Samuel Jacob Somerville (born 6 August 1994) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

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

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

. Born and raised in England but with a Malaysian grandmother from

Kulim The Kulim District is a district and town in the state of Kedah, Malaysia. It is located on the southeast of Kedah, bordering Penang. The town of Kulim, a mere east of Penang's capital city, George Town, also forms part of the George Town Conu ...

, he took Malaysian nationality in 2015, and was called up for the Malaysia national team in 2021.

Club career

England

Somerville started his career playing in the youth team of English sixth tier side Farnborough, where he first met fellow Malaysian player

Junior Eldstål Junior Gunnar Putera Eldstål (born 16 September 1991) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Sabah and the Malaysia national team. Early life Born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to a Malaysian mother from Saba ...

, In 2012, he went on a season-long loan to Godalming Town in the Division One Central of the Southern League, after which he made 70-plus appearances for Slough Town and had a season with

Tooting & Mitcham United Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club is an association football club based in the London Borough of Merton. They are currently members of the and play at Imperial Fields in Morden. Their nickname is "the Terrors" or "the Stripes". History ...

Malaysia

Encouraged by Eldstål, in 2015 Somerville took Malaysian nationality (he has a Malaysian grandmother from Kulim), and moved to Malaysia, making his first appearances in Malaysian League in the 2015 season, after

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 ...

brought him in along with other hybrid players such as Curran Ferns, Stuart Wark, Nick Swirad, Kevin Gunter and

Daniel Ting Daniel Sang Ting (born 1 December 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Malaysia Super League club Sabah, on loan from Johor Darul Ta'zim. Born in England, he plays for the Malaysia national team. Ting paused his caree ...

. Somerville played four seasons 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 ...

for Johor Darul Ta'zim II, who also won the 2019 Challenge Cup, beating UKM FC in the final. Before the 2020 season, Somerville signed for Malaysian club

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 ...

. Somerville recorded four clean sheets in helping Penang win the 2020 Premier League and only conceded eight times in 11 matches. In Penang's 2021 season he made 16 Super League and two cup appearances. On 17 December 2021, Somerville switched sides to join

for the 2022 season, making 15 league and four cup appearances, and then 13 league and four cup appearances in the 2023 season. In addition to his playing career, Somerville also started a company, SJS Goalkeeping, marketing goalkeeping gloves in Malaysia.

International career

On 10 May 2021, Somerville received a first call-up from Malaysia as third choice keeper for the World Cup qualifying matches against

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

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 ...

Honours

Godalming Town *

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

: 2012–13 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 ...

Penang *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Selangor *

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 ...

runner-up:

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: 2023 *

MFL 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 ...

2024-25 A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Samuel Living people 1994 births English people of Malaysian descent 21st-century Malaysian sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen Sportspeople from Farnborough, Hampshire English men's footballers Malaysian men's footballers Footballers from Hampshire Men's association football goalkeepers Malaysia Super League players Malaysia Premier League players Penang F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players Godalming Town F.C. players Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia