Nathaniel Shio Hong Wan (; born 17 August 2000), commonly known as Hong Wan, is an English 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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

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 ...

Early life

Hong Wan was born to a Malaysian mother and an English-Chinese father in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, England. His mother is from

Tangkak Tangkak is a town and the capital of Tangkak District in Johor, Malaysia. The town is nicknamed "Fabric Town" or "Syurga Kain" in honour of its many textile shops. It is also well known as being a major entry point to Mount Ledang, the highe ...

, Johor, Malaysia while his father was born in

Beihai Beihai (; Postal romanization: Pakhoi) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, People's Republic of China. Its status as a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin has granted it historical importance as a port of internati ...

, Guangxi, China. He started playing football when he was two and a half years old, and was scouted by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Charlton and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in his first tournament. He joined Charlton Athletic Academy at the age of six.

Club career

Hong Wan came through the academy of

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

, before joining Yeovil Town in 2017. He was the captain of the under-18 squad, however, he failed to make a senior appearance for the club. In 2019, Hong Wan signed for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on a permanent deal. In July 2019, he joined the senior team for a friendly tournament in China,

Premier League Asia Trophy The Premier League Asia Trophy (formerly the FA Premier League Asia Cup) was a wiktionary:biennial, biennial pre-season association football Exhibition game#Association football, friendly tournament in Asia. The two-day competition was inaugurat ...

. Wolves won the tournament with Hong Wan coming on as a substitute in two matches against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. In early 2020, he was loaned to Croatian side

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

, but made no senior appearances due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

before returning to Wolves four months later. Despite failing to make any

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

appearance for Wolves, he managed to make 21 appearances for the club's under-23 team in the 2020–21 Premier League 2 Division 2. On 30 June 2021, Hong Wan joined

side

on a free transfer, because he saw it as an opportunity to develop as a player and play at a high level. He made his competitive debut with JDT in the

2022 Piala Sumbangsih The 2022 Piala Sumbangsih was the 37th edition of the Piala Sumbangsih, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Malaysia Super League and Malaysia Cup. The match was played between Johor Darul Ta'zim, who were ...

, the Malaysian

super cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

competition, coming on as a 90th-minute substitute. On 4 March 2022, Hong Wan made his league debut in the first round of the

2022 Malaysia Super League The 2022 Malaysia Super League (), is the 19th season of the Malaysia Super League, the top-tier professional association football, football league in Malaysia for association football clubs since its establishment in 2004, and the 41st season of ...

against

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

International career

Due to his place of birth and parents' origin, Hong Wan is eligible to represent England, Malaysia, and China internationally. In March 2022, he was called up to 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 ...

training camp, ahead of friendly matches against the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

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 ...

, and Albirex Niigata Singapore. However, he did not make it to the final 25-man squad due to lack of fitness.

Personal life

Hong Wan's father moved from China to England at the young age and his mother moved to England from Malaysia in her twenties to pursue her studies. Hong Wan received his Malaysian passport and identity card in 2021 after joining

Career statistics

Honours

Johor Darul Ta'zim *

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 ...

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 ...

, 2024–25 *

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 ...

Malaysia 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 ...

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 ...

Malaysia Charity Shield The Malaysian Charity Shield (English: Charity Cup), also known as Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah () or Piala Sumbangsih, is a Malaysian football super cup competition. It is the curtain raiser match to the new Malaysian football season, pittin ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wan, Hong 2000 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Croydon People from Croydon English men's footballers Malaysian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players NK Varaždin (2012) players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Malaysia Super League players 21st-century English sportsmen