Eoin Jess

Aberdeen

Born in the town of Portsoy in Aberdeenshire, Jess began his career in Glasgow as a trainee striker at Rangers (alongside future Scotland teammate John Spencer) but was allowed to leave in 1987; he soon moved back to his home region, signing for Aberdeen. Having made his debut at the end of the 1988–89 season, 18-year-old Jess made an impact in the first team from the outset of the following campaign, starting against Rapid Vienna in the UEFA Cup and against Rangers in the 1989 Scottish League Cup final at Hampden Park, which Aberdeen won 2–1. The club finished runners-up in the Premier Division, and Jess picked up another winner's medal as an unused substitute in the 1990 Scottish Cup final. In 1990–91 he scored 13 league goals and linked up with Hans Gillhaus to great effect as Aberdeen missed out on the title on the final day. The strikes including a hat-trick away to Dundee United, four away to Dunfermline and three across two home wins over Celtic. He won the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award for the season. Although Jess played 42 games in 1991–92, the season was a disappointment as Aberdeen finished only 6th in the league. He scored in a September victory over Rangers at Ibrox Stadium which proved to be Aberdeen's last win at that venue until 2017. 1992–93 brought an improvement as the club were league runners-up and reached both cup finals. Jess scored the winning goal in the semi-final of the 1992–93 Scottish League Cup against Celtic and…

Having represented the Under-21 side, Jess helped the team reach the semi-finals of UEFA under-21 Euros in 1992, and the Toulon Tournament in 1991. After declining an approach from Northern Ireland (his father's birthplace), Jess made his debut for Scotland in November 1992 against Italy. He went on to earn 18 full caps. As an intermittent member of the main squad, he also appeared twice for the B team in 1994 and 1996. Whilst at Coventry City he was selected for UEFA Euro 1996, and made one appearance during the tournament as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat to England. His two international goals were both scored while playing for Aberdeen, although four years apart: the first came against San Marino in 1995, and the second in a 2–1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier defeat at home to the Czech Republic in March 1999; he appeared from the bench in the return fixture three months later, which proved to be his final Scotland match.

Jess later rejoined Nottingham Forest as a coach for their youth team from 2007 until he left the post in May 2012. He also spent time on the coaching staff at Peterborough United, joining in August 2012 to work under Darren Ferguson as a replacement for Mark Robson but departing less than a year later, replaced by Gary Breen.

In April 2009, at the age of 38, Jess suffered a mild stroke. During further tests it was discovered that a hole had been present in his heart all his life and in 2010 he underwent surgery to correct this. In 2015 Jess was voted into Aberdeen's 'greatest ever team' by supporters of the club. In November 2018, he was one of four inductees into the Aberdeen Hall of Fame. In 2016 he was living in Barcelona.