Ellis was born in
Ashton-under-Lyne,
Lancashire. In his younger days, he played as a centre-half for
Sheffield Wednesday in the 1960s. As a teenager he made his debut in the 1966
FA Cup final against
Everton, which his team lost 3–2. He then moved on to play for
Mansfield Town,
Lincoln City, and
Watford. It was at
Vicarage Road that he became coach and assistant manager to future
England boss
Graham Taylor. With Ellis' help, Watford climbed the divisions before turning down a new contract in favour of trying his hand at management. When the
Blackpool job was advertised, Ellis applied and was given the job on 1 June 1982. Ellis was manager at the seaside for seven years, from 1982 to 1989, with no prior managerial experience, but the new board at
Bloomfield Road were confident in his ability. Despite finishing in the bottom four of the
Fourth Division in his first season, thus forcing the club to apply for re-election to the
Football League, Ellis managed to turn the side around and gain promotion two years later with only limited funds handed to him. Although he kept
the Tangerines in the
Third Division, they were unable to make further progress and Ellis' contract was terminated on 28 March 1989, On 13 July 2018, he returned to football as the new assistant manager of
Middlesbrough replacing
David Kemp who had left at the end of the previous season. After the departure of
Tony Pulis, his contract was also not renewed by the club in May 2019. ==Personal life==