In The Spotlight #15 – Dan Ellison

Welcome back to ‘In The Spotlight’.

Today is Episode #15, and I decided to give the spotlight to a young defender in the National League South who is making waves; Chippenham Town’s Dan Ellison.

So often on this series, I have looked at some of the finest attacking talent, and so I thought it would be a welcome change to instead analyse a defender who is fast becoming one of the hottest properties outside of the Football League.

He may only be 18 years of age, but I think he could quite well follow in the footsteps of someone like Chris Smalling in making it at the top level. So, let’s have a look at what he is all about.

About

Defender Dan Ellison started out in the academy with Chippenham Town.

After breaking through from The Bluebirds academy, Ellison got his first taste of men’s football as he signed with lower league side Devizes Town.

Ellison would impress with Devizes Town, and the decision was made in the 2022-23 campaign to send him out to a higher level; he signed dual registration forms with Calne Town.

The time spent with Calen Town was huge for his development, as the defender was allowed to still play for the Bluebirds youth academy. That would pave the way for Ellison to get his first taste of success in football, with the youngster entrusted to captain The Bluebirds in the NFYL Cup. Ellison would go on to score the winner in that final.

At the start of this (2023-24) season, Ellison would initially start with Westbury United, before Chippenham Town manager Gary Horgan decided to bring an end to that move for the youngster and instead make the move to put him into the first-team.

And, it is fair to say that Ellison has not looked back since, with a string of impressive displays and off the back of that has subsequently signed an initial 18-month deal with the National League South side.

Playing Style

The video above provides us with a compilation of Dan Ellison’s displays in the 2022-23 campaign, as he continued to make his breakthrough into Chippenham Town’s first-team and progressed from the academy.

Even from the outset in this video we get a sense that Ellison is a progressive centre-back. A return of 12 goals and six assists in a single season paints the picture of someone who is a threat when attacking set-pieces, and also then comfortable at bringing the ball out of defence and picking his passes into the front players; in essence, this is Ellison’s game in a nutshell.

At 0:36, we see Ellison step into midfield and do well to intercept the ball into the feet of the forward players. In this sense, Ellison is a player who plays on the front foot, is aggressive in his starting position and doesn’t give the forward a moments rest.

One thing that is clear from the clips is how much bigger he is than the rest of the players on the field in his age group. That accelerated development for the youngster has allowed him to make a seamless transition into the first-team with Chippenham Town, while coping well with the physical demands that are put on the players. Likewise, his towering presence and height allows him to be a threat from set-pieces, with his goal at 0:51 one whereby he doesn’t really have to run onto the ball at much speed; instead, he gets such good purchase on it. It is, therefore, no surprise that he has scored as often as he this term.

Another trait of Ellison’s game is that he is composed with the ball at his feet and has a lovely, diverse range of passing to be able to progress it from the back. We can see at 1:07 that he plays a lofted pass out to the winger. What I particularly like about this is in the first instance that he wants to play the riskier, long pass to try and break the lines and get them higher up the pitch, but also the care in which he executes the pass; the weight of the pass, the placement in front of the player so they don’t have to break stride, sufficient loft away from the opposition right-back so he doesn’t engage with the ball in the air. All fine details that you perhaps miss.

All of these qualities are seen again at 1:28, with a lofted pass out to the wide player that is sufficiently weighted to get to the player, and the right trajectory not to entice the opposition defender. The way in which Ellison does it with so little effort is indicative of his confidence in possession.

Another thing that I really like about Ellison is his reading of the game and the way in which he builds up a picture of the game. We get a good insight into how well he is able to develop and understanding of when to make the right pass, and make clever decisions on the ball. Firstly, at 1:43 the ball is played to him on the edge of the area. How often do we see defenders dally on the ball, take too many touches and end up just passing it back to the goalkeeper or making sideways passes? Not Dan. The ball is played into him, he takes a touch, and then plays a lovely pass out of his feet over the top. He spots the run of the forward, and is able to clip the ball into his path with the right weight that he is able to simply stride onto it, touch it down and score.

Straight after this – at 1:54 – that the ball is swung into him at the far post. He has the ability to head home, as has been seen on a number of occasions, but he has the intelligence to realise that the ball is swinging away from goal and that he wouldn’t be able to get the purchase on it to get an effort on goal, and so instead has the whereabouts to look up, head back across goal for his team mate and he heads home. That little attention to detail is so important, and is what I like about his game. He makes the right decisions at the right time; that is sign of having been well-coached and someone who clearly studies his game.

Another trait of his game that we can see from this clip is the way in which he is able to play in the channels and has the mobility to cover in wide areas. A number of times at the start of the video, and again at 1:58 – he is able to get out to his man, engage in a foot race and make the clever interception. So often with defenders, they either have the basics of defending or are the more flashy types who perhaps compromise their defensive attributes for quality on the ball, but Dan Ellison has a nice balance between having the ability to play with the ball as well as also do the basics well; block tackles, getting his body on the line, robust challenges, good in the air etc.

One thing that is clear from the videos is Ellison’s proficiency in the air and ability to attack the ball. At 3:42, Ellison does well to get up and head the ball away from goal when defending a corner. We see throughout the video that he has the ability to get up well, too, when attacking set-pieces with the spring in his leap, how well he hangs in the air and how well he connects with the ball. In many ways, Ellison is an old-school centre-back. So few nowadays are aggressive and front-footed in winning the ball in the air, but Ellison does this well.

Ellison has scored four goals so far this season, and one of those can be seen in the clip above against Farnborough. His goal – at 3:24 – sees Ellison make a late run into the box and get up well, before directing into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to give Chippenham Town the lead. The athleticism and agility in his leap and the poise in the direction in his header is indicative of his quality from set pieces.

Ellison has missed just ten minutes of league football for Chippenham Town since he broke through into the first team at the start of November against Eastbourne. He has quickly established himself as a regular of The Bluebirds side, and he continues to impress.

Conclusion

Chippenham Town fans don’t need to be told; they know that they have a special player on their hands. And, one that destined to go a long way in the game.

Even at only 18 years of age, Ellison is now a regular in the Chippenham Town backline, and is almost indispensable off the back of his performances for The Bluebirds.

One of the traits that I have noted amongst the best players to have gone and really excel is being thrown into first-team games at not just 19 or 20 years of age, but at 17 or 18; just look at what Josh Stokes is doing at his age, and he started playing in the first-team in his mid-teens.

Ellison has had the benefit of that early introduction into the game with The Bluebirds and has more than impressed, and I think he is destined to go far. I don’t think that it is long before an EFL side comes calling for the defender.