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Ross Draper

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Ross Draper
Personal information
Full name Ross James Draper[1]
Date of birth (1988-10-20) 20 October 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Wolverhampton, England
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder[2]
Team information
Current team
 Elgin City
Number 23
Youth career
0000–2006 Shrewsbury Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Shrewsbury Town 0 (0)
2007–2008 Stafford Rangers 30 (0)
2008–2009 Hednesford Town 38 (5)
2009–2012 Macclesfield Town 97 (10)
2012–2017 Inverness CT 170 (14)
2017–2021 Ross County 84 (3)
2021–2022 Cove Rangers 1 (0)
2021–2022 → Elgin City (loan) 20 (0)
2022– Elgin City 64 (4)
Managerial career
2023 Elgin City (player/manager)
2023 Elgin City (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:31, 26 September 2024 (UTC)

Ross James Draper (born 20 October 1988) is an English football player and coach who plays for Scottish League Two club Elgin City.

Draper, who plays as a central midfielder, has previously played for Shrewsbury Town, Stafford Rangers, Hednesford Town, Macclesfield Town, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ross County and Cove Rangers.

Career

[edit]

Draper started his career as a trainee at Shrewsbury Town, before moving to Conference National club Stafford Rangers in August 2007.[3] He made his debut for Stafford on 10 September, in the 3–0 away defeat in the Conference National to Stevenage Borough.[4] He made a total of 31 appearances during the 2007–08 season.[5]

Draper revealed he worked in a range of jobs while playing part-time, quoting: "When I was at Hednesford I had a job at Birmingham Midshires. I worked with mortgages then in administration before I moved into the collections department."[6]

Macclesfield Town

[edit]

Draper went on to join Northern Premier League Premier Division club Hednesford Town, before signing for League Two side Macclesfield Town in July 2009.[7] He revealed he had offers from clubs in the Conference National, but wanted to play in the Football League.[8]

He made his debut for Macclesfield on 8 August, in the 0–0 away draw against Northampton Town in League Two.[9][10] He scored his first goal in the Football League in the 2–2 draw against Morecambe on 22 August.[11] Draper signed a two-year contract extension with Macclesfield in April 2010[12] and at the end of the season, he had made twenty-nine appearances, scoring once. The 2010/11 season, under new manager Gary Simpson – who had previously been Alexander's assistant at Lincoln City and Peterborough United, saw Draper become a first team regular. He made forty appearances and scored five times.

In August 2011, at the start of the 2011–12 season, Draper attracted national news attention after scoring from close to the halfway line against Hereford United. Macclesfield went on to win the League Two match 4–0.[13] Afterwards, Draper conceded that he would never score another goal like it in his career.[14] On 9 October 2011, he scored and provided an assist for George Donnelly during a 2–1 win over Aldershot.[15] Later that month, the club opened contract extension negotiations with Draper.[16] On 25 November 2011, he received a straight red card – for the first time in his Macclesfield career – after a serious foul on Michael Hector in a 2–1 loss against Barnet. After the match, the club appealed his sending off.[17] However, the FA rejected this appeal and confirmed a ban for three matches.[18] In the early part of the season, Draper had found some goalscoring form but this was halted when he sustained a fractured metatarsal during a 2–1 win over Port Vale.[19] This injury kept him sidelined between December and March.

Meanwhile, the club had slipped into a losing streak, which ultimately led to relegation and ended fifteen consecutive seasons in the Football League.[20] As a result, Macclesfield undertook a severe cost-cutting exercise and released twenty-one players, with Draper being the only incumbent player to be offered a new contract.[21] During the subsequent negotiations, he reportedly attracted interest from other clubs 'wanting his signature'.[22]

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

[edit]

After rejecting a new contract at Macclesfield Town, Draper signed for Scottish Premier League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle in July 2012, on a one-year contract.[23] His move to Scotland left manager Steve King upset, as it was ruled that there would be no compensation from Inverness.[24]

Draper made his debut in the opening game of the season, a 2–2 draw against St Mirren. Three weeks later, he scored his first goals for his new club, netting twice – in only his second home appearance, during a 4–2 defeat by Celtic.[25] He went on to score in the Highland derby and then notched another against Hibernian. Having established himself in the first team, playing in central midfield, Draper signed a new contract with the club, in conjunction with Billy McKay, who had also agreed to an extension.[26] He later commented that agreeing to the new one-year deal had been an easy decision to make. Another goal later in the campaign meant that Draper finished his first season with Inverness with forty appearances and five goals.

