Ross James Draper (born 20 October 1988) is an English football player and coach who plays for club Brora Rangers.
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.
Club career Early career in England Born in Wolverhampton, England, Draper started his football career at his boyhood club, Wolverhampton Wanderers and spent seven years there before being let go by the club, which he said it was tough. Draper then joined Shrewsbury Town as a trainee before being released by the club as well. Following this, he wrote to local clubs for a trial before being invited to Conference National club Stafford Rangers. His trial at Stafford Rangers was successful, leading Draper to sign for the club on 8 August 2007. However, he was playing for the club part time.
He made his debut for the club on 10 September 2007, in the 3–0 away defeat in the Conference National to Stevenage Borough. Despite facing suspension along the way, he made a total of 31 appearances during the 2007–08 season.
After leaving Stafford Rangers, Draper went on to join Northern Premier League Premier Division club Hednesford Town. He made 38 appearances and scoring five times for the side. 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."
Macclesfield Town On 9 July 2009, Draper transitioned to playing full time football when he signed for League Two side Macclesfield Town. Draper revealed he had offers from clubs in the Conference National, but wanted to play in the Football League instead. Upon doing so, Draper quit his full-time job to play professionally.
He made his debut for the club on 8 August 2009, in the 0–0 away draw against Northampton Town. Two weeks later on 22 August 2009, Draper scored his first goal for Macclesfield Town (and the Football League), in a 2–2 draw against Morecambe. Since joining the club, he became involved in the first team, playing in the midfield position. However, Draper suffered a hernia injury that kept him out for a month. On 13 February 2010, he made his return to the starting line–up, in a 0–0 draw against Accrington Stanley. However, in a match against Cheltenham Town on 27 March 2010, Draper suffered a hernia injury and was substituted in the 33rd minute, as Macclesfield Town won 1–0, in what turns out to be his last appearance of the season. While recovering from a hernia injury, he signed a two-year contract extension with the club. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Draper had made thirty–one appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Draper made his first appearance of the 2010–11 season, in a 1–1 draw against Chesterfield on 28 August 2010. A month later on 25 September 2010, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against Torquay United. After missing one match due to a suspension, Draper scored on his return, in a 1–0 win against Bradford City on 20 November 2010. After missing another one match due to an injury, he scored on his return, in a 4–2 loss against Bury on 1 February 2011. A month later on 8 March 2011, Draper scored his fourth goal of the season from 20 yards, in a 1–0 win against Crewe Alexandra. On 30 April 2011, he scored his fifth goal of the season, in a 4–2 win against Gillingham. The new management under Gary Simpson – who had previously been Alexander's assistant at Lincoln City and Peterborough United, saw Draper become a first team regular, making forty–three appearances and scoring five times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2011–12 season, Draper attracted national news attention when he scored from close to the halfway line against Hereford United and Macclesfield Town went on to win 4–0. Afterwards, Draper conceded that he would never score another goal like it in his career. On 30 September 2011, Draper scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against Swindon Town. This was followed up by setting up an equalising goal for George Donnelly before he scored a winning goal, in a 2–1 win over Aldershot Town. After the match, manager Simpson expected Draper to score more goals for the club following the absence of Donnelly. Two weeks later on 22 October 2011, he scored his fourth goal of the season from a 25-yard strike, in a 1–0 win against Crewe Alexandra. Shortly after, Macclesfield Town opened contract extension negotiations with Draper. After serving a one match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–0 loss against Burton Albion on 5 November 2011. However, on 25 November 2011, Draper received a straight red card – for the first time in his Macclesfield Town's 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 his ban for three matches. After serving a three match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–0 loss against Shrewsbury Town on 17 December 2011. 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 and was out for four months. On 31 March 2012, Draper made his return from injury, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 loss against Gillingham. Following his return, he was unable to help Macclesfield Town avoid relegation, ending their fifteen consecutive seasons in the Football League following a 2–0 loss against Burton Albion on 28 April 2012. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Draper made thirty–two appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
As a result, Macclesfield Town 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'.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle After rejecting a new contract at Macclesfield Town, Draper signed for Scottish Premier League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 6 July 2012, signing 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.
2012–13 season Draper made his debut for Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the opening game of the season, starting the whole game, a 2–2 draw against St Mirren. Three weeks later, on 25 August 2012, he scored his first goals for his new club, netting twice – in only his second home appearance, during a 4–2 defeat by Celtic. On 5 October 2012, Draper played his first Highland derby match against Ross County, starting the whole game and scored in a 3–1 win. He set up two goals for Billy Mckay in two matches on 27 October 2012 and 3 November 2012 against St Johnstone and Kilmarnock respectively. However, Draper missed three matches, due to suffering from ankle injury.
Draper made his return from injury, coming on as a 60th-minute substitute, in a 3–2 win against Aberdeen on 27 November 2012. In a follow–up league match, he scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 3–0 win against Hibernian. Following his return from injury, Draper established himself in the first team, playing in central midfield position. On 8 March 2013, he, along with McKay, signed a contract extension with Inverness Caledonian Thistle. On 30 March 2013, Draper scored his fifth goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against Hibernian. Despite missing two matches later in the second half of the season, he made forty appearances and scoring five times in all competitions.
2013–14 season At the start of the 2013–14 season, Draper continued to establish himself in the first team, playing in the central midfield position. On 29 October 2013, he scored his first goal of the season against Dundee United in the quarter-final of the Scottish League Cup, which proved to be the winner to send Inverness Caledonian Thistle through to the semi-finals. However, in a derby match against Ross County on 1 January 2014, Draper received a red card for a second bookable offence, in a 2–1 loss. After serving a two match suspension, he returned to the first team, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 loss against Kilmarnock on 25 January 2014.
In a follow–up match against Hearts in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup, Draper started the whole game and played throughout extra time, where he scored the winning penalty during the shoot-out to help the club reach the Scottish League Cup final. After the match, Draper revealed that manager John Hughes had organised mock shoot-outs ahead of the game. Following a 5–0 loss against Celtic on 3 March 2014, Draper spoke about the build-up, saying: We will just forget about this one. It's done, it's gone," said Ross Draper, the Inverness midfielder. "The League Cup final isn't in the back of our minds - not at all. It's not been spoken about in the changing room. So there's no problems with that. We are confident it will be a different outcome when we come back for the final." However, his return was short–lived when he was suspended for two matches.
After serving a two match suspension, Draper returned to the starting line–up in the final of the Scottish League Cup, where he expertly performed his role during the game, by effectively smothering Aberdeen in midfield, as the match ended scoreless, and after extra-time, Inverness Caledonian Thistle lost 4–2 on penalties. Despite his team losing, Draper was awarded the 'Man-of-the-Match' for his performance, which he 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." On 19 March 2014, Draper signed a new two-year contract extension with Caley Thistle. Ten days later after signing a new contract, he scored his first league goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against St Mirren on 29 March 2014. After missing one match due to a stomach bug, Draper made his return to the starting line–up, in a 0–0 draw against Aberdeen on 18 April 2014. At the end of the 2013–14 season, he made forty-one appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
2014–15 season