[3] Elliott began his professional career as a youth player at Manchester City after impressing in a trial match with Stella Maris in which he scored five goals in the space of half an hour.

[5] He failed to establish himself in the first team, making only one further appearances as a substitute,[6] with his development at City hampered by a serious back injury that ruled him out for a season.

[19] Elliott moved to Wolves in July 2007 for an undisclosed fee signing a three-year contract,[20] linking up with Mick McCarthy, his former manager at Sunderland.

[23] However, he failed to make a strong impact at Molineux, and was transfer-listed at the season's end after the club missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.

[32] On 9 August 2010 Elliott joined Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian on a two-year deal,[39] reuniting him with former strike partner at Sunderland Kevin Kyle.

[40] He made his debut as a 66th-minute substitute on 14 August against St Johnstone at Tynecastle,[41] going on to make his first start on 7 November against rivals Hibernian in the first Edinburgh Derby of the season scoring the second goal in a 2–0 victory for Hearts.

[48] Elliott scored an equalising goal in the 83rd minute of the third Edinburgh derby of the season, earning Hearts a 2–2 draw despite having played for over an hour with ten men.

On 2 July 2012, Elliott joined Football League One side Coventry City on a one-year deal after his Heart of Midlothian contract had expired.

Coventry manager Steven Pressley announced on 30 April 2013 that Elliott's contract would not be renewed having picked up a serious knee injury.

[52] On 7 August 2014, Elliott signed a one-year deal with recently relegated Football League Two side Carlisle United.

[55] Elliott signed for newly promoted Premier Division side Drogheda United for the 2017 season[citation needed] but he really struggled to find any long term fitness due to injuries and he could not help them from finishing bottom of the league and being relegated.

Elliott's good start for Sunderland in 2004 led to a call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad, and he made his international debut against Croatia at Lansdowne Road on 16 November 2004.