Connor Essam (born 9 July 1992) is an English professional

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 ...

who plays as a defender for

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock ...

Club career

Gillingham

Born in Chatham, Kent, Essam joined Gillingham in January 2002 and progressed through the ranks of the youth team and also captained the side. In March 2010, Essam was awarded his first professional contract along with Dean Rance and

Charlie Stimson Charlie Stimson (born 1 March 1992) is an English footballer, who plays as a forward for Hornchurch. Career Stimson played under his father Mark at Gillingham, who then signed him for his new club Barnet. Stimson made his Barnet debut on 25 S ...

. He was sent out to

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the ...

side

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated popu ...

in October 2010 on an initial one-month loan which was later extended. Later on in the season he joined Dover Athletic on loan in the same division. His contract was extended by a year in May 2011. In August 2011, Essam rejoined Bishop's Stortford of the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sys ...

on a one-month loan deal along with Dean Rance. He scored his first goal for the club on 29 August in a 5–0 win over

Hinckley United Hinckley United Football Club was an English football club, from Hinckley, Leicestershire which last played in the Southern Football League Premier Division during the 2013–14 season. They were formed in 1997 as the result of a merger between ...

. Essam joined Conference South outfit

on loan in December 2011. He scored in the 4–1 away league win over

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C.'',''Staines Albany F ...

. Essam made his professional and Gillingham debut on 13 February 2012 in a 2–1 home defeat to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. On 31 August 2012 Essam signed for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...

on a month-long loan, later extended for a second month. 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 Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...

Crawley Town

On 23 January 2013, Essam signed for

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

Football 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 Lea ...

on a free transfer, with Gillingham retaining an interest by inserting a sell-on clause into the contract. In November 2013, Essam joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

side

on a one-month loan deal. Shortly into the 2013–14 season, he was released.

Dover Athletic

On 1 September 2014, Essam signed for Dover Athletic, on the same day as he was released by

Leyton Orient

On 27 July 2015, it was announced that Essam signed for

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profes ...

on a one-year contract following a successful trial, despite Orient having not agreed to a transfer fee with Dover. A transfer fee was agreed between the sides the following week. In March 2016, he returned to Dover Athletic on loan until the end of the season. In May 2016, he was released from Leyton Orient when it was announced that he would not be retained when his contract expired.

Eastleigh

On 14 June 2016, Essam joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

side

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

on a one-year deal. After only making five appearances in the space of a month, Essam joined

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

on a 93-day loan. Two days later, Essam made his Woking debut in a 1–1 draw against

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. However, just after a month into his loan spell with Woking, Essam was recalled by Eastleigh to cover an injury crisis. 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. 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.

Dover Athletic

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

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartl ...

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

Hemel Hempstead Town

Essam joined

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

team Hemel Hempstead Town in the summer of 2019.

Dartford

On 16 August 2020, Essam was announced to have joined

Career statistics

Honours

Dartford * Kent Senior Cup: 2019–20, 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Essam, Connor 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Chatham, Kent Footballers from Kent English footballers Association football defenders Gillingham F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Woking F.C. players Concord Rangers F.C. players Hemel Hempstead Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players