Rai Simons

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.

Rai Simons
Simons Playing for Chesterfield in 2016
Personal information
Full name Rai Quinton Arthur Simons[1]
Date of birth (1996-01-11) 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)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:17, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:00, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

Club career

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]

International career

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]

Personal life

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]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 17 April 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ilkeston 2013–14[20][21][22] Northern Premier League Premier Division 7 0 1 0 — 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 10 0
2014–15[23][24][25] Northern Premier League Premier Division 15 1 0 0 — 7[lower-alpha 2] 3 22 4
Total 22 1 1 0 — 9 3 32 4
Chesterfield 2015–16[11] League One 20411001[lower-alpha 3]0225
2016–17[26] League One 19000104[lower-alpha 3]0240
Total 39 4 1 1 1 0 5 0 46 5
Career total 6152110143789
  1. Appearance(s) in Derbyshire Senior Cup
  2. Four appearances in Northern Premier League Challenge Cup; three appearances three goals in Derbyshire Senior Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy

International
Scores and results list Bermuda's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Simons goal.
List of international goals scored by Rai Simons
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
16 March 2015National Sports Centre, Hamilton, Bermuda Grenada1–12–2Friendly

References
  1. "Retained List 2015–16" (PDF). English Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  2. "Simons selected for World Cup Qualifier". Ilkeston F.C. 9 March 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  3. Trott, Lawrence (24 April 2015). "Football comes first for Simons family". The Royal Gazette. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  4. "Newcastle Town the Sentinel goal kings". Stoke Sentinel. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  5. "Rai Simons". Full Contact. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  6. "Rai Simons Signs 2 Year Deal With Ilkeston FC". Bernews. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  7. Wright, Stephen (22 May 2014). "Opportunity knocks for Ilkeston striker Simons". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  8. "Simons signs for Spireites". Ilkeston F.C. 9 April 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  9. "Robins' Rai seals Chesterfield move". Ilkeston Advertiser. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  10. "Rai Simons Signs With Chesterfield FC". Bernews. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  11. "Games played by Rai Simons in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  12. "Bermuda – R. Simons". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  13. "English Colleges U17s National Team travel to Italy". English Colleges Football Association. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  14. "Football: Men's Football". NatWest Island Games. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  15. "Football Statistics". NatWest Island Games. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  16. "Simons hits three in World Cup Qualifier". Ilkeston F.C. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  17. Wright, Stephen (25 June 2014). "Bermuda survive scare as Simons hits hat-trick". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  18. Trott, Lawrence (5 March 2015). "Bean out of Grenada games". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  19. "Bermuda vs. Grenada 2–2". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  20. "2013/14". www.ilsonfootball.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016.
  21. "Home". www.ilsonfootball.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016.
  22. Duffy, Mark (30 April 2014). "Report/slideshow - DSC Final: Ilkeston FC 2-0 Glossop NE". Ilkeston Advertiser. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019.
  23. "The Evo-Stik Statistics". Ilkeston FC Official Matchday Magazine. No. 6. 15 August 2015. p. 23.
  24. "2014/15". www.ilsonfootball.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016.
  25. "Ilkeston FC on Twitter". Twitter. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  26. "Games played by Rai Simons in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
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