Craig Ian Samson (born 1 April 1984) is a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach who is currently with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Samson is a former Scotland under-21 internationalist, having made six appearances between 2004 and 2005. He began his playing career with

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, but made only one league appearance and spent time on loan to Queen of the South and

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

before leaving the club in 2005. He then spent a season each with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

, Ross County,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

and

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

. In 2010, Samson joined St Mirren, where he played for three years and won the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. He rejoined his first club, Kilmarnock, in May 2013. Samson left Kilmarnock in August 2015 and subsequently signed for

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. After a second spell with St Mirren, Samson retired as a player to become goalkeeping coach at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He has since held similar positions with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, Hibernian and Aberdeen.

Playing career

Early career

Samson began his career with

and made his senior debut on 3 January 2004, in a

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

match away to

. 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 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. On 1 January 2005, he went out on loan again, this time to

. In July 2005, after turning down a new contract at Kilmarnock, Samson signed for

. On 1 June 2006, Samson joined Ross County On 12 November 2006, Ross County beat

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

5–4 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw, with Samson saving penalties from

Neil McGregor Neil McGregor (born 17 July 1985, in Irvine), is a Scottish football defender who has previously played in the Scottish Premier League for Dundee. Career McGregor began his career with Kilmarnock. He played in the Scottish Youth Cup wi ...

and Chris Higgins during the shoot-out. After spending a season with

, Samson moved to England, signing for

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

in July 2008. Samson left the English club by "mutual consent" in April 2009. On 7 July 2009, Samson signed for newly promoted

Scottish Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

club

St Mirren

On 13 July 2010, Samson signed for

side St Mirren. After the departure of goalkeeper

Paul Gallacher Paul James Gallacher (born 16 August 1979) is a Scottish former professional footballer who currently is the goalkeeping coach for Heart of Midlothian. Gallacher made eight appearances for the Scottish national team between 2002 and 2004. He ...

, 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 Omatsone Folarin "Sone" Aluko (born 19 February 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Ipswich Town and the Nigeria national team. Aluko began his career at Birmingham City, graduating from the club's academy ...

. Outside the Old Firm, Samson and

'keeper

Darren Randolph Darren Edward Andrew Randolph (born 12 May 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and the Republic of Ireland national team. He has previously played for the Republic of Ir ...

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 In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

Kilmarnock

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

Motherwell

In September 2015, Samson signed a contract with

. He made his debut on 23 April 2016, in a 1–0 win against Hearts. On 26 May 2016, he signed a new one-year contract with the club. He was released by the club in May 2017, at the end of his contract.

St Mirren return

After four years away from St Mirren, Samson rejoined the club on 7 June 2017, signing a two-year deal. Samson played every league match as Saints won the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

title, and also broke a club record by keeping eight consecutive clean sheets in home league matches. 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. 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

International career

Having previously played for the Scotland under-21 side, Samson was called into the full

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

squad in November 2011 and was also named in squads during 2012 and 2015.

Coaching career

Samson took up a coaching position at

in November 2018. He left the club in November 2019 and was then appointed as the first team goalkeeping coach of

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

the following month. He moved to Hibernian during the 2020 close season. Samson also registered as a player with Hibs, and was listed as a substitute for a

match with

Brora Rangers Brora Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club from the village of Brora, Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. They play in the Highland Football League, of which they have been champions four times, having won their ...

on 7 October. Hibs announced in February 2022 that Samson had left the club. After leaving Hibernian, Samson signed a short-term deal with

in a player-coaching role due to an injury crisis at the club.

Career statistics

Honours

; Ross County *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2006–07 ; St Mirren *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

: 2017–18

References

External links

*
Scotland stats
at Fitbastats {{DEFAULTSORT:Samson, Craig 1984 births Living people Footballers from Irvine, North Ayrshire Scottish footballers Kilmarnock F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scotland under-21 international footballers Association football goalkeepers St Mirren F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Motherwell F.C. players People from Troon Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Rochdale A.F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from South Ayrshire Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff Hibernian F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. non-playing staff Aberdeen F.C. players