Ryan Esson

Ryan John Esson (born 19 March 1980) is a Scottish former professional football goalkeeper who is the head coach of Highland league side Strathspey Thistle.^[3] Esson started his career in 2000, in the Scottish Premier League, as a goalkeeper for Aberdeen. He has also played for Shrewsbury Town and Hereford United.

Ryan Esson

Personal information
Full name	Ryan John Esson[1]
Date of birth	(1980-03-19) 19 March 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Strathspey Thistle (Head Coach)
Youth career
	Parkvale
1996–1999	Aberdeen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2006	Aberdeen	89	(0)
2002	→ Rotherham United (loan)	0	(0)
2006–2008	Shrewsbury Town	6	(0)
2008	Hereford United	1	(0)
2008–2022	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	163	(0)
Total		259	(0)
International career
1999–2001	Scotland U21[2]	7	(0)
Managerial career
2024-	Strathspey Thistle
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Aberdeen

Esson started his career with his hometown club Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League, debuting on 14 May 2000 in the 5–1 win over Kilmarnock. Aberdeen got to the 2000 Scottish Cup Final, and after only three minutes of the match Jim Leighton (playing in his last career game) sustained a serious head injury. Due to teams only being able to name three substitutes at the time, Esson was not on the bench and Robbie Winters was forced to go in goal wearing Esson's jersey.^[4] He became Aberdeen's first-choice keeper for 2000–01. After losing his place the following season, he had a brief loan spell at Rotherham United in March to May 2002.

Esson did not play at all in the 2002–03 season and only twice in 2003–04, but played the majority of Aberdeen's games in 2004–05. The former Scotland Youth and U21 international was an unused substitute when the senior side played the USA in November 2005.

His contract expired at the end of the 2005–06 season, and after playing in 18 matches during the campaign, he decided to leave the club in order to seek more first team games. His final appearance was against Celtic in May 2006.

Shrewsbury Town

He joined Shrewsbury Town on 30 June 2006 on a free transfer and made his début in the 2006–07 opener against Mansfield Town, which finished 2–2. After playing in Shrewsbury's first six league matches he was dropped in favour of Chris Mackenzie. Whilst playing in a reserve fixture on 18 September 2006, Esson sustained a broken cheekbone, and it was later revealed that he would be sidelined for up to ten weeks.^[5] Scott Shearer was signed on loan from Bristol Rovers to cover Esson's injury spell. Upon his recovery, Esson could not dislodge him from the first team, and Shearer played out the rest of the season as first choice goalkeeper. In the League Two play-off final, Shearer was prohibited from playing against his parent club, Bristol Rovers; Chris Mackenzie, who had played more league games that season, was chosen ahead of Esson for the match.

At the end of the 2006–07 season Shearer left Shrewsbury, and the club signed Welsh international Glyn Garner to be their first choice goalkeeper for the 2007–08 season. With a season left on his contract, Esson was told that he may leave should he have the desire and opportunity.^[6] However, with no firm offers on the table, Esson opted to see out his contract at the club, and he attempted to win back the first choice goalkeeper's berth.

In 2007–08, Esson was used as Shrewsbury's goalkeeper for the early rounds of the League Cup, where his highlight was an extra-time penalty save as Shrewsbury won 1–0 against Colchester United. With Glyn Garner firmly established as the club's number one goalkeeper, rumours linked Esson with a move back to Scotland. On 30 January 2008, Esson was released by Shrewsbury, after having the final six months of his contract paid off.^[7]

Hereford United

On 17 March 2008, Esson joined Hereford United until the end of the season, as cover for the injured Michael Ingham. He made his one and only appearance for the Bulls on the final day of the season, playing 90 minutes against Grimsby Town. He was released by Hereford on 19 May 2008.^[8][9]

Inverness CT

Esson on stage as the Inverness team celebrate winning the First Division title in May 2010 at the Caledonian Stadium.

