Declan Stephen Lambert Lee Kit Meng (born 21 September 1998) is a Malaysian 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 full-back 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 ...

side Kuala Lumpur City, on loan from

Johor Darul Ta'zim Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore to the south and Indonesia to the east and w ...

, and the Malaysia national team. Lambert was born in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, but then moved to Thailand and Australia at a young age. He played youth football with

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

before starting his senior career with the side. In 2018, Lambert moved to the Netherlands, where he played for lower division sides

Achilles '29 Achilles '29 is a football club from Groesbeek, Netherlands, competing in the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse. The club is known for its successes in the Dutch domestic cup, having knocked FC Volendam, Heracles Almelo, RKC Waalwijk, Telstar and ...

and

FC Den Bosch FC Den Bosch () is a professional football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie. They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadiu ...

. In February 2022, he returned to his birthplace and signed for Kuala Lumpur City. He has also represented Malaysia at international level, having made his debut for the national team in September 2022.

Early life

Lambert was born in

to an English father and Malaysian mother. The family then moved to Thailand, where they stayed for six months before relocating again to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. He has a twin brother, Ryan, who is also a professional footballer. The two played together at Clifton Hill,

and

Club career

After playing youth football for

FC Clifton Hill FC Clifton Hill are an Australian association football club which currently plays in the Victorian State League Division 1, the 5th tier of Association football in Victoria and the 6th tier in Australia. They were founded in 1975. History Foun ...

and

, Lambert made his senior debut for Richmond aged 17. In 2018, the Lambert twins moved to Europe, and trialed with sides including

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

and

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

. The pair eventually signed for Dutch

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie (; ) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and between 1962 and 19 ...

side

. However, they left the club after it suffered relegation at the end of the

2017–18 Tweede Divisie The 2017–18 Tweede Divisie season is the second edition of the Dutch third tier since on hiatus from 1970-71 season and the 17th edition using Tweede Divisie name. Thirteen teams competed from the last season along with one relegated team from ...

. The twins then moved to Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

side

in 2018. Their first-team opportunities were initially limited by the arrival of several other foreign players shortly after their signing. However, Lambert made his debut in the

2019–20 Eerste Divisie The 2019–20 Eerste Divisie, known as Keuken Kampioen Divisie for sponsorship reasons, was the sixty-fourth season of Eerste Divisie since its establishment in 1955. It began in August 2019 with the first matches of the season and was scheduled t ...

and by the

2020–21 Eerste Divisie The 2020–21 Eerste Divisie, known as Keuken Kampioen Divisie for sponsorship reasons, was the sixty-fifth season of Eerste Divisie since its establishment in 1955. It began on 28 August 2020, and came to an end on 12 May 2021. Relegation for ...

season, was a regular starter for the side. On 22 February 2022, Lambert signed for

side Kuala Lumpur City.

International career

Lambert was called up to the Malaysia national team for the first time in September 2022. He made his debut on 22 September in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, scoring one of Malaysia's goals in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

win.

Honours

ASEAN All-Stars *

Maybank Challenge Cup The 2025 Maybank Challenge Cup () was the charity hybrid friendly match played by the ASEAN All-Stars, a selection team by the ASEAN Football Federation and English Premier League club Manchester United in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The ASEAN All ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Individual *

ASEAN All-Stars The ASEAN All-Stars is a football team founded by the ASEAN Football Federation in 2014. The team is made up of Southeast Asia internationals and selected players from the regional leagues. History 2014 team The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) ...

Kuala Lumpur City *

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

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 *

Malaysian FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup () is an annual association football, football competition in Malaysia, established in 1990. It was previously managed by the Football Association of Malaysia, before being transferred to the Football Malaysia LLP, Malaysian ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

runner-up

References

External links

*
Career stats & Profile
– Voetbal International {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Declan 1998 births Living people Footballers from Kuala Lumpur Malaysian men's footballers Malaysia men's international footballers Australian men's soccer players Malaysian people of English descent Malaysian sportspeople of Chinese descent Malaysian people of Australian descent Malaysian emigrants to Australia Men's association football fullbacks Greater Dandenong FC players Achilles '29 players FC Den Bosch players Kuala Lumpur City F.C. players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players National Premier Leagues players Tweede Divisie players Eerste Divisie players Malaysia Super League players Malaysian expatriate men's footballers Australian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Malaysian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 21st-century Australian sportsmen