Etiënne Esajas (born 4 November 1984) is a Dutch former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. Esajas was a winger who was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and made his debut in professional football, being part of the

Vitesse Arnhem SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

squad in the 2005–06 season.

Club career

Sheffield Wednesday

Esajas signed a three-year deal at Hillsborough and wore squad number 11. He was signed as a replacement for

Chris Brunt Christopher Colin Brunt (born 14 December 1984) is a Northern Irish former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder and is the current West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion loan player manager. He is wi ...

who left at the beginning of August 2007 in a £3.5 million move to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. He made his Owls debut as a 55th-minute substitute for

Burton O'Brien Burton O'Brien (born 10 June 1981) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer, who played as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder. After playing for Scotland national under-21 football team, Scotland at u ...

in the 1–0 defeat to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. He performed well on his debut and almost scored an equaliser in the 88th minute but had his free kick saved by

Adriano Basso Adriano Basso (born 18 April 1975) is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and goalkeeper coach. Basso began his playing career in his native Brazil befor ...

. His performance earned him a starting place for the next game, the 1–0 defeat to Preston North End. On 11 September 2007, Esajas scored twice in a 5–1 away victory for SWFC reserves at

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. A bright start to his first season in England saw him voted player of the month by fans of Sheffield Wednesday, however much of Esajas' first season at Hillsborough was hit by injury and he only made 6 starts and 13 substitute appearances in all competitions.Esajas scoops Player of the Month
Fri 5 September 2008 Esajas did not start Wednesday's first league game of the 2008–09 season, but instead had to settle for a start against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

in the League Cup on 12 August 2008. It turned out to be a game of mixed emotions for Esajas; he scored his first two goals for Sheffield Wednesday in spectacular fashion – he opened the scoring with a swerving drive from 20 yards after beating two defenders in the 14th minute, and thought he had put his side through to the next round with a 25-yard curling free kick in the 117th minute. However the game went to penalties at 2–2 after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, and Esajas saw his kick hit the outside of the post in front of the Hillsborough Kop end. Esajas was the only player to miss from the spot, and ''the Owls'' lost 5–3. He kept his starting position for the next two games against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. He had a high quality first 45 minutes at Wolves, including a 20-yard opener for the Owls, before being taken off at half time with a tight hamstring. The performance led to him being included in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

team of the wee

and eventually he gained his second Sheffield Wednesday Player of the Month award. Esajas finished the 2008/2009 season with the most goal assists for Sheffield Wednesday F.C., The Owls, despite missing a large portion of the season with injury. Esajas made an impact as a substitute against local rivals

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, scoring a free kick from 30 yards, which won the club's goal of the season award and also having a part in the first goal for Sheffield Wednesday F.C., The Owls. At the end of the 2009/2010 season his contract expired with The Owls and it was not renewed by new manager Alan Irvine. He had trials at both

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

and Scottish champions

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. After having a disappointing trial with RC Genk too, he finally signed a contract with

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport () is a Dutch professional football club based in Helmond, North Brabant. Founded in 1967 following the acquisition of the professional license of , the club achieved promotion to the top-tier Eredivisie in 1982. After two seasons ...

in October 2010 until the end of the season.

Swindon Town

On 11 July 2011 Esajas joined up with the

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

squad in Norcia, Italy where he took part in a trial, Esajas was signed to a 2-year contract with Swindon on 25 July 2011. His

contract was cancelled by mutual consent on 24 May 2012.

Scunthorpe United

After missing a whole season out of the professional game, he signed for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

on 16 July 2013 after a successful trial period on a one-year contract, reuniting with his former Sheffield Wednesday manager

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

. He left Scunthorpe after the expiry of that contract. He was snapped up by

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

side

Dayton Dutch Lions The Dayton Dutch Lions are an American soccer team based in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. From 2011 to 2014, the team played in the USL Professiona ...

for the 2015 season. It has been rumoured that Esajas was to trial with Blackpool during pre-season 2017–18 Esajas To Trial With Blackpool?
The Tangerine Times 27 May 2017

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esajas, Etienne 1984 births Living people Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Men's association football wingers Dutch men's footballers SBV Vitesse players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Helmond Sport players Swindon Town F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Dayton Dutch Lions players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players English Football League players USL Championship players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United States