In the 2013–14 season, Draper scored his first goal during the quarter-final of the League Cup. The goal proved to be the winner in the 2–1 win over Dundee United, sending the club into the semi-finals.[27] He received his first red-card as an Inverness player when he was dismissed for a second bookable offence against Ross County on 1 January 2014.[28] Draper helped the club reach the League Cup final after scoring the winning penalty during the shoot-out against Hearts in the semi-final.[29] After the match, he revealed that manager John Hughes had organised mock shoot-outs ahead of the game. He also disclosed that due to his previous occupation as a 'debt collector', his teammates had given him the nickname The Bailiff.[30] In the final of the League Cup, Draper expertly performed his role during the game, by effectively smothering Aberdeen in midfield. However, the match ended scoreless, and after extra-time, Inverness lost on penalties. Despite his team losing, he was named the 'Man-of-the-Match'. Draper grudgingly accepted the award, explaining: "It's nice to get an award like that to show the kids when I'm older but it doesn't mean a great deal at the moment after the way we were beaten. And maybe I didn't deserve it. I'll take it, but it means nothing without a winner's medal to back it up."[31] On 19 March 2014, Draper signed a new two-year contract extension with Caley Thistle.[32] Weeks after signing a new contract, Draper scored his first league goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against St Mirren on 29 March 2014.[33] Draper went on to make forty-one appearances, scoring twice in all competitions.

At the beginning of the 2014–15 season, Draper's impressive early performances led to him receiving the award of SPFL Player of the Month for August.[34] Soon after, he collected four yellow cards in three matches which resulted in a one-match suspension, however he insisted he wasn't a dirty player.[35] Draper was then sent-off in the 67th minute, in a 1–0 loss against St Johnstone on 20 December 2014 and had to serve a two match ban.[36] He made his first team return, coming on as a substitute for Aaron Doran in the 79th minute, in a 1–0 loss against St Mirren on 4 January 2015.[37] Draper then played 120 minutes, as Inverness beat Celtic 3–2 to reach their first ever Scottish Cup final.[38]> After making the final, Draper said he hoped Inverness could do themselves justice, saying that he would have been happy to have thrown away his League Cup final man of the match award, such was his disappointment that day.[39] Draper played as a centre-midfielder in the Scottish Cup final, in a 2–1 win over Falkirk as Inverness won the Scottish Cup for the first time.[40] After the match, Draper expressed his delight at winning the trophy following the years he'd spent playing non-league in England.[41] Draper went on to make eighty-eight appearances in all competitions.

Ross County

[edit]

Draper moved to Ross County in August 2017.[42] Ross County got relegated from the Scottish Premiership that season finishing bottom of the table. The 2018–19 season Draper was part of the team that won the Scottish Championship and Scottish Challenge Cup to get Ross County straight back to the Premiership. Draper was released by County on 27 May 2021 along with nine other players.[43]

Cove Rangers

[edit]

On 23 June 2021, Draper signed a three-year contract with Scottish League One side Cove Rangers.[44] In September 2021, Draper then joined Scottish League Two side Elgin City on loan until January 2022.[45] On 14 January 2022, the loan was extended for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.[46] Draper, who had been affected by a knee injury, was allowed to leave Cove at the end of the summer 2022 transfer window.[47]

Elgin City

[edit]

Draper signed for Elgin on a permanent basis on 1 September 2022.[47] In April 2023 following the sacking of manager Gavin Price, Draper was named a co-interim manager for the side alongside coaches Charlie Charlesworth and Stevie Dunn.[48] A month later Draper was appointed manager of Elgin City on a three-year contract.[49] Draper left the managerial position in early September 2023, but returned to it in a caretaker capacity in November after Barry Smith left.[50]

Career statistics

[edit]
As of match played 21 September 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competitions
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stafford Rangers 2007–08[51] Conference Premier 30 0 0 0 — 0 0 30 0
Macclesfield Town 2009–10[52] EFL League Two 29 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 31 1
2010–11[53] EFL League Two 40 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 43 5
2011–12[54] EFL League Two 28 4 1 0 2 0 1[a] 0 32 4
Total 97 10 5 0 3 0 1 0 106 10
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2012–13[55] Scottish Premier League 34 5 2 0 4 0 — 40 5
2013–14[56] Scottish Premiership 34 1 3 0 4 1 — 41 2
2014–15[57] Scottish Premiership 32 0 6 0 0 0 — 38 0
2015–16[58] Scottish Premiership 32 5 5 0 1 0 1[b] 0 39 5
2016–17[59] Scottish Premiership 37 3 1 0 5 1 — 43 4
2017–18[60] Scottish Championship 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 5 0
Total 170 14 17 0 18 2 1 0 206 16
Ross County 2017–18[60] Scottish Premiership 28 1 1 0 0 0 — 29 1
2018–19[61] Scottish Championship 24 0 3 0 4 0 4[c] 0 35 0
2019–20[62] Scottish Premiership 11 0 0 0 1 0 — 12 0
2020–21[63] Scottish Premiership 21 2 0 0 1 0 — 22 2
Total 84 3 4 0 6 0 4 0 98 3
Cove Rangers 2021–22[64] Scottish League One 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 5 0
Elgin City (loan) 2021–22[64] Scottish League Two 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0
Elgin City 2022–23[65] Scottish League Two 28 1 4 0 0 0 2[c] 0 34 1
2023–24[66] Scottish League Two 30 3 1 0 4 0 1[c] 0 36 3
2024–25[67] Scottish League Two 6 0 0 0 4 0 2[c] 0 12 0
Total 64 4 5 0 8 0 5 0 82 4
Career total 466 31 31 0 39 2 11 0 587 33
  1. ^ Appearance in the Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Appearance in the Europa League
  3. ^ a b c d Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup

Managerial record

[edit]
As of match played 21 November 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
P W D L Win %
Elgin City May 2023 September 2023 11 1 3 7 009.1
Elgin City (caretaker) November 2023 December 2023 2 1 0 1 050.0
Total 13 2 3 8 015.4

Honours

[edit]

Club

[edit]
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Ross County

Individual

[edit]

