Connor Essam

Connor Essam (born 9 July 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Dartford.

Connor Essam
Personal information
Full name Connor Essam[1]
Date of birth (1992-07-09) 9 July 1992[2]
Place of birth Sheerness, England[3]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Dartford
Youth career
2002–2010 Gillingham
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Gillingham 18 (0)
2010–2011 → Bishop's Stortford (loan) 10 (0)
2011 → Dover Athletic (loan) 7 (0)
2011 → Bishop's Stortford (loan) 7 (1)
2011–2012 → Dartford (loan) 7 (1)
2012 → Luton Town (loan) 9 (0)
2013–2014 Crawley Town 11 (1)
2013 → Dartford (loan) 4 (1)
2014–2015 Dover Athletic 38 (4)
2015–2016 Leyton Orient 24 (0)
2016 → Dover Athletic (loan) 8 (0)
2016–2017 Eastleigh 11 (0)
2016 → Woking (loan) 6 (0)
2017 → Dover Athletic (loan) 16 (1)
2017–2019 Dover Athletic 64 (2)
2018–2019 → Concord Rangers (loan) 24 (1)
2019–2020 Hemel Hempstead Town 33 (2)
2020– Dartford 14 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 06:18, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Gillingham

Born in Chatham, Kent,[4] Essam joined Gillingham in January 2002 and progressed through the ranks of the youth team and also captained the side.[5] In March 2010, Essam was awarded his first professional contract along with Dean Rance and Charlie Stimson.[6] He was sent out to Conference South side Bishop's Stortford in October 2010 on an initial one-month loan which was later extended.[7] Later on in the season he joined Dover Athletic on loan in the same division.[8] His contract was extended by a year in May 2011.[9] In August 2011, Essam rejoined Bishop's Stortford of the Conference North on a one-month loan deal along with Dean Rance.[10] He scored his first goal for the club on 29 August in a 5–0 win over Hinckley United.[11] Essam joined Conference South outfit Dartford on loan in December 2011.[12] He scored in the 4–1 away league win over Staines Town.[13] Essam made his professional and Gillingham debut on 13 February 2012 in a 2–1 home defeat to Southend United.[14] On 31 August 2012 Essam signed for Luton Town on a month-long loan, later extended for a second month.[15][16] He returned to Gillingham on 2 November after making nine appearances for Luton, and was swiftly made available on a free transfer by Gillingham manager, Martin Allen.

Crawley Town

On 23 January 2013, Essam signed for Crawley Town of Football League One on a free transfer, with Gillingham retaining an interest by inserting a sell-on clause into the contract.[17] In November 2013, Essam joined Conference Premier side Dartford on a one-month loan deal.[18] Shortly into the 2013–14 season, he was released.[19]

Dover Athletic

On 1 September 2014, Essam signed for Dover Athletic, on the same day as he was released by Crawley Town.[20]

Leyton Orient

On 27 July 2015, it was announced that Essam signed for Football League Two side Leyton Orient on a one-year contract following a successful trial, despite Orient having not agreed to a transfer fee with Dover.[21][22] A transfer fee was agreed between the sides the following week.[22]

In March 2016, he returned to Dover Athletic on loan until the end of the season.[23]

In May 2016, he was released from Leyton Orient when it was announced that he would not be retained when his contract expired.[24]

Eastleigh

On 14 June 2016, Essam joined National League side Eastleigh on a one-year deal.[25] After only making five appearances in the space of a month, Essam joined Woking on a 93-day loan.[26] Two days later, Essam made his Woking debut in a 1–1 draw against Guiseley, playing the full 90 minutes.[27] However, just after a month into his loan spell with Woking, Essam was recalled by Eastleigh to cover an injury crisis.[28] After a short spell back at Eastleigh, Essam once again left the club on loan, this time returning to Dover Athletic on a deal for the remainder of the campaign.[29] Following a successful loan spell back at Dover, it was announced that Essam would leave Eastleigh in June 2017 upon the expiry of his current deal.[30]

Dover Athletic

On 20 June 2017, Essam joined Dover Athletic, returning to the Whites on a two-year deal.[31] He made his debut on the opening day in a 1–0 away victory to Hartlepool United.[32]

In November 2018, he joined Concord Rangers on loan until the end of the season.[33]

Hemel Hempstead Town

Essam joined National League South team Hemel Hempstead Town in the summer of 2019.[34]

Dartford

On 16 August 2020, Essam was announced to have joined Dartford.[35]

