Simon Lappin

Simon Lappin (born 25 January 1983) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender or a winger for Wroxham.

Simon Lappin
Lappin celebrating promotion to the Championship with Norwich City in 2010
Personal information
Full name Simon Lappin[1]
Date of birth (1983-01-25) 25 January 1983[1]
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Defender / Winger
Club information
Current team
 Wroxham
Youth career
0000–2001 St Mirren
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2007 St Mirren 152 (9)
2007–2013 Norwich City 109 (2)
2008 → Motherwell (loan) 14 (2)
2012–2013 → Cardiff City (loan) 2 (0)
2013–2014 Cardiff City 0 (0)
2013–2014 → Sheffield United (loan) 9 (0)
2014–2016 St Johnstone 50 (3)
2016–2017 York City 7 (0)
2017–2018 King's Lynn Town 30 (3)
2018– Wroxham 22 (5)
National team
2001 Scotland U19 4 (0)
2002–2003 Scotland U20 2 (1)
2004–2005 Scotland U21 10 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:52, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Lappin began his career with St Mirren before moving to Norwich City in 2007. He had short loan spells at Motherwell and Cardiff City before moving to Cardiff permanently in 2013. He had a loan spell with Sheffield United, before playing for St Johnstone from 2014 to 2016. Lappin played for National League club York City from 2016 to 2017. He was capped 10 times by the Scotland national under-21 team.

Early life

Lappin was born in Glasgow and began his career in St Mirren's youth system, signing a professional contract in July 1999.[1] He had ambitions to stay-on at school, take his Highers and become an airline pilot, but St Mirren's Head of Youth Development at the time, Joe Hughes, who lived near to the Lappin family, persuaded his parents that he had the talent to make it in football and he left school to sign for the club.

Club career

St Mirren

Lappin was an unused substitute in several games during St Mirren's 2000–01 Scottish Premier League campaign. After relegation that season he was fast-tracked into the first team where his precision crosses from the left, both in open play and from set pieces led to a number of goals for teammates. He made the first of his ten Scotland Under-21 appearances during 2003–04 the season and helped the club gain promotion to the Scottish Premier League for 2006–07, after which he signed a two-year contract extension.[2] He also scored one of St Mirren's goals as they defeated Hamilton Academical 2-1 in the 2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final.[3] Lappin made more than 170 appearance for the Buddies before he was signed by Norwich City manager Peter Grant.

Norwich City
Lappin celebrating promotion to the Championship with Norwich City in 2010

On 31 January 2007, Lappin signed a two and a half-year contract with Norwich City for a £100,000 fee.[4] He made his debut for Norwich on 3 February at Carrow Road in a 2–1 win against Leeds United, in which he earned the official sponsor's Man of the Match award. Lappin then scored his first goal for Norwich against Luton Town on 27 February. City were awarded a free-kick in the 90th minute of the game at Kenilworth Road, with the scores level at 2–2, when Lappin curled in a match-winning goal. Lappin played in most of Norwich City's games under Peter Grant in 2007–08, but when Grant was replaced by Glenn Roeder Lappin found himself out of favour after a 3–0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle. Lappin was one of six players criticised by Roeder after a 5–1 reserve-team defeat to Ipswich Town.

Lappin was loaned to Motherwell for the rest of 2007–08 on 31 January 2008.[5] During this spell, he played 15 matches and scored two goals, including the only goal of the game in Motherwell's shock 1–0 win against Celtic at Celtic Park.[6] Somewhat surprisingly, Lappin remained at Norwich through the following summer. Despite the club's poor start to 2008–09, he still failed to get near the first team, even being made to train with the youths by Roeder.[7] Many Norwich fans felt Lappin was being badly treated and should have been recalled to the team.[8] After Bryan Gunn's appointment as Norwich manager, Lappin made his first appearance for Norwich's first team in 16 months on 21 March 2009, in a 1–1 draw against Birmingham City at St Andrew's. Although his performances were not enough to prevent the club being relegated to League One, Lappin signed a two-year contract extension with the club in June 2009.[9]

