Brendan Gan Seng Ling (; born 3 June 1988) 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 le ...
who plays as a
central midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
and captain for
Malaysia Super League
The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malays ...
club
Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
and the
Malaysia national team.
Club career
Brendan began playing football for his local club, the Marton Hammers before signing for the
Sutherland Sharks in 2000 when he was twelve years old, progressing through their youth grades to make his senior debut for the club in 2008. He made 15 league appearances scoring 6 goals, and 3 appearances in the Finals Series. It was this debut season that shot Gan to prominence within the local media which brought with it a growing reputation to match. He did not disappoint with dazzling performances week in week out which eventually led him to being crowned the
New South Wales Premier League
The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Norther ...
player of the year, winning the Gold Medal award for the competition.
Sydney FC
He was signed by
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
for their inaugural
National Youth League squad ahead of competition from rival A-League clubs.
On 28 November 2008, Gan made his debut for
Sydney FC
Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...
against
Queensland Roar
Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record ...
with a 5-minute cameo where he turned heads.
On 7 December, he scored the winning goal in the 78th minute for Sydney FC against the
Newcastle Jets
Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...
to give them their first win in 7 games.
Gan was given his full senior debut on 13 December against
Central Coast Mariners
Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...
. He scored his second senior goal against
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...
with a long range strike from outside the penalty area.
Gan scored his third senior goal against
Wellington Phoenix
Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...
with a powerful header from a corner. This goal gave Sydney FC a 2–0 win over Wellington and placed them on the top of the table, leapfrogging
Gold Coast United
Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...
.
On 2 December 2010, in only his second start for the season, he scored the opening goal in a 3–1 win, once again against Wellington Phoenix.
He was released from Sydney, along with several other players at the end of Sydney's 2011 Asian Champions League campaign.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles
Gan signed for
Bonnyrigg White Eagles
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Bonnyrigg, Sydney, New South Wales, currently playing in the NSW League One. The club was founded in 1968 as Avala Sports Club and took its current name in 1992.
H ...
in the
NSW Premier League
The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Northern ...
, and made his debut in the Round 15 game against
Sydney United
Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...
.
Sabah FA
On 17 November 2011, Brendan joined the Malaysian 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 borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...
as one of the two foreign players allowed in the
2012 Malaysia Super League. Brendan, alongside his fellow countrymen,
Michael Baird signed a one-year contract with Sabah.
Rockdale City Suns
Brendan signed with
Rockdale City Suns FC
Rockdale Ilinden Football Club (formerly known as the Rockdale City Suns Football Club from 1992 to 2020) is an Australian Macedonian soccer club based in Sydney suburb of Rockdale. Founded in 1969, the club competes in the highest men's compe ...
NSW Premier League
The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Northern ...
the next season since no contract extension was offered by Sabah. With this opportunity, he confirmed his intention to return to the A-League.
Kelantan FA
In November 2013, Brendan returned to Malaysia and signed a three-year contract with
Kelantan
Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode").
Kelantan is located in the ...
. He was supposed to be registered as a local player for Kelantan but did not get the approval from
FAM because according to
FAM any player to be registered as a local player is required to have Malaysian identity card or passport. On 6 April, he officially obtained an identity card and was registered by
Kelantan
Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode").
Kelantan is located in the ...
as a local player on April transfer window.
He made his debut during the match between
Kelantan
Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode").
Kelantan is located in the ...
against
Terengganu
Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith"). ...
which ended 1–1. In the first match of the
2015 Malaysia Super League
The 2015 Liga Super ( en, 2015 Super League) is the 12th season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay2015.html 2015 Liga Super
The season was held from 31 January and conclude ...
Gan suffered a serious
torn ACL
An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...
in his right knee that would keep him out for most of the 2015 season. In September 2016 Gan suffered another ACL injury, this time in his left knee which keep him out for 10 months, ruling him out for the
2016 AFF Championship
The 2016 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016, was the 11th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). The whole tourn ...
.
Selangor
On 1 December 2019, Brendan officially joined
Malaysia Super League
The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malays ...
club
Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
. On July 2021, Brendan was diagnosed with cancer and missed the rest of season. In June 2022, he made his return in a 7-0 over Sarawak United, scoring a brace. He was appointed as Selangor’s captain since 2021.
International career
Brendan made his first appearances with Malaysia as an overage player with the under 23 team against Yemen in a preparation for the 2014 Asian Games. He later debuted for
Malaysia senior team on 24 March 2016 in a
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...
match against
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
. He scored his first international goal in a 2-1 victory over Thailand during the
2022 World Cup qualification.
Personal life
Brendan was born in Australia to an Australian mother and Malaysian father from
Seremban
Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Soghomban'', ''Somban''; Jawi: ) is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban City Council. Sere ...
,
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
.
Career statistics
Club statistics
International
International goals
:''As of match played 14 November 2019. Malaysia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Brendan goal.
Honours
Kelantan
*
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...
runner-up:
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
Perak
*
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...
:
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
*
Malaysia FA Cup
The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...
runner-up : 2019
Selangor
*
Malaysia Cup
The Malaysia Cup ( ms, Piala Malaysia), formerly known as ''Malaya Cup'', is an annual association football, football tournament in Malaysia, held at the end of the calendar year. The cup was first held in 1921. Despite its prestige and popular ...
runner-up:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
Malaysia
*
King's Cup
__NOTOC__
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 Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...
runner-up:
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gan, Brendan
1988 births
Living people
Australian people of Chinese descent
Australian people of Malaysian descent
A-League Men players
Sydney FC players
People from the Sutherland Shire
Soccer players from Sydney
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC players
Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) players
Rockdale Ilinden FC players
Kelantan F.C. players
Malaysia Super League players
Men's association football defenders
Footballers at the 2014 Asian Games
People who lost Australian citizenship
Australian emigrants to Malaysia
Citizens of Malaysia through descent
Malaysian sportspeople of Chinese descent
Malaysian footballers
Malaysian expatriate footballers
Asian Games competitors for Malaysia