Craig Samson

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Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Craig Ian Samson (born 1 April 1984[1]) is a Scottish football coach and a former player who is currently goalkeeping coach with Hibernian. Samson is a former Scotland under-21 internationalist, having made six appearances between 2004 and 2005.

He began his playing career with Kilmarnock, but made only one league appearance and spent time on loan to Queen of the South and St Johnstone before leaving the club in 2005. He then spent a season each with Dundee United, Ross County, Dundee, Hereford United and Ayr United. In 2010, Samson joined St Mirren, where he played for three years and won the Scottish League Cup in 2013. He rejoined his first club, Kilmarnock, in May 2013. Samson left Kilmarnock in August 2015 and subsequently signed for Motherwell.

After a second spell with St Mirren, Samson retired as a player to become goalkeeping coach at Sunderland. He has since held similar positions with Rochdale, Hibernian and Aberdeen.

Playing career

Early career

Samson began his career with Kilmarnock and made his senior debut on 3 January 2004, in a Scottish Premier League match away to Aberdeen.[2] That turned out to be his only appearance for the club.

In February 2004, 19 year old Samson moved to Queen of the South on loan[3] and ahead of the 2004–05 season, joined the club on loan again, however he was recalled early by Kilmarnock having only played one match.[4] On 1 January 2005, he went out on loan again, this time to St Johnstone.[5]

In July 2005, after turning down a new contract at Kilmarnock, Samson signed for Dundee United.[6]

On 1 June 2006, Samson joined Ross County[7] On 12 November 2006, Ross County beat Clyde 5–4 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw, with Samson saving penalties from Neil McGregor and Chris Higgins during the shoot-out.[8]

After spending a season with Dundee, Samson moved to England, signing for Hereford in July 2008.[9] Samson left the English club by "mutual consent" in April 2009.[10]

On 7 July 2009, Samson signed for newly promoted Scottish Division One club Ayr United.[11]

St Mirren

On 13 July 2010, Samson signed for Scottish Premier League side St Mirren.[12] After the departure of goalkeeper Paul Gallacher, Samson was made first choice goalkeeper for St Mirren for the 2011–12 season. Samson soon became a fans favourite for his willingness to dribble the ball out of his goal and for his incredible flying saves, after seven early season shut-outs, Samson's form was rewarded with a full international call up on 6 November 2011.

At the end of season 2011–12, Samson had two of his saves nominated for 'SPL Save of the Season', one being a stunning reflex to stop Sone Aluko. Outside the Old Firm, Samson and Motherwell 'keeper Darren Randolph kept the most clean sheets in the division, despite St Mirren finishing 8th in the table. On 17 March 2013, Samson played as St Mirren beat Hearts 3–2 to win the League Cup.[13]

Kilmarnock

After rejecting a new contract offer by St Mirren, 29-year-old Samson signed a two-year deal with Kilmarnock.[14] On 6 August 2015, Samson left Kilmarnock, agreeing a release from his contract having lost his first team place to new signing Jamie MacDonald.[15]

Motherwell

In September 2015, Samson signed a contract with Motherwell.[16] He made his debut on 23 April 2016, in a 1–0 win against Hearts.[17] On 26 May 2016, he signed a new one-year contract with the club.[18] He was released by the club in May 2017, at the end of his contract.[19]

St Mirren return

After four years away from St Mirren, Samson rejoined the club on 7 June 2017, signing a two-year deal.[20] Samson played every league match as Saints won the Scottish Championship title, and also broke a club record by keeping eight consecutive clean sheets in home league matches.[21] Samson then signed an extension to his contract in May 2018, which was due to keep him at the club until the summer of 2020.[21] Despite playing regularly for St Mirren during the 2018–19 season, Samson opted to retire from playing in November 2018 when he was offered a coaching position at Sunderland.[22]

International career

Having previously played for the Scotland under-21 side, Samson was called into the full Scotland squad in November 2011[23] and was also named in squads during 2012[24] and 2015.[25]

Coaching career

Samson took up a coaching position at Sunderland in November 2018.[22] He left the club in November 2019[26] and was then appointed as the first team goalkeeping coach of League One club Rochdale the following month.[27] He moved to Hibernian during the 2020 close season.[28] Samson also registered as a player with Hibs, and was listed as a substitute for a League Cup match with Brora Rangers on 7 October.[29] Hibs announced in February 2022 that Samson had left the club.[30] After leaving Hibernian, Samson signed a short-term deal with Aberdeen in a player-coaching role due to an injury crisis at the club.[31]

Career statistics

Template:Updated[32]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kilmarnock 2003–04[33] Scottish Premier League 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2004–05[34] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Queen of the South (loan) 2003–04[33] Scottish First Division 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
Queen of the South (loan) 2004–05[34] Scottish First Division 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
St Johnstone (loan) 2004–05[34] Scottish First Division 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
Dundee United 2005–06[35] Scottish Premier League 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Ross County 2006–07[36] Scottish First Division 29 0 1 0 2 0 3[lower-alpha 1] 0 35 0
Dundee 2007–08[37] Scottish First Division 31[38] 0 2 0 2 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 36 0
Hereford United 2008–09[39] League One 11 0 2 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 14 0
Ayr United 2009–10[40] Scottish First Division 32 0 3 0 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 37 0
St Mirren 2010–11[41] Scottish Premier League 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
2011–12[42] 38 0 6 0 3 0 0 0 47 0
2012–13[43] 38 0 3 0 5 0 0 0 46 0
Total 87 0 9 0 8 0 0 0 104 0
Kilmarnock 2013–14[44] Scottish Premiership 38 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 40 0
2014–15[45] 35 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 38 0
2015–16[46] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 73 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 78 0
Motherwell 2015–16[46] Scottish Premiership 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2016–17[47] 34 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 40 0
Total 36 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 42 0
St Mirren 2017–18[48] Scottish Championship 36 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 41 0
2018–19[49] Scottish Premiership 13 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 17 0
Total 49 0 2 0 7 0 0 0 58 0
Career total 381 0 22 0 29 0 6 0 438 0

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  1. ↑ a b c Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
  2. ↑ Appearance in the Football League Trophy

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Honours

Ross County
St Mirren

References

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  1. ↑ Kilmarnock keeper Craig Samson: I got a new perspective on life after visiting tragic fan in hospice Retrieved 10 Mat 2023.
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  8. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Template:Soccerway
  33. ↑ a b Template:Soccerbase season
  34. ↑ a b c Template:Soccerbase season
  35. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  36. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  37. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  38. ↑ Includes one appearance not recorded on Soccerbase or Soccerway. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  40. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  41. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  42. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  43. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  44. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  45. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  46. ↑ a b Template:Soccerbase season
  47. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  48. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season
  49. ↑ Template:Soccerbase season

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External links

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