Career statistics
As of 6 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Gillingham 2010–11[36] League Two 0000000000
2011–12[37] League Two 180000000180
2012–13[38] League Two 000000—00
Total 180000000180
Bishop's Stortford (loan) 2010–11[39] Conference South 100——1[lower-alpha 1]0110
Dover Athletic (loan) 2010–11[40] Conference South 70———70
Bishop's Stortford (loan) 2011–12[41] Conference North 71———71
Dartford (loan) 2011–12[42] Conference South 71——1[lower-alpha 1]081
Luton Town (loan) 2012–13[43] Conference Premier 90———90
Crawley Town 2012–13[44] League One 91———91
2013–14[45] League One 2000001[lower-alpha 2]030
Total 111000010121
Dartford (loan) 2013–14[43] Conference Premier 41——2[lower-alpha 1]061
Dover Athletic 2014–15[43] Conference Premier 38451—6[lower-alpha 1]1496
Leyton Orient 2015–16[43] League Two 24000101[lower-alpha 2]0260
Dover Athletic (loan) 2015–16[43] National League 80——1[lower-alpha 3]090
Eastleigh 2016–17[43] National League 11050—00160
Woking (loan) 2016–17[43] National League 60———60
Dover Athletic (loan) 2016–17[43] National League 161———161
Dover Athletic 2017–18[43] National League 46120—3[lower-alpha 1]0511
2018–19[43] National League 18110—00191
Total 64230—30702
Concord Rangers (loan) 2018–19 [43] National League South 241——00241
Hemel Hempstead Town 2019–20 [43] National League South 33210—2[lower-alpha 1]1363
Dartford 2020–21 [43] National League South 14100—2[lower-alpha 1]0161
Career total 311151411020234118
  1. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
  2. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  3. Appearance in National League play-offs

References
  1. "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2014.
  2. "Connor Essam". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. "Connor Essam". Barry Hugman's Footballers.
  4. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 472. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
  5. "Connor Essam profile". Gillingham F.C. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  6. "Gillingham's Essam, Rance and Stimson get pro contracts". BBC Sport. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  7. "Essam in Bishop's Stortford loan". Gillingham F.C. 29 October 2010. Archived from the original on 31 October 2010.
  8. "Essam extends Dover loan". Football.co.uk. 20 April 2011.
  9. Hoad, Alex (12 May 2011). "New contract for Gillingham defender Matt Lawrence". Kent Online. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  10. "Essam extends Dover loan". Kent Online. 20 April 2011.
  11. "29/08/11 : Bishops Stortford 5 – 0 Hinckley United". Hinckley Info. 30 August 2011.
  12. "Dartford Loan Gills Defender". Non League Chat. 16 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012.
  13. "Staines 1–4 Dartford". News Shopper. 25 January 2012.
  14. "Gillingham 1–2 Southend". BBC Sport. 13 February 2012.
  15. "Luton sign Connor Essam on loan from Gillingham". BBC Sport. 31 August 2012.
  16. "Essam extends loan deal at Luton". Luton Today. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  17. "Crawley Town sign Mustapha Dumbuya and Connor Essam". BBC Sport. 23 January 2013.
  18. "Connor Essam: Dartford sign Crawley Town defender on loan". BBC Sport. 22 November 2013.
  19. Hollis, Steve (1 September 2014). "Essam's departure makes room for Crawley to strengthen". The Argus. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  20. Hollis, Steve (2 September 2014). "Gregory promises loan signings for Crawley". The Argus. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  21. Munford, Colin (27 July 2015). "NEWS: Essam completes Orient switch". www.leytonorient.com. Leyton Orient F.C. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  22. Sessions, George (5 August 2015). "Essam deal confirmed". East London Advertiser. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  23. "Dover re-sign former skipper Essam". BBC Sport. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  24. "Leyton Orient: Mathieu Baudry among eight players to leave League Two club". BBC Sport. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  25. "Eastleigh: Connor Essam and Mikael Mandron join National League club". BBC Sport. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  26. "Connor Essam joins on loan". Woking F.C. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  27. "Guiseley 1-1 Woking". BBC Sport. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  28. "FA Cup: Now Connor Essam joins Eastleigh's centre-back casualty list". Southern Daily Echo. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  29. "Connor Essam: Dover Athletic re-sign central defender on loan from Eastleigh". BBC Sport. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  30. "Player Update". Eastleigh Official Site. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  31. "Essam signs on". Dover Athletic Official Site. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  32. "Hartlepool United 0-1 Dover Athletic - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  33. Fordham, Josh (13 November 2018). "Connor Essam joins Concord Rangers on loan from Dover Athletic". Kent Online. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  34. "Shock over skipper's surprise exit from Tudors". Hemel Today. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  35. "New Signings". www.dartfordfc.com. Dartford F.C. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  36. "Squad stats: 2010/11". Soccerbase. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  37. "Games played by Connor Essam in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  38. "Squad stats: 2012/13". Soccerbase. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  39. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2011). Non-League Club Directory 2012. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 172–173. ISBN 978-1-869833-70-1.
  40. Williams; Williams (eds.). Non-League Club Directory 2012. pp. 280–281.
  41. Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2012). Non-League Club Directory 2013. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0.
  42. Williams; Williams (eds.). Non-League Club Directory 2013. pp. 52–53.
  43. "C. Essam". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  44. "Games played by Connor Essam in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  45. "Games played by Connor Essam in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
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