| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ryan Esson | ||
| Date of birth | 19 March 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Aberdeen, Scotland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Inverness CT | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1997–2006 | Aberdeen | 89 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Rotherham United (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Shrewsbury Town | 6 | (0) |
| 2008 | Hereford United | 1 | (0) |
| 2008– | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 93 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 July 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Ryan Esson (born 19 March 1980) is a Scottish professional football goalkeeper currently playing for Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
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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, 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 2002-03 and only twice in 2003-04, but played the majority of Aberdeen's games in 2004-05, and 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 in the season, Esson decided to leave the club in order to get more first team games. His final appearance was against Celtic on 7 May 2006 where the match ended 2-2.
He joined Shrewsbury Town on June 30, 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 September 18, 2006, Esson sustained a broken cheekbone, and it was later revealed that he would be sidelined for up to ten weeks.[1]
Scott Shearer was signed on loan from Bristol Rovers to cover Esson's injury spell. Upon his recovery, Esson could not dislodge Shearer from the 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 many 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.[2] However, with no firm offers from other clubs on the table, Esson opted to see out his contract at Shrewsbury Town, and try and win back the first choice goalkeeper's berth.
In 2007-08, Esson was used as Shrewsbury's goalkeeper for the first and second 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 January 30, 2008, Esson was released by Shrewsbury, after having the final six months of his contract paid off.[3]
On 17 March 2008 he 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.[4][5]
On July 15, 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 2010.[6]
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