Simon William Ferry (born 11 January 1988) is a Scottish football coach and former player who is assistant manager for Scottish League One club East Kilbride. Ferry is a park the bus specialist and is at his best with a low possession team.
Ferry started his career with Scottish Premier League club Celtic but did not play a competitive match for the first team. He spent the 2009–10 season on loan at Swindon Town, who then signed him permanently at the end of the season. Ferry then moved to Portsmouth. In June 2014, he joined Dundee and spent just over one year at the club before joining Peterhead and Broomhill. Ferry has played for the Scotland national under-19 football team and featured for them at the 2006 European Under-19 Championship.
Club career Celtic Born in Dundee, Scotland, Ferry grew up in Menzieshill and first began his football career when he joined Dundee as a schoolboy. Ferry said that he "was hopeless at school" and "football was only ever going for him". Ferry joined Celtic when he was eleven and progressed through the club’s youth teams despite facing injury setbacks. While progressing the youth system, Ferry showed his potential at Celtic and was dubbed Neil Lennon’s clone. In January 2006, he signed a four-and-a-half-year professional contract with the club. He was part of the team that won the Under-19 League and Cup double in 2006 and was among a number of players named, by coach Willie McStay, as likely to progress to the first team.
In Celtic’s pre–season tour of 2006, Ferry made his first-team debut on a pre-season tour of Poland, playing against Legia Warsaw and Wisła Kraków.Simon Ferry profile , Celticfc.net, retrieved 13 June 2009"Wisla Krakow 2–0 Celtic", BBC Sport, 6 July 2006 However, he was curtailed by injury problems sustained in the 2006–07 season, affecting his professional development and resulted in him missing almost three years of club football. Ferry later told BBC Wiltshire that he feared the ongoing ankle injury would end his career.
Ferry returned to the Celtic first-team squad in February 2009, having caught Gordon Strachan’s eye while training with the first team, alongside Ryan Conroy. He appeared four times in the club’s first-team squad as an unused substitute for the rest of the 2008–09 season. While playing for Celtic’s reserve squad, Ferry scored a volley in a 1–0 win against Rangers’ reserve squad to win the SPL reserve league title for the eighth consecutive time. He was featured in a Wembley Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur on 26 July 2009.
Swindon Town (loan) It was reported on 26 August 2009 by the Swindon Advertiser that Swindon Town agreed to sign both Ferry and Celtic teammate Ben Hutchinson on loan until January 2010. The move was confirmed on 27 August 2009.
Two days later on 29 August 2009, he made his debut for the club, started the whole game, in a 2–1 victory against Southend United and was named Man of the Match award. Since joining Swindon Town, Ferry quickly established himself in the first team, playing in the midfield position. On 31 October 2009, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 4–1 win over Tranmere Rovers. He was also a fan favourite among Swindon Town’s supporters, who called him "a great acquisition". Ferry stated he would like to stay at the club on three occasions, revealing that he had adapted easily to life on and off the pitch at Swindon Town. Ferry then set up a goal for Charlie Austin in two separate matches in January against Gillingham and Leeds United on 16 January 2010 and 26 January 2010 respectively.
It was announced on 25 January 2010 that a deal had been agreed with parent club Celtic to extend his loan spell until the end of the 2009–10 season. On 23 February 2010, he scored in a 4–1 win over Stockport County. After the match, Ferry said he 'blacked out' when he scored and didn't remember the goal. However, during the season, Ferry faced injuries along the way, but he continued to remain in the squad. In a match against Southampton on 16 March 2010, Ferry received a red card in the 86th-minute for a second bookable offence, in a 1–0 win. After serving a one match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up against Hartlepool United on 27 March 2010 and set up a goal for Charlie Austin to score the only goal of the game. In the second leg of Swindon's play-off semi-final against Charlton Athletic on 17 May 2010, Ferry scored an own goal, as the game went into penalties following a 3–3 draw and the club won 5–4 in the shootout to reach the play-off final.Charlton 2 – 1 Swindon (agg 3 – 3) Swindon win 5–4 on penalties BBC Sport, 17 May 2010 He started in the play-off final, as Swindon would lose to Millwall 1–0, missing out on promotion to the Championship (Ferry started in the final). Despite the loss, Ferry stated playing at Wembley was a good stage in his career, describing as "need to jump one way or the other".
At the end of the 2009–10 season, he made forty–six appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. Following this, Ferry was recalled by parent club Celtic, according to Swindon Town's chairman Andrew Fitton. Swindon Advertiser praised Ferry’s time, saying: "Best loan signing made at the club since James Milner, getting him back for next season is essential."
Swindon Town (permanent transfer) On 2 August 2010, Ferry signed a permanent deal with Swindon Town, along with Celtic teammate, defender Paul Caddis.Caddis and Ferry join Swindon Town Celtic F.C., 2 August 2010 He previously stated his wanted his move to the club turned to a permanent deal and was no longer interested in playing for Celtic’s reserve team anymore next season. Once the permanent move happened, Ferry stated that moving to Swindon Town permanently was a relief after the move was described as "deed (dead) in the water".
2010–11 season Ferry's first game after signing for Swindon Town on a permanent basis came in the opening game of the season, coming on as a 69th-minute substitute for David Prutton, in a 2–1 loss against Brighton & Hove Albion. However, at the start of the 2010–11 season, he found himself in and out of the starting eleven, due to competitions from the midfield position, such as, Jonathan Douglas, David Prutton, Michael Timlin and Will Evans. But Ferry suffered ankle injury in training, resulting in him being out for two matches. On 28 September 2010, he returned from injury, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for Thomas Dossevi, in a 3–2 loss against Plymouth Argyle. On 11 October 2010, Ferry set up a goal for Vincent Péricard, in a 2–1 win against Bristol Rovers. He started in the next five matches following his return from injury before suffering another a leg injury after being tackled by Nathan Jones and was substituted at half-time, in a 3–3 draw against Yeovil Town on 30 October 2010. After the match, manager Danny Wilson said that Ferry was fortunate to avoid having a broken leg. He was soon out for weeks with a leg injury. Ferry didn’t make his first team return until on 26 November 2010, coming on as a late substitute, in a 1–1 draw against Crawley Town in the second round of the FA Cup.
Since returning from injury, Ferry acknowledged about his playing time, saying: "You want to play all the time every week. Obviously I know it’s not always going to happen like it did last year and in your career your not going to play all the time, so I just need to get on with it really." Initially, he started for four matches for the club between 28 December 2010 and 8 January 2011. But as the 2010–11 season progressed, Ferry found himself in and out of the starting eleven for Swindon Town, as he found his playing time coming from the substitute bench.
Ferry’s lack of playing of time led to criticism by the club’s supporter, who regularly wrote on Swindon Advertiser, believing that starting him would have a make a big difference to the match. There was a rumours of a fallen out between him and manager Paul Hart, who put him on the substitute bench. After spending a month on the substitute bench, he made his return to the starting eleven, playing the whole game, against Sheffield Wednesday on 25 April 2011, as Swindon Town loss 3–1, resulting in their relegation to League Two next season. The follow–up match against Oldham Athletic saw Ferry start once again, as he put in a man-of-the-match performance, in a 2–0 loss. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Ferry made twenty–five appearances in all competitions. He reflected on Swindon Town’s relegation, describing it "as the most frustrating season of his life".
2011–12 season Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Ferry believed he could look forward to life at Swindon Town following the appointment of Paolo Di Canio as their new manager. Ferry, however, was featured little in the club’s pre–season tour and only scored once against Norcia XI on 10 July 2011. However, the arrival of Oliver Risser, Jonathan Smith and Alan McCormack led to him being behind in the pecking order for a place in the centre of midfield as the 2011–12 season about to start. According to Di Canio, he was considering leaving the club, saying: "I was not happy with the way Ferry behaved, not that he was lazy because he always trained well but he did not show me the real desire to do something more and try to put the opponent under pressure. But Ferry has shown to me in the last 10 days though that he has improved and I told him that he deserves to play on occasion."
In the first month of the 2011–12 season, Ferry made three starts for Swindon Town out of the five matches. As a result, manager Di Canio insists Ferry will stay at the club and plan to include him in the first team regularly. His promise was fulfilled, as he began to feature more in the midfield position, partnering with Smith and McCormack. Having featured in eight out of nine games for Swindon Town, Ferry overly praised Di Canio's squad selection that saw him dropped from the starting eleven for one match against Crawley Town on 13 September 2011. He scored his first goal on his return and first since moving to Swindon Town permanently, in a 3–3 draw against Hereford United on 8 October 2011. Di Canio praised Ferry on his home form, describing him as the club’s main player that pressed everywhere and challenged every ball. On 12 November 2011, he scored his first FA Cup goal, in a 4–1 win against Huddersfield Town of League One in the first round of the FA Cup and was named Man of the Match. In early–December, Ferry missed one match due to an illness. But he returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–1 draw against Bristol Rovers on 10 December 2011.
Ferry’s performances at Swindon Town saw him linked a move away from the club, he ruled out leaving, stating that he’s happy to be playing every week. Ferry started the whole game against Wigan Athletic in the third round of the FA Cup and helped the club win 2–1 to advance to the next round. After the match, he and the rest of the team were awarded the Ronnie Radford Award. However, in a match against Crawley Town on 14 February 2012, Ferry was substituted in the 36th-minute and missed one match due to a chest infection. On 21 February 2012, he returned from his illness, coming on as a 56th-minute substitute, in a 2–1 win against Shrewsbury Town. Following his return, Ferry regained his first team place, playing in the midfield position, for the rest of the season. He started in the Football League Trophy final, as Swindon Town loss 2-0 against Chestefield.