ID:PC_INVFOOT_STORY_ESSONDESCRIPTION:30 May 2015 is the most famous day in the history of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club – the day the William Hill Scottish Cup was won at Hampden Park with a 2-1 victory over Falkirk. It was the pinnacle of the outstanding career of ICT goalkeeping legend Ryan Esson, who was rewarded by supporters for his service with a testimonial. From Aberdeen, Ryan played 100 times for the Dons and won 7 Under 21 Scotland caps after making his debut in 2000. He had spells with Rotherham United and Shrewsbury Town before ICT Manager Craig Brewster signed him from Hereford United in August 2008. Including friendlies, Ryan made 228 starts in goal for the club, with 64 shut outs. He won 2 Player of the Year awards. He is now our goalkeeping coach and also manages the ICT Under 18 team, which reached the semi-final of the Scottish Youth Cup in 2021-22. Here Ryan tells of his highlights at the club.
“It is difficult not to begin my story without focusing on that unforgettable day – Saturday 30 May 2015. We were favourites to win the Scottish Cup and that brings its own pressures. We had beaten the cup favourites Celtic in the Semi-Final after a truly magnificent 3-2 victory after extra time and our opponents, Falkirk, played in a lower league, the Championship. We knew we were in for a tough game and prepared thoroughly.
We had a fantastic support in a crowd of 37,149 and we had the upper hand in a first half. Marley Watkins gave us a deserved 1-0 interval lead. Unfortunately, things changed in the second half, and we came under pressure when we went down to 10 men, and they equalised through Peter Grant with 10 minutes remaining.
But then our Manager John Hughes made an inspired substitution, bringing on midfielder James Vincent at right back. With only 4 minutes remaining, James popped up at the other end of the pitch to follow up a Marley shot which the Falkirk keeper, Jamie MacDonald, parried into his path to slide home the winning goal.
What a fantastic feeling to win the Scottish Cup. The celebrations that followed were a blur, but I do recall parading the cup in Auchterarder’s High Street on the way home and the open-decked bus ride through the streets of Inverness to the Northern Meeting Park on the Sunday. You just can’t beat that winning feeling.
We had that winning feeling in season 2009/10 under the guidance of Terry Butcher with another memorable success in gaining promotion to the Premier League by winning the Scottish Football League Division 1. At one point in the season, we trailed Dundee (who had beaten us in that season’s Scottish Challenge Cup Final 3-2) by 15 points but we bounced back in unbelievable style. We strung together an unbeaten run of 22 games, including 14 clean sheets, to win the league title with two games to spare. Our momentum blew Dundee away.
There have been so many other highlights during my time with the club. I have learned a lot from the managers I have played under and am putting this to good use as I adapt to the dual role of goalkeeper coach and Under 18 Manager. It is a job I am really enjoying.
It has been a pleasure to work with our Under 18 squad. Many have the ability to join the first team squad, make a first team place their own and go places in the game.
I keep emphasising that the hard work is done on the training ground. The players will continue to develop as they adapt to life as a full-time footballer and meet the mental and physical challenges of this career.
I was delighted and humbled to benefit from a testimonial year and I am indebted to the organising committee for all their efforts on my behalf. The testimonial dinner was a great night for me, my wife, parents, and family, who thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. I was delighted that the committee chose John Hartson as the guest speaker. He has had such a great career with Luton, Arsenal, West Ham United, Wimbledon, Celtic and Coventry, being involved in transfers totalling £35 million. He has also survived life-threatening cancer and his story of recovery is an inspiration to all of us.
I am very grateful to our loyal fans and my sponsors over the years for their support and friendship during my time here.
The club has come a long way and the future is bright if we promote our own young talent and let them flourish.”
DATE OF IMAGE:30 May 2015PERIOD:2010sCOLLECTION:Inverness Football Memories - storiesAsset ID:48937KEYWORDS:
Your download will start shortly, please do not navigate away from this page until the download prompt has appeared. Doing so may cause your download to be interrupted.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok