Samuel Julian Gardner (born 4 April 1997) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Alliance United Alliance United Futbol Club is a Canadian semi-professional association football, soccer club based in Markham, Ontario, Markham and Scarborough, Toronto, Scarborough, Ontario. The club was founded in 2017 to compete in League1 Ontario. The clu ...

University career

In 2015, Gardner began studying at Jacksonville University, an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

school in the

ASUN Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisio ...

, where he went on to make a total of 41 appearances, scoring three goals in three seasons for the Dolphins. In 2018, he transferred to Grand Canyon University for his senior year. He made 21 appearances for the Antelopes, leading them to 9 clean sheets while also scoring 1 goal and notching 2 assists. Gardner was subsequently named to both the 2018 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) All-Conference team and the 2018 WAC Men's All-Tournament Team after playing a key role in GCU's first-ever WAC Men's Soccer Tournament championship, which was also the school's inaugural appearance at the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Gardner graduated with a Business Administration degree in 2019.

Club career

In 2015, Gardner played for Master's Futbol Academy in League1 Ontario, scoring seven goals. In 2017, Gardner made one appearance for USL PDL side K–W United. After college, Gardner had the opportunity to sign with a California-based team in the

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

, but he decided to come home in 2019 and returned to the semi-professional League1 Ontario, joining

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma player ...

. He made eight league appearances that season, scoring one goal and made one additional appearance in the playoffs. In early 2020, Gardner trialled with USL Championship side Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. On 3 August 2020, Gardner signed his first professional contract with Canadian Premier League side FC Edmonton. He made his professional debut for FC Edmonton as a 20th minute substitute against Atletico Ottawa in a 2–2 draw on August 23. In January 2022, Gardner started training with GladAfrica Championship side Cape Town Spurs FC. After impressing during his trial, Gardner signed a contract with the South African side in February 2022 until the end of the 2021–2022 season. In 2022, he began playing for

of League1 Ontario.

Personal life

Gardner's family is of African descent. His mother, Gill, was born in Zambia and his father, James, was born in South Africa. He also has an older sister, Georgia. In September 2021, Gardner told

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: "I’m proud to be a Canadian but I’m also very proud to be South African. All my family is still there. I spent many years of my childhood travelling back and forth between South Africa and Canada and would love an opportunity to give back to a community that practically raised me and gave so much to me."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Sam 1997 births Living people Men's association football defenders Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Jacksonville Dolphins men's soccer players K–W United FC players Grand Canyon Antelopes men's soccer players FC Edmonton players League1 Ontario players USL League Two players Canadian Premier League players Master's FA players Sigma FC players Alliance United FC players