When Paul Lambert took over as Norwich manager early in 2009–10, Lappin began to feature more regularly and ended up starting 42 league games, more than any other player, even captaining the side in a Football League Trophy match with Brentford when Grant Holt and Gary Doherty were both absent.[7][10] Lappin continued to play a prominent role in the Norwich City side during 2010–11, signing another two-year contract extension in January 2011.[10] He was rushed into hospital on 19 February suffering with appendicitis and was ruled out of playing for a number of weeks.[11]

By the start of 2011–12, players such as Andrew Surman and Elliott Bennett were regular choices, which resulted in Lappin only making four Premier League appearances, along with two substitute appearances in cup competitions. This included deputising at left back for the last two matches following injuries to both Marc Tierney and Adam Drury.

At the start of 2012–13, Lappin scored his first goal for the club in over five years in a League Cup tie against Scunthorpe United, beating Sam Slocombe with a powerful effort from the edge of the box.[12] He made his last appearance for the club on 5 January 2013, in a 3–0 win over Peterborough United in the third round of the FA Cup.[13]

Cardiff City

In November 2012, Lappin moved to Cardiff City on an emergency loan until 1 January 2013.[14] He made his debut for the club in a 2–1 victory at Barnsley, but was sent off after picking up two yellow cards, the first Cardiff player to be dismissed in over a year. Following Andrew Taylor's return to the side, Lappin was restricted to appearances on the bench, ensuring his second appearance for the Bluebirds didn't come until New Years Day in a 1–0 win at Birmingham City, which was his last before returning to Norwich the next day.[15]

In January 2013, Lappin was announced as a Cardiff player having left Norwich by mutual consent earlier in the month.[16][17] In October 2013, Lappin signed for League One club Sheffield United on a one-month loan.[18] Having made five appearances for the South Yorkshire club in his first month, Lappin agreed to extend his stay until January 2014.[19] With his loan deal close to ending, Manager Nigel Clough insisted he would be willing to extend Lappin's loan spell until the end of the season.[20]

Following his loan spell at Sheffield United, Lappin never played for Cardiff again and at the end of the season, was released upon expiry of his contract.[21]

St Johnstone

After leaving Cardiff, Lappin was reported to be on trial with Rangers in August 2014,[22] however this was denied by Rangers manager Ally McCoist.[23] Lappin then signed a two-year contract with St Johnstone.[24] Upon signing, St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright said that the club had signed Lappin ahead of other clubs who were interested, including one in Major League Soccer in America.[25]

Lappin made his St Johnstone debut on 23 August 2014, coming on as a substitute for Scott Brown in the 72nd minute, in a 1–0 win over Aberdeen.[26]

Later career

On 16 November 2016, Lappin signed for National League club York City on a contract until the end of 2016–17.[27] He was released at the end of the season, with the possibility of returning once recovering from a ruptured Achilles.[28]

Lappin signed for Southern League Premier Division club King's Lynn Town on 9 October 2017.[29] He made his debut the following day, as an 81st-minute substitute in a 2–0 home win over Hitchin Town.[30]

Ahead of the 2018–19 season, Lappin joined Wroxham as a player coach.[31]

International career

Lappin was capped four times by the Scotland national under-19 team (2001), two times by the under-20 team (2002 to 2003) and ten times by the under-21 team (2004 to 2005).[32]

Career statistics
Lappin playing for York City in 2017
As of match played 7 April 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
St Mirren 2001–02[33] Scottish First Division 1000000010
2002–03[34] Scottish First Division 34010212[lower-alpha 3]0391
2003–04[35] Scottish First Division 24420002[lower-alpha 3]0284
2004–05[36] Scottish First Division 34130101[lower-alpha 3]0391
2005–06[37] Scottish First Division 35340204[lower-alpha 3]2455
2006–07[38] Scottish Premier League 2411020—271
Total 1529110719217912
Norwich City 2006–07[38] Championship 14110——151
2007–08[39] Championship 1510031—182
2008–09[40] Championship 500000—50
2009–10[41] League One 44020202[lower-alpha 4]0500
2010–11[42] Championship 2701020—300
2011–12[43] Premier League 401010—60
2012–13[44] Premier League 001011—11
Total 10926092201264
Motherwell (loan) 2007–08[39] Scottish Premier League 14210——152
Cardiff City 2012–13[44] Championship 20———20
2013–14[45] Premier League 00—00—00
Total 20—00—20
Sheffield United (loan) 2013–14[45] League One 9020—1[lower-alpha 4]0120
St Johnstone 2014–15[46] Scottish Premiership 2712020—311
2015–16[47] Scottish Premiership 23200311[lower-alpha 5]0273
Total 503205110584
York City 2016–17[48] National League 70——2[lower-alpha 6]090
King's Lynn Town 2017–18[30] Southern League Premier Division 303——1[lower-alpha 6]0313
Career total 3731922021416243225
  1. Appearances in Scottish Cup and FA Cup
  2. Appearances in Scottish League Cup and League Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in Scottish Challenge Cup
  4. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  5. Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy

Honours

St Mirren

Norwich City

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 245. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. "St Mirren pair sign new contracts". BBC Sport. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  3. "St Mirren 2-1 Hamilton Accies". BBC. 6 November 2005. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  4. "Norwich net Lappin from St Mirren". BBC Sport. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  5. "Norwich loan Lappin to Motherwell". BBC Sport. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  6. "Celtic 0–1 Motherwell". BBC Sport. 5 April 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  7. "Lappin revels in Norwich return". BBC Sport. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  8. "'Forgotten men' back in spotlight". Norwich Evening News. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
  9. "Lappin signs new Norwich contract". BBC Sport. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  10. "Norwich deals for Simon Lapin and Wes Hoolahan". BBC Sport. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  11. "Norwich City pair Simon Lappin and Chris Martin injured". BBC Sport. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  12. "Capital One Cup: Norwich City 2, Scunthorpe United 1". Eastern Daily Press. Norwich. 28 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
  13. "Peterborough United 0, Norwich City 3". Eastern Daily Press. Norwich. 5 January 2013. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
  14. "City land Lappin on loan". Cardiff City F.C. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  15. "Malky Mackay pondering Cardiff City defensive cover". BBC Sport. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  16. Denham, Mark (29 January 2013). "Lappin signs permanent City deal". Cardiff City F.C. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  17. "Simon Lappin leaves Norwich City". Eastern Daily Press. Norwich. 21 January 2013. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015.
  18. "Lappin arrives on loan". Sheffield United F.C. 4 October 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  19. "Lappin loan extended". Sheffield United F.C. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  20. "Porter praised". Sheffield United F.C. 2 January 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  21. Bywater, Alex (23 May 2014). "Tommy Smith and Simon Lappin to leave Cardiff City, but Don Cowie has been offered a new contract". Wales Online. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  22. Nicolson, Eric (21 August 2014). "St Johnstone sign Simon Lappin". The Courier. Dundee. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  23. "Ally McCoist keen to keep Lee Wallace as Rangers deny bids for defender". STV News. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  24. "St Johnstone: Simon Lappin agrees deal after Cardiff exit". BBC Sport. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  25. "St Johnstone fought off MLS interest to sign midfielder Simon Lappin". STV News. 22 August 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  26. Southwick, Andrew (23 August 2014). "St Johnstone 1–0 Aberdeen". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  27. Appleyard, Ian (16 November 2016). "York City sign former Premier League winger Simon Lappin". The Press. York. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  28. Flett, Dave (27 June 2017). "Danny Holmes and Sam Fielding reject York City deals, Lanre Oyebanjo and Scott Fenwick released and Simon Lappin leaves – For now". The Press. York. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  29. Long, Jessica (9 October 2017). "'That's promotion confirmed then' – Fans react to Grant Holt and Simon Lappin signing for King's Lynn Town". Eastern Daily Press. Norwich. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  30. "Simon Lappin". Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  31. Armstrong, Mark (8 July 2018). "Former Norwich City ace Simon Lappin joins Wroxham". Pink 'in. Norwich. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  32. "Simon Lappin". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  33. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  34. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  35. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  36. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  37. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
    "Queen of the South 1–2 St Mirren". BBC Sport. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  38. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  39. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  40. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  41. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  42. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  43. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  44. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  45. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  46. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  47. "Games played by Simon Lappin in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  48. "S. Lappin". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
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