| Ross Laidlaw | |
| Birth Date: | 12 July 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Livingston, Scotland |
| Height: | [1] |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Currentclub: | Ross County |
| Clubnumber: | 1 |
| Youthclubs1: | Raith Rovers |
| Years1: | 2011–2016 |
| Clubs1: | Raith Rovers |
| Caps1: | 32 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2014–2015 |
| Clubs2: | → Elgin City (loan) |
| Caps2: | 14 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2016–2019 |
| Clubs3: | Hibernian |
| Caps3: | 19 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2019 |
| Clubs4: | → Dundee United (loan) |
| Caps4: | 1 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2019– |
| Clubs5: | Ross County |
| Caps5: | 135 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 19:45, 11 August 2024 (UTC) |
Ross Laidlaw (born 12 July 1992) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Ross County. He has previously played for Raith Rovers, Elgin City, Hibernian and Dundee United.
Laidlaw began his playing career for the Raith Rovers under-19 side. He progressed to the senior side and appeared on bench on two occasions during the 2010–11 season. He featured in pre-season friendly matches in advance of the 2011–12 season, the final of which was against Southend United in a scoreless draw.[2] Following the departure of Andrew McNeil he became the regular back-up goalkeeper to David McGurn.[3] [4]
However he suffered a setback, injuring his knee, with Raith having to sign Ludovic Roy as a temporary replacement.[4] After recovering from injury, Laidlaw made his senior debut on 3 March 2012, keeping a clean sheet in a 5–0 home victory against Greenock Morton.[5]
On 22 January 2015, he joined Elgin City on loan.[6] His last game for Elgin was in April 2015, a 5–4 defeat against Annan Athletic. Laidlaw returned to Raith after this loan spell, but failed to displace Kevin Cuthbert as first-choice goalkeeper. In December 2015 he suffered a torn kidney, which kept him out of action for the rest of the season. Laidlaw left Raith at the end of the 2015–16 season.
On 6 July 2016, Laidlaw signed a one-year contract with Hibernian.[7] He made his first appearance for Hibernian in the second leg of a Europa League qualifier against Brondby. Laidlaw kept a clean sheet as Hibs won 1–0 in the second leg, but were knocked out of the competition after a penalty shootout.[8] Although he mainly served as a backup to Ofir Marciano during the 2016–17 season, Laidlaw made 18 first team appearances.
He signed a two-year contract with Hibs in May 2017.[9] Laidlaw temporarily took over as first choice goalkeeper in September, as Marciano missed one game due to him observing Yom Kippur.[10] He injured a shoulder in November, and this eventually required surgery.[11] Laidlaw returned to first-team training in June 2018.[12] He made his first appearance since injury on 9 August, in a Europa League qualifier against Molde.[13]
Laidlaw moved on loan to Championship club Dundee United in January 2019.[14] In May 2019, Hibs announced that Laidlaw would be released at the end of the season.[15]
On 30 May 2019 Laidlaw signed for newly promoted Scottish Premiership team Ross County on a two-year contract.[16] On 13 July 2019, he made his debut for Ross County against Montrose in the Scottish League Cup. After winning Ross County's player of the year award for the 2020-21 season Laidlaw signed a new two-year contract with the club.[17] On 3 January 2023 Laidlaw singled a three-and-a-half-year contract keeping him at County until the summer of 2026. [18]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Raith Rovers | 2011–12 | Scottish First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2012–13 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2013–14 | Scottish Championship | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 32 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 0 | |||
| Elgin City (loan) | 2014–15 | Scottish League Two | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| Hibernian | 2016–17[20] | Scottish Championship | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[21] | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 2017–18 | Scottish Premiership | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19[22] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |||
| Dundee United (loan) | 2018–19 | Scottish Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Ross County | 2019–20 | Scottish Premiership | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 135 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 162 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 201 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 241 | 0 | |||
Raith Rovers
Hibernian