SPFL Player of the Month: August 2014[34]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Search results: Ross Draper". findmypast.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  2. ^ "First Team". Macclesfield Town F.C. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Rangers unveil five new players". BBC Sport. 8 August 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  4. ^ "Fixtures/results: Stevenage 3–0 Stafford". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Players: Ross Draper". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Draper can deliver cup to Inverness". Scottish Daily Express. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Midfielder Draper joins Silkmen". BBC Sport. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  8. ^ "Draper completes Silkmen move". Non-League Daily. 8 July 2009. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "Fixtures/results: Northampton 0–0 Macclesfield". Soccerbase. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  10. ^ "Northampton 0 – 0 Macclesfield". BBC Sport. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  11. ^ Glendinning, Mike (22 August 2009). "Morecambe 2 Macclesfield 2". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  12. ^ "Ross Draper signs new Macclesfield Town contract". BBC Sport. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  13. ^ "Hereford 0–4 Macclesfield". BBC Sport. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Ross Draper revels in long distance Macclesfield Town strike". BBC Sport. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  15. ^ "Simpson relieved after victory". Sky Sports. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  16. ^ "Ross Draper in contract talks with Macclesfield Town". BBC Sport. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  17. ^ "Silkmen to contest Draper red". Sky Sports. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  18. ^ "FA reject Draper ban appeal". Sky Sports. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  19. ^ "Donnelly's double delight". Macclesfield Express. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  20. ^ "Simpson urges more from Draper". Sky Sports. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  21. ^ "Macclesfield Town release 21 players following relegation". BBC Sport. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  22. ^ "Draper weighs up options". Sky Sports. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  23. ^ "Inverness Caley Thistle sign Macclesfield's Ross Draper". BBC Sport. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  24. ^ "Draper move upsets Macclesfield manager King". Macclesfield Express. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  25. ^ "Inverness CT 2–4 Celtic". BBC Sport. 25 August 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  26. ^ "SPL: Inverness midfielder Ross Draper delighted to sign new deal". Sky Sports. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  27. ^ "Inverness CT 2 Dundee United 1: Last-gasp Ross Draper header in extra time sends Caley into League Cup semi-finals". Daily Record. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  28. ^ "Inverness CT 1 – 2 Ross County". BBC Sport. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  29. ^ "Inverness star Ross Draper reveals mock penalty shoot-out helped nine-man Caley Thistle reach League Cup Final". Daily Record. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  30. ^ "Inverness star Ross Draper reveals he is nicknamed the Bailiff by his team-mates and says he's ready to take possession of League Cup trophy". Daily Record. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  31. ^ "It was a great achievement for us as players just to get here ..." Herald Scotland. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  32. ^ "Ross Draper signs new contract". Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC. 19 March 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014.
  33. ^ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2–2 St Mirren". BBC Sport. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  34. ^ a b "Inverness CT win trio of SPFL monthly awards". BBC Sport. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  35. ^ "Inverness midfield enforcer Ross Draper says he's sick of the sight of yellow cards and hopes referees understand he's no dirty player". Daily Record. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  36. ^ "St Johnstone 1 – 0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle". BBC Sport. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  37. ^ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 – 0 St Mirren". BBC Sport. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  38. ^ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 – 2 (aet) Celtic". BBC Sport. 19 April 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  39. ^ "Ross Draper: I wanted to throw away League Cup final man of the match award". BBC Sport. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  40. ^ "Inverness CT 2–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  41. ^ "I rattled around s****y grounds in England with barbed wire fences and portakabins.. this is a DREAM for me says Inverness star Ross Draper". Daily Record. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  42. ^ "Ross Draper: Ross County sign midfielder from Inverness Caledonian Thistle". BBC Sport. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  43. ^ "squad update". Ross County F.C. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  44. ^ "Ross Draper and Iain Vigurs join Cove". Cove Rangers FC. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  45. ^ "Ross Draper joins Elgin City on loan". Cove Rangers FC. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  46. ^ @ElginCityFC (14 January 2022). "Signing News" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  47. ^ a b "Former Caley Thistle and Ross County star Ross Draper joins Elgin City after leaving Cove Rangers". Press and Journal. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  48. ^ "Elgin City name interim management trio". Northern Scot. 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  49. ^ "BREAKING: Elgin City appoint former Caley Thistle and Ross County player Ross Draper as new manager at Borough Briggs club". Northern Scot. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  50. ^ Christie, Craig (13 November 2023). "WATCH: Four interviewed for Elgin City managerial vacancy and caretaker boss Ross Draper gives his view on the next man in charge". Northern Scot. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  51. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  52. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  53. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  54. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  55. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  56. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  57. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  58. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  59. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  60. ^ a b "Games played by Ross Draper in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  61. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  62. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  63. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  64. ^ a b "Games played by Ross Draper in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  65. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  66. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  67. ^ "Games played by Ross Draper in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  68. ^ Lamont, Alasdair (30 May 2015). "Inverness CT 2–1 Falkirk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  69. ^ "Ross County Secure title and promotion". BBC. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  70. ^ "Ross County lifted the Challenge Cup for a third time". BBC Sport. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
[edit]
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