![]() Simons playing for Chesterfield in 2016 | |||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Rai Quinton Arthur Simons [1] | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 11 January 1996 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Hamilton, Bermuda | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Striker | ||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
North Village Rams | |||||||||||||||||
Newcastle Town | |||||||||||||||||
Ilkeston FC | |||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
2013 | Newcastle Town | ||||||||||||||||
2013–2015 | Ilkeston | 22 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
2015–2017 | Chesterfield | 39 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
2018– | North Village Rams | ||||||||||||||||
International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
20??–20?? | Bermuda U17 | ||||||||||||||||
2013 | English Colleges U17 | ||||||||||||||||
201?–201? | Bermuda U20 | ||||||||||||||||
2013– | Bermuda | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:17, 27 December 2016 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:00, 5 June 2016 (UTC) |
Rai Quinton Arthur Simons (born 11 January 1996) is a Bermudian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He has been capped six times, and scored one goal for the Bermuda national team in FIFA recognised matches. He was joint-top goal scorer at the 2013 Island Games Men's Football Tournament with three goals.
Simons started his career at North Village Rams as a youth player. [2] At the age 15, Simons had trials and spent a week training with Premier League club West Ham United, [2] before he eventually signed for Newcastle Town. [3] He was part of the Newcastle Town under-18 team that won the Sentinel Cup in a record 8–1 win over Alsager Town at the Britannia Stadium, scoring with an "unstoppable shot" having replaced Callum Kenny in the 57th minute as a substitute. [4]
He went on to join English Northern Premier League club Ilkeston in summer 2013, [5] signing a two-year contract with the club. [6] During his time at Ilkeston, Simons played for both the academy and first team sides, before attracting interest from a number of Football League clubs. [7] He was a key member of the Ilkeston team which reached the Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off final in the 2014–15 season. [8]
In April 2015, it was announced that Simons had joined League One club Chesterfield. [8] [9] [10] He scored his first Chesterfield goal in a pre-season friendly against his former club Ilkeston, which had been arranged as part of the transfer deal. [5] Simons made his professional debut on 26 September 2015 as a 66th-minute substitute in Chesterfield's 2–1 home defeat to Burton Albion. [11] He scored his first professional goal on 10 October in Chesterfield's 3–1 home defeat to Gillingham. [11]
Simons played for Bermuda under-17's in their unsuccessful 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship qualifying campaign in July 2012. [12]
Whilst studying as a student at Newcastle-under-Lyme College, Simons was selected to represent the English Colleges under-17's in January 2013 at the Caput Mundi Tournament in Italy. [13]
Simons went on to represent Bermuda, the only FIFA affiliated side at the 2013 Island Games. Bermuda went on to win men's football tournament, with a 1–0 win over Greenland on 15 July 2013 at Bermuda National Stadium, Hamilton. [14] Simons scored three goals during the competition, leaving him as joint-top goal scorer along with five other players. [15]
In April 2015, he was then called up to the Bermuda under-20's squad for their 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying campaign. [10] He scored a hat-trick in the group match against Guadeloupe under-20's on 24 June 2014 at Estadio Panamericano, San Cristóbal. [16] [17]
Simons was called up and made his full international debut for Bermuda against Grenada, in a FIFA sanctioned match, on 7 March 2015 in a friendly. [18] The match finished 2–2, with Simons scoring on his debut before being substituted in the 81st minute for Antwan Russell. [12] [19] Following his success in two friendlies against Grenada, Simons was called up again to face the Bahamas in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification first round matches. [2] He played in both matches, with Bermuda winning 8–0 on aggregate. [12]
Simons moved to England when he was 15 and stayed with his cousin, Dale Eve and sister, Taylor in Stoke-on-Trent where he attended school. [3] His mother is Karen Simons and his father, Arthur Simons was also a footballer who played as a left-back for North Village Rams. [3]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Ilkeston | 2013–14 [20] [21] [22] | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 [a] | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
2014–15 [23] [24] [25] | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 [b] | 3 | 22 | 4 | ||
Total | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 3 | 32 | 4 | |||
Chesterfield | 2015–16 [11] | League One | 20 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 [c] | 0 | 22 | 5 |
2016–17 [26] | League One | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 [c] | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
Total | 39 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 46 | 5 | ||
Career total | 61 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 78 | 9 |
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | 6 March 2015 | National Sports Centre, Hamilton, Bermuda | ![]() | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
Bermuda