Ross Draper

Ross James Draper (born 20 October 1988) is an English football player and coach who plays for 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.

Draper started his career as a trainee at Shrewsbury Town, before moving to Conference National club Stafford Rangers in August 2007.

He made his debut for Stafford on 10 September, in the 3–0 away defeat in the Conference National to Stevenage Borough.

He made a total of 31 appearances during the 2007–08 season.

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."

Draper went on to join Northern Premier League Premier Division club Hednesford Town, before signing for League Two side Macclesfield Town in July 2009.

He revealed he had offers from clubs in the Conference National, but wanted to play in the Football League.

He made his debut for Macclesfield on 8 August, in the 0–0 away draw against Northampton Town in League Two.

He scored his first goal in the Football League in the 2–2 draw against Morecambe on 22 August.

Draper signed a two-year contract extension with Macclesfield in April 2010 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.

Afterwards, Draper conceded that he would never score another goal like it in his career.

On 9 October 2011, he scored and provided an assist for George Donnelly during a 2–1 win over Aldershot.

Later that month, the club opened contract extension negotiations with Draper.

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.

However, the FA rejected this appeal and confirmed a ban for three matches.

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.

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.

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.

During the subsequent negotiations, he reportedly attracted interest from other clubs 'wanting his signature'.

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.

His move to Scotland left manager Steve King upset, as it was ruled that there would be no compensation from Inverness.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Draper helped the club reach the League Cup final after scoring the winning penalty during the shoot-out against Hearts in the semi-final.

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.