Darren Lok Yee Deng (; born 14 December 1990) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a striker for

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

club

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

. Born in England, he represents Malaysia at

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

level.

Early life

Born in

Hailsham Hailsham is a town, a civil parish and the administrative centre of the Wealden district of East Sussex, England.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Dat ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

, Lok is of

Chinese Malaysian Malaysian Chinese, Chinese Malaysians, or Sino-Malaysians are Malaysian citizens of Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Malay majority, and , constituted 23.2% of the country's citizens. In ...

and English descent. His father is from in

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

Club career

Eastbourne Borough

Lok began his career with the Eastbourne Borough Academy. Later, he was promoted to the senior squad in 2012. Darren Lok was working shifts in an NHS psychiatric hospital as a psychiatric support worker in the south of England while also playing part-time football for Eastbourne Borough of the National League South, the sixth tier overall of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

Horsham (loan)

At the start of the 2012–13 season, he was loaned to

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. He impressed at Horsham, but was recalled by Eastbourne after 2 games, due to a player shortage at the club. Early in his Borough career, Lok gained a reputation as a 'super-sub' due to the late goals he would score after coming off the bench.

Johor Darul Ta'zim

At the end of the 2015-16 season, Lok left Eastbourne to sign for Johor Darul Ta'zim II in the

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League () was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. It replaced the Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier League was contested by 12 clubs. The season usually ra ...

. His registration was delayed, due to having to apply for a Malaysian passport. In September 2016 he received his Malaysian passport, which enabled him to play for JDT II as well as the

Malaysia national football team The Malaysia national football team () represents Malaysia in international association football, football and is governed by the Football Association of Malaysia. The national team is recognised by FIFA as the successor of the defunct Malaya ...

. Darren Lok only managed to appear twice for the JDT II team before the season ended. For the

2017 Malaysia Super League The 2017 Malaysia Super League () was the 14th season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional association football, football league in Malaysia.Mario Gómez Mario Gómez García (; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He represented the Germany national football team, Germany national team ...

announced that Lok would be promoted to the JDT first team for the 2017 season.

Terengganu

In January 2020,

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu) is a sultanate and States and federal territories of Malaysia, federal state of Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l-Iman (c ...

has signed Lok to be with the team for the

2020 Malaysia Super League The 2020 Malaysia Super League (), known as the CIMB Bank Liga Super Malaysia 2020 for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia. Johor Darul Ta'zim were the defen ...

season. He only managed to make 4 league appearances for the team.

Petaling Jaya City

Petaling Jaya City announced the signing of Lok from Terengganu in December 2020. He cited a lack of playing time as one of the reasons for his decision to join PJ City after a one-year stint with Terengganu .

Sabah

In December 2022, Lok signed with

International career

Born in England, Lok was eligible to play either for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

through his father. Lok made his international debut against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 7 October 2016 at the

Jalan Besar Stadium Jalan Besar Stadium, officially the Jalan Besar ActiveSG Stadium, is a football stadium located in Kallang, Singapore. The stadium is part of the Jalan Besar Sports and Recreation Centre, a community sports facility that includes the stadium as ...

. He scored his first international goal against

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

on 22 August 2017 at the

Hang Jebat Stadium The Hang Jebat Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 40,000 people in Krubong/ Paya Rumput, Malacca, Malaysia. It was completed in September 2004 and named after a Malacca Sultanate Laksamana, Hang Jebat. The stadium was ...

. Lok was also part of the Malaysian team that qualified for the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

and scored the fourth goal in their last qualifier, his second international goal. Lok also represented the nation at the

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Johor Darul Ta'zim *

Malaysia Cup The Malaysia Cup (), formerly known as Malaya Cup, is an annual football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popularity as the country's oldest cup tournament, i ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Johor Darul Ta'zim II *

Malaysia Challenge Cup The MFL Challenge Cup ( Malay: ''Piala Cabaran MFL''), which was previously referred to as the Malaysia Challenge Cup, is a prestigious football tournament in Malaysia that is organized under the joint supervision and management of the Malaysian ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Malaysia *

King's Cup King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

runner up *

Pestabola Merdeka Merdeka Tournament () is an international friendly football tournament held in Malaysia to commemorate the Independence Day. It is mainly played at Independence Stadium, in Kuala Lumpur. "Merdeka" is the Malay word for independence. As of 202 ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lok, Darren 1990 births Living people Malaysian men's footballers Malaysian expatriate men's footballers People from Hailsham English people of Malaysian descent English people of Chinese descent Naturalised citizens of Malaysia Naturalised association football players Eastbourne Borough F.C. players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players Terengganu FC players Terengganu F.C. II players Petaling Jaya City FC players 21st-century Malaysian sportsmen Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) players Malaysia Super League players Malaysia Premier League players Malaysia men's international footballers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English emigrants to Malaysia People who lost British citizenship Malaysian sportspeople of Chinese descent 2023 AFC Asian Cup players 21st-century English sportsmen