On 15 July 2008, Esson completed a free transfer to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, signing a two-year contract. He was a regular in the squad which won the First Division championship in 2009–10.^[10] Throughout the 2010–11 season he was the first choice 'keeper, ahead of Jonathan Tuffey. He was voted 'Player of the Season' for the 2011–12 campaign.^[11] Esson signed a new two-year contract with Inverness in May 2012.^[12] In December 2013, Esson signed a further deal with Inverness, which also included a coaching role at the club.^[13]

In early 2018, Esson announced that he would be focusing more on his coaching role rather than playing.

In August 2018, he was offered a testimonial game in honor of his ten-year service to the Highland club. The testimonial was initially planned to be played between Inverness CT and an Inverness CT Legends side in April 2020, however, it was postponed to a later date due to the COVID-19 Pandemic which had shut down all football within Scotland, and eventually in December 2020, the plan for the testimonial was scrapped entirely, with a charity auction taking place instead.

Managerial career

In July 2024, Esson was quietly, and controversially, released by Inverness, which ultimately became the tipping point that saw CEO Scot Gardiner sacked. The following month, it was announced that Esson had become the new manager of Highland League side, Strathspey Thistle, with former Inverness teammate, Aaron Doran, being his first signing as well as joining him in the coaching staff.

Career statistics

As of match played 11 August 2018^[14]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aberdeen	1999–2000[15]	Scottish Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2000–01[16]		36	0	1	0	1	0	2[a]	0	40	0
	2001–02[17]		9	0	1	0	2	0	—		12	0
	2002–03[18]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2003–04[19]		2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2004–05[20]		23	0	3	0	0	0	—		26	0
	2005–06[21]		18	0	0	0	1	0	—		19	0
	Total		89	0	5	0	4	0	2	0	100	0
Shrewsbury Town	2006–07[22]	League Two	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
	2007–08[23]		0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	8	0
Hereford United	2007–08[23]	League Two	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2008–09[24]	Scottish Premier League	21	0	2	0	3	0	—		26	0
	2009–10[25]	Scottish First Division	36	0	2	0	2	0	3[b]	0	43	0
	2010–11[26]	Scottish Premier League	35	0	1	0	0	0	—		36	0
	2011–12[27]		33	0	0	0	0	0	—		33	0
	2012–13[28]		15	0	1	0	2	0	—		18	0
	2013–14[29]	Scottish Premiership	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2014–15[30]		16	0	4	0	0	0	—		20	0
	2015–16[31]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2016–17[32]		6	0	0	0	1	0	—		7	0
	2017–18[33]	Scottish Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2018–19		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		163	0	10	0	8	0	3	0	184	0
Career total			259	0	15	0	14	0	5	0	293	0

1. Appearances in the UEFA Cup
2. Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup

Honours

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

• Scottish First Division: 2009–10
• Scottish Cup : 2014–15^[34]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
2. "Scotland U21 Player Ryan Esson Details".
3. "Former Caley Thistle goalkeeping coach new boss at Highland League club". The Inverness Courier. 15 August 2024.
4. "Rangers profit from Dons' misery". BBC. 27 May 2000. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
5. "Injuries and Suspensions". shrewsburytown.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2006.
6. "Retain list". Shrewsbury Town official website. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
7. "Keeper Leaves". Shrewsbury Town official website. Archived from the original on 16 June 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
8. "Hereford release player quartet". BBC Sport. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
9. "Players leaving the Street". herefordunited.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2008.
10. Bannerman, Charles. "Inverness CT 1–0 Dundee". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
11. "Statistics: Inverness CT". Retrieved 6 April 2014.
12. "Ryan Esson relief at new Inverness Caledonian Thistle deal". BBC Sport. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
13. "Ryan's Good Save!". ICTFC.com. Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
14. Ryan Esson at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
15. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
16. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
17. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
18. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
19. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
20. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
21. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
22. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
23. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
24. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
25. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
26. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
27. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
28. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
29. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
30. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
31. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
32. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
33. "Games played by Ryan Esson in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
34. Lamont, Alasdair (30 May 2015). "Inverness CT 2–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 June 2015.

External links

• Ryan Esson at Soccerbase
• Profile at AFC Heritage Trust