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Greg Draper

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Greg Draper
Personal information
Full name Gregory Alexander Draper[1]
Date of birth (1989-08-13) 13 August 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Chard, England
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 The New Saints under-21s (player-coach)
Youth career
Ferrymead Bays
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Canterbury United 14 (4)
2007–2009 Wellington Phoenix 2 (0)
2009 Melbourne Knights 20 (8)
2009–2010 Team Wellington 16 (10)
2010–2011 Basingstoke Town 28 (15)
2011–2021 The New Saints 252 (163[2])
2021–2022 Guilsfield 9 (4)
2022– The New Saints under-21s 8 (20)
International career‡
New Zealand U17
2007 New Zealand U20 5 (0)
2008–2012 New Zealand U23 6 (3)
2008 New Zealand 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:07, 26 July 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:52, 24 March 2012 (UTC)

Gregory Alexander Draper (born 13 August 1989) is an English-born New Zealand footballer and coach who is currently a player-coach with The New Saints under-21s.

Early life

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Draper was born and raised in Chard, Somerset, before his parents decided to emigrate to Christchurch in New Zealand when he was 12 years old.[3]

Club career

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Having begun playing youth football at the age of ten, Draper joined Canterbury United shortly after moving to New Zealand.[3] Having played for a number of clubs in Australia and New Zealand, Draper joined English non-league club Basingstoke Town in August 2010[4] and made his competitive debut for the club on 17 August against St. Albans.[5]

In June 2011 he joined The New Saints[6] making his debut for the club on 18 June in a pre-season friendly against Cliftonville.[7] His competitive debut came on 30 June against the same team in a Europa League first qualifying round match, where he was a 74th-minute substitute.[8] He scored his first competitive goal for his new club on 3 September in a Welsh Premier League game against Llanelli where he scored the only goal of the game.[9]

His rich vein of form led to him being awarded the Welsh Premier League player of the month for February 2012.[10] He finished the season as the club's top scorer and was awarded the club's player of the season award.[11]

In the 2017–18 season, Draper won the Welsh Premier League golden boot for finishing as the league's top goalscorer with 22 goals.[12] He repeated the feat the following year, scoring a career high 27 goals.[13][14]

In May 2019 he signed a two-year contract extension with the club.[15] Draper was released by the club at the end of the 2020–21 season.[16]

In June 2021, Draper dropped down a division to join Cymru North side Guilsfield.[17]

International career

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He represented New Zealand national football team in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.[18]

Draper was included in the New Zealand squad for the football tournament at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.[19] He played in New Zealand's group matches against Brazil (0–5) and Belgium (0–1).[20]

His senior international debut for the All Whites came in 2008 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Fiji.[21]

He was called up March 2012 for the 2012 Olympic qualifiers[22] and scored his first international goal in New Zealand's second group match against Tonga. Draper scored the only goal in the final[23] to qualify New Zealand for the 2012 Olympic Games in Great Britain. He finished the qualifying tournament with three goals in four games. He was shortlisted for the final squad for the tournament.

Honours

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The New Saints
Individual

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 5 July 2007. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  2. ^ Greg Draper at Soccerway
  3. ^ a b Ben Stanley (1 May 2017). "A Q&A with Greg Draper – the Kiwi Wizard of Welsh Football". Vice Sports. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Town close in on signing of an international striker". Basingstoke Gazette. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  5. ^ "Striker is a big hit with boss". Basingstoke Gazette. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Kiwi international striker Greg signs for the Saints". The New Saints FC. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Saints fall to stoppage time winner". The New Saints FC. 18 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  8. ^ "New Saints 1–1 Cliftonville". The New Saints FC. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  9. ^ "Draper fires Saints to important win". www.welsh-premier.com. 3 September 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  10. ^ "O'Leary and Draper win latest awards". www.welsh-premier.com. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  11. ^ "Greg and Tom scoop player awards". The New Saints. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  12. ^ Gavin Grosvenor (5 May 2018). "Golden boot Draper scoops top accolades". Powys County Times. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Late drama rounds off 2018/19 Season". Welsh Premier League. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Champions League: More goals than Messi, but that's not enough for Draper". BBC Sport. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  15. ^ /www.tnsfc.co.uk/2019/05/09/greg-draper-signs-new-deal-with-the-champions-of-wales/
  16. ^ "Greg Draper and Simon Spender among eight released by Saints". June 2021.
  17. ^ @GUILS1957 (15 June 2021). "SIGNING 🔴⚫ We are delighted to announce the signing of ex Welsh Premier league and TNS legend Greg Draper! Greg ha…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Australian Players Database
  19. ^ "Olympic Football Squads Named". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 4 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
  20. ^ "Olympic Football Tournaments Beijing 2008 - New Zealand - Squad List". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012.
  21. ^ "Greg Draper FIFA Player Statistics". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  22. ^ "Draper jets off for Kiwi's Olympic bid". www.welsh-premier.com. 15 March 2012. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  23. ^ "Match report: Fiji 0 – 1 New Zealand" (PDF). OFC (PDF). 25 March 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  24. ^ a b "Welsh Cup final: Cefn Druids 0–2 The New Saints". BBC. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  25. ^ "Dream team 2011/12". welsh-premier.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  26. ^ "Only two players retain places in dream team". welsh-premier.com. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.[permanent dead link]
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