August 2007 he joined Gillingham on a free transfer, saying that he intended to see out the rest of his career at Gillingham and his performances in goal won him the Supporters' Player of the Year award for the 2007–08 season. He was first choice goalkeeper at Gillingham again in the promotion season of 2008–09 and at the beginning of the following season. He was forced out of the team by injuries sustained in a car accident in December 2009 and never regained his place from Alan Julian. Coaching career His Gillingham contract expired at the end of that season and although he had been offered a goalkeeper/coach role at Gillingham, he opted in June 2010 to take up the role at Brentford, where he remained until the end of the 2017–18 season. He returned to Gillingham as a goalkeeping coach in June 2019 and was listed on the bench against Oxford United due to an injury to second-choice keeper Joe Walsh. He is also one of the oldest players to appear in a football video game as an active footballer when he appeared in FIFA 20, making his first appearance in the series since FIFA 11. The Kent side announced in June 2020 that Royce would be released when his contract expired the following month. In 2021 Royce joined Leyton Orient as goalkeeping coach under Kenny Jackett. Career statistics Honours Gillingham Football League Two play-offs: 2009 Individual Gillingham Player of the Season: 2007–08 Southend United Player of the Season: 1995–96 References External links Simon Royce at premierleague.com 1971 births Living people Footballers from Forest Gate English footballers Association football goalkeepers Heybridge Swifts F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Brentford F.C. non-playing staff Gillingham F.C. non-playing staff Leyton Orient F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches