joinMacclesfield Town.[12] In July 2016 he was appointed striker-coach atMossley.[13]
