Scott Tanser

Scott Tanser (born 23 October 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone.

Scott Tanser

Scott Tanser in Rochdale kit.
Personal information
Full name	Scott Tanser[1]
Date of birth	23 October 1994[2]
Place of birth	Blackpool, England[2]
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 ^1⁄2 in)[2]
Position(s)	Left-back
Club information
Current team	St Johnstone
Number	3
Youth career
	Blackpool
	Burnley
	Rochdale
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2017	Rochdale	43	(1)
2017	Port Vale	11	(0)
2017–	St Johnstone	112	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:34, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

He made his senior debut for Rochdale in April 2013, and made a total of 57 league and cup appearances for the club before he was allowed to leave for Port Vale in January 2017. He joined Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone five months later.

Club career

Rochdale

Tanser spent time in the youth teams at Blackpool and Burnley, before coming through the Rochdale Academy.[3] He made his professional debut for the "Dale" after coming on as a 70th-minute substitute for D'Arcy O'Connor in a 1–0 victory over Plymouth Argyle at Spotland Stadium on 27 April 2013.[4] This was his only appearance of the 2012–13 season and he did not feature in the 2013–14 campaign as Rochdale secured promotion out of League Two. He broke into the first team at the start of the 2014–15 season, and signed a two-year contract extension in October 2014.[5] Speaking the following month, manager Keith Hill said that Tanser was good enough to win England youth caps but that "politics in football, the bureaucracy and the propaganda" prevented lower league players from receiving a call-up.[6] Tanser scored his first goal in senior football on 17 January 2015, opening the scoring with a "well-controlled, left-foot volley" as Rochdale recorded a 4–1 home victory over Crawley Town; he was named on the Football League team of the week.[7][8] He ended the season with 30 League One appearances to his name.

He scored his second career goal on his first appearance of the 2015–16 season, as Rochdale beat Chesterfield 2–1 in the Football League Trophy on 6 October.[9] He maintained a first team place and played ten further games before falling out of the first team picture completely; his appearance against Bury on 6 December proved to be his last of the season. He played just five league games in the first half of the 2016–17 campaign and his contract was cancelled by mutual consent in January 2017 to allow him to find first team football elsewhere.[10]

Port Vale

Tanser signed a contract with League One rivals Port Vale on 27 January 2017 to run until the end of the 2016–17 season.[11] Tanser said that the move "was a bit of a shock actually... one minute I am at Rochdale then the next minute I am signing for Port Vale. It is a bit mad really but that is the way that football is."[12] He was released by manager Michael Brown following the club's relegation in May 2017.[13]

St Johnstone

Tanser signed a one-year contract with Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone in June 2017.[14] Speaking the following March he stated that "This is the best club I have been at and I have loved it this season... everyone is together here, there are no outcasts in our squad".[15] He made 31 appearances for Tommy Wright's "Saints" during the 2017–18 season as St Johnstone posted an eighth-placed finish. In the summer he told The Courier that he was bulking up to gain greater strength and physicality, saying he was "on a special diet, total protein and six meals a day. So I'm going to be throwing chicken, beef and all sorts of stuff down my neck soon. It's just as well I'm not a vegetarian!"[16]

On 29 December 2018, Tanser scored his first goal for St Johnstone in their 2–0 win over Tayside rivals, Dundee.[17] He signed a new two-year contract extension at the club the following month.[18] He ended the 2018–19 season with 45 appearances to his name, as well as three goals as he scored a penalty in the penultimate game against Motherwell.[19] Speaking in September 2019, Wright said of Tanser that "he is quickly becoming a top class full-back and for me he can go on to become one of the top three or four in the country".[20] Tanser featured in 27 matches of the 2019–20 season, which was curtailed early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 6 February 2021

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rochdale	2012–13[22]	League Two	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2013–14[23]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2014–15[24]	League One	30	1	4	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	36	1
	2015–16[25]	League One	7	0	2	0	0	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	1	11	1
	2016–17[26]	League One	5	0	1	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 2]	0	9	0
	Total		43	1	7	0	1	0	6	1	57	2
Port Vale	2016–17[26]	League One	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
St Johnstone	2017–18[27]	Scottish Premiership	29	0	1	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 3]	0	31	0
	2018–19[28]	Scottish Premiership	37	3	2	0	6	0	0	0	45	3
	2019–20[29]	Scottish Premiership	21	0	2	0	4	2	0	0	27	2
	2020–21[30]	Scottish Premiership	25	2	0	0	4	0	0	0	29	2
	Total		112	5	5	0	14	2	1	0	132	7
Career total			166	6	12	0	15	2	7	1	200	9

1. Appearances in the Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in the EFL Trophy
3. Appearance in the Europa League

References

1. "The Football League Limited: Club list of registered players as at 16th May 2015" (PDF). The Football League. 16 May 2015. p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2016/2017". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. Travers, Chris (27 January 2017). "Port Vale sign Rochdale defender Scott Tanser". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
4. "Rochdale 1–0 Plymouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
5. "Scott Tanser Pens Contract Extension". Rochdale AFC. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
6. Partington, Richard (13 November 2014). "Dale starlets are being overlooked when it comes to international selection says Keith Hill". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
7. "Rochdale 4-1 Crawley Town". BBC Sport. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
8. Percival, Ryan (19 January 2015). "Sky Bet Football League Team of the Week". efl.com. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
9. "Rochdale 2-1 Chesterfield: Dale into third round thanks to Lewis Alessandra strike". Sky Sports. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
10. "Scott Tanser Departs". rochdaleafc.co.uk. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
11. "Port Vale: Rochdale full-back Scott Tanser signs deal until end of season". BBC Sport. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
12. "Scott Tanser, Defender, Port Vale, League One". port-vale.co.uk. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
13. "Port Vale: Thirteen senior players leave club after relegation to League Two". BBC Sport. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
14. "Scott Tanser: St Johnstone sign left-back on one-year deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
15. "The secret to St Johnstone? Everyone gets along". Herald Scotland. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
16. Nicolson, Eric (29 May 2018). "St Johnstone's Scott Tanser bulking up for next season". The Courier. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
17. Campbell, Andy (29 December 2018). "Dundee 0-2 St Johnstone: Perth side move into top six". BBC Sport Scotland. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
18. "Scott Tanser signs new two-year contract extension at St Johnstone". BBC Sport. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
19. Nicolson, Eric (13 May 2019). "Scott Tanser shows he is made of the right stuff for St Johnstone". The Courier. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
20. Nicolson, Eric (19 September 2019). "St Johnstone's Scott Tanser can be one of the best full-backs in Scotland". The Courier. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
21. "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
22. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
23. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
24. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
25. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
26. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
27. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
28. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
29. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
30. "Games played by Scott Tanser in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 August 2020.