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 football 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 July 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)
2013–2014 Newcastle Town
2014–2015 Ilkeston 31 (3)
2015–2017 Chesterfield 39 (4)
2018– North Village Rams 1 (0)
National team‡
20??–20?? Bermuda U17 5 (9)
2013 English Colleges U17 1 (1)
201?–201? Bermuda U20 11 (17)
2013– Bermuda 5 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:17, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:14, 3 September 2015 (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 2014,[5][6] signing a two-year contract with the club.[7] During his time at Ilkeston, Simons played for both the academy and first team sides, before attracting interest for a number of Football League clubs.[8] He made 20 appearances in the 2014–15 season, in which Ilkeston reached the Northern Premier League Premier Division Play-off Final.[9]

In April 2015, it was announced that Simons had joined League One club Chesterfield.[9][10][11] He scored for the Chesterfield senior team in a pre-season friendly against former club Ilkeston (arranged as part of his transfer) and three goals in his first two starts for Chesterfield's professional development squad.

Simons made his professional début on 26 September 2015 as a 66th minute substitute in Chesterfield's 2–1 home defeat to Burton Albion. He scored his first professional goal on 10 October in Chesterfield's 3–1 home defeat to Gillingham.

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.[11] 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 début 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 début 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.[2] His mother is Karen Simons and his father, Arhur Simons was also a footballer who played as a left-back for North Village Rams.[2]

Career Stats
As of match played 17 April 2017
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Chesterfield 2015–16[20] League One 20411001[lower-alpha 1]0225
2016–17[21] League One 19000104[lower-alpha 1]0240
Career total 394111050465

National team career statistics

Goals for Senior National Team
Scores and results list Bermuda's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
16 March 2015National Sports Centre, Hamilton, Bermuda Grenada1–12–2Friendly
  1. Appearances in the Football League Trophy

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. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  3. Trott, Lawrence (24 April 2015). "Football comes first for Simons family". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  4. "Newcastle Town the Sentinel goal kings". Stoke Sentinel. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  5. "Summer transfers, the latest deals". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  6. "Rai Simons". Full Contact. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  7. "Rai Simons Signs 2 Year Deal With Ilkeston FC". Bernews. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  8. Wright, Stephen (22 May 2014). "Opportunity knocks for Ilkeston striker Simons". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  9. "Simons signs for Spireites". Ilkeston F.C. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  10. "Robins' Rai seals Chesterfield move". Ilkeston Advertiser. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  11. "Rai Simons Signs With Chesterfield FC". Bernews. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  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. "Games played by Rai Simons in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  21. "Games played by Rai Simons in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
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