Samuel Jack Ling (born 17 December 1996) 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 le ...

who plays as a defender for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

Career

Ling began his career at

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

, progressing through the O's academy to become Youth Team captain and also featured on the bench for the first-team a number of times. He moved to

in 2016. On 7 February 2018, he returned to fellow National League and former club Leyton Orient for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-and-a-half year contract. Ling was one of a number of players to leave Dagenham due to the club's financial issues. His father, Martin, was also director of football at Orient. He made his long-awaited debut for the club on February 17, coming on as a substitute in the second-half against

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 15 March 2019 in a 3–2 away win at Barrow. He played a key role at right-back as Orient won the National League title at the end of the 2018–19 season. Ling started the 2019–20 season well and was nominated for the Orient's Player of the Month award in August. On 9 September 2019 he signed a new one-year extension to his contract until the summer of 2021. He had been an ever-present in the side since promotion and their return to the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

. He made his 50th appearance for the club on 21 September 2019 in a 2–1 defeat to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

. He made a total of 87 appearances for Orient in three-and-a-half seasons before he was released in the summer of 2021 following the expiration of his contract. On 9 July 2021, Ling returned to National League side Dagenham & Redbridge on a free transfer. Daggers boss,

Daryl McMahon Daryl McMahon (born 10 October 1983) is an Irish former football player and manager who was most recently manager of club Dagenham & Redbridge. McMahon represented the Republic of Ireland Under-16 team at the 2000 UEFA European Under-16 Foo ...

, spoke of his acquisition, "He obviously comes from a good footballing family, with his dad Martin. I've known Sam since he was about five or six, from when I played for Martin at Leyton Orient. He's been at the football club before and did really well here, so we know what we're getting."

Personal life

His father is

Martin Ling Martin Ling (born 15 July 1966) is an English football manager and former player currently director of football for Leyton Orient. He played in over 100 Football League matches for each of Exeter City, Southend United, Swindon Town and Leyton ...

Career statistics

Honours

Leyton Orient *

: 2018–19
*

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

runner-up: 2018–19

References

External links

Sam Ling
at Soccerway {{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Sam Living people 1996 births People from Broxbourne Men's association football defenders Leyton Orient F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Histon F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players English men's footballers English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Footballers from Hertfordshire