Samuel Erik Strong (born August 23, 1996) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who currently plays for Life Sihanoukville in the

Cambodian Premier League The Cambodian Premier League (, ) is a top association football division in Cambodia and administered by the Cambodian Football League Company (CFLC). Contested by 11 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Cambodian Leag ...

Club career

College and amateur career

Born in Santa Barbara, Strong played youth soccer with Santa Barbara Soccer Club and Real So Cal. He also played one season of high school soccer with San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara where he graduated in 2014. Strong received a scholarship to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

between 2015 and 2016, where he scored 2 goals in 30 appearances for the Gauchos. In November 2016, Strong was charged with felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. Strong had seen a UCSB parking official placing a clamp on one of his tires in a campus parking lot and responded by getting into his car and driving away, nearly hitting the officer. He was subsequently dismissed from the UCSB soccer team. Strong later played one season of soccer at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

in 2017. While at college, Strong played with

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will feature ...

side

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on th ...

in 2015 and 2017.

Professional

Strong signed with 2nd division

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Fresno FC Fresno Football Club was an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. Founded in 2017, the team was a member of the USL Championship, a second-tier league in the American Soccer Pyramid. Their first game took place on March ...

on December 21, 2017, ahead of their inaugural season. He made his professional debut on July 25, 2018, starting in a 0–0 draw with

Oklahoma City Energy Oklahoma City Energy Football Club, or simply Energy FC, is an American professional soccer club based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The club is a member of the USL Championship, the second division of the American soccer league system. Although ...

. At the end of the 2018

season,

exercised a club option to acquire Strong for the 2019 season. On December 2, 2019, Strong signed with

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

another

side. During his time with Hartford Athletic, Strong was the 2020 club defender of the year as voted by the fans. Strong signed with 3rd division

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is previously in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season for ...

club

San Diego 1904 FC San Diego 1904 FC was an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. In December 2021, the team was absorbed by Albion San Diego, which effectively took over 1904's membership in the National Independent Soccer Association ...

on August 6, 2021, he scored on his debut in a match vs Maryland Bobcats on August 8, 2021. Strong was announced as a signing for 2nd division USL Championship expansion side

Monterey Bay FC Monterey Bay Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Monterey County, California. The club was established on February 21, 2021, and is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer league syst ...

on February 14, 2022. Strong returned to Fresno on July 22, 2022, by way of a loan to

Central Valley Fuego FC Central Valley Fuego FC, also known as CV Fuego FC or simply Fuego FC, is an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. The team was founded in 2020, and played its inaugural season in 2022. The team most recently competed ...

for the remainder of the

2022 USL League One season The 2022 USL League One season was the fourth season of USL League One. The regular season began on April 2 and ended on October 15. The playoffs began on October 22 and ended on November 6. Eleven teams participated in the 2022 season, one fe ...

. His contract option was declined by Monterey Bay at the end of the season. In January 2023, it was announced that Strong had signed with Central Valley Fuego on a permanent deal. In July 2023 Strong and Central Valley Fuego mutually parted ways. Later that month Strong signed a contract with Rajpracha FC of the

Thai League 2 Thai League 2 (), commonly known as the T2, formally called Thai Division 1 League, is the second-tier professional league in the Thai football league system. Seasons typically run from August to May, with each team playing 34 games : two agai ...

, being the first time Strong has played for a team outside of the United States. Strong scored in his

Thai FA Cup The Thai FA Cup (), known officially as The Football Association of Thailand Cup, is a football cup competition in Thailand. Thai FA Cup is an annual knockout association football competition in men's domestic football. It was held between 1974 a ...

Thai League Cup The League Cup () is a association football, football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Hilux Revo Cup for sponsorship reasons. History Thai League Cup was started by Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor (Thailand) in the name of ...

and Thai League debut. After an impressive season in Thailand, Strong signed with Dynamic Herb Cebu FC in August 2024 to compete in the

AFC Champions League 2 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 Ch ...

and

Philippines Football League The Philippines Football League (PFL) is a men's professional association football, football league in the Philippines. Sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and organized by Liga Futbol Inc., it is the country's Football in t ...

. Strong started 5 games in the

. On January 1 of 2025, Strong transferred from the Philippines to Life FC of the

References

External links

Fresno FC player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Sam 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California Soccer players from Santa Barbara County, California American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players Coastal Carolina Chanticleers men's soccer players Ventura County Fusion players Fresno FC players Sam Strong Cebu F.C. players Hartford Athletic players Monterey Bay FC players Central Valley Fuego FC players USL League Two players USL Championship players USL League One players Sam Strong Philippines Football League players Cambodian Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Expatriate men's footballers in the Philippines Expatriate men's footballers in Cambodia American expatriate sportspeople in Thailand American expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines American expatriate sportspeople in Cambodia San Marcos High School (Santa Barbara, California) alumni 21st-century American sportsmen