Stanley Bernard Stephen Samuel (born 10 March 1986) is a retired professional

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

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 last played for

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

and has represented the Malaysia national team. He also been played in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and had an underwent trials with

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

club. He currently works as a football pundit and match commentator for Asian broadcasters

Astro SuperSport Astro SuperSport is an English language in-house subscription satellite television network in Malaysia dedicated to broadcasting sports-related content 24 hours a day. It is available on the Astro via Channels 810 & 831 (HD) to subscribers of ...

and

Astro Arena Astro Arena may refer to: *Astro Arena (Houston), now NRG Arena, a sports centre in Reliant Park, Houston, Texas *Astro Arena (TV channel) Astro Arena is a Malaysian television station owned and operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia and Astr ...

. He also is currently the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Kuala Lumpur City Football Club.

Career

Kuala Lumpur FA

Growing up in Kuala Lumpur, Stanley was a prodigy from the elite Bukit Jalil Sports School. At the age of 18 he made his debut with Kuala Lumpur FA in the second tier, Malaysian Premier League. He played for Kuala Lumpur FA for 5 seasons. In the 2008 Malaysia Cup group stage, Stanley was top scorer with 5 goals in 6 matches.

Perak UPB My/Team

Stanley moved to UPB-MyTeam in 2009, scoring 12 goals in 28 appearances in the Malaysian Super League, FA Cup and Malaysia Cup. In the same year, Stanley made his debut for the Malaysia U-23 team and also earned his 1st caps for the full national side.

Sporting Clube de Goa

Stanley was offered a trial at Indian League (I-League) team Sporting Clube de Goa in November 2009. His trial was successful and he signed for them mid-season as one of the two AFC import player quota. He became the first Malaysian to play his trade in the

I-league The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

. When Stanley signed, Sporting were facing relegation, sitting at the bottom of the

2009–10 I-League This season marks the addition of four new teams, with Lajong SSC, Pune FC, Salgaocar Sports Club and Viva Kerala are confirmed to participate in the I-League. With the inception of these four clubs, many club transfers have been undergone wit ...

table with just one win from 13 matches. In the second half of the season Sporting managed 5 wins out of 13 matches and Stanley contributed 5 goals in 14 matches in all competitions including 2010 Indian Federation Cup Qualifying final play-offs. However, he was released at the end of the season due to new regulations that took away the quota for AFC foreign players at Indian clubs.

Sabah FA

After a successful trial in Indonesia, Stanley was offered a contract at Indonesian Super League (ISL) outfit

Persibo Bojonegoro Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Bojonegoro commonly known as Persibo, is an Indonesian football club in Bojonegoro, East Java. They currently compete in the Liga 3. In 2010, Persibo played in the Indonesia Super League (the top tier Indonesian fo ...

. He scored on his debut in the pre-season Java Cup but due to political tensions between Malaysia and Indonesia, Stanley’s deal fell through. Instead he joined East Malaysian club, Sabah FA, for the 2011 Malaysian Super League season under coach Gary Phillips.

Kuala Lumpur FA

In 2012, Stanley rejoined his first senior club, Kuala Lumpur FA. But towards the end of the season, he suffered a double fracture of the tibia, which put his professional career in doubt, eventually leading to his retirement at the early age of 26 after unsuccessful attempts at a comeback.

International career

Stanley first represented his country as a 12-year-old in 1998. He would play numerous times for various age group sides, including the Malaysian Under-20 team in 2004-2005 under Jordan Viera and the Malaysian Under-23s in 2009. Later that year, he played for the senior national side for the first time. He earned his first full caps in two games against Zimbabwe and would also face regional rivals Indonesia. He was also in the 23-man squad for two friendlies against touring Manchester United in July 2009, coming off the bench in both games.

Broadcasting career

In 2012, Stanley made increasingly regular guest appearances for Astro SuperSport on the popular Bola@Mamak programme, which was nominated for Best Talk Show in the Asian Television Awards. From August 2013, he contributed as a pundit on SuperSport’s English Premier League coverage and was a regular guest on the FourFourTwo Snapshot radio show on LiteFM in Malaysia. Stanley also works regularly as a co-commentator for the coverage on Astro Arena of the Malaysia Super League.

KL City F.C. Management

On 13 December 2020, Stanley was appointed by his former club as the

of Kuala Lumpur City FC. After one year Stanley joined KL City management, the club had won

2021 Malaysia Cup The 2021 Malaysia Cup (Malay: ''Piala Malaysia 2021'') was the 95th edition of Malaysia Cup tournament organised by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysian Football League (MFL). The defending champions were Johor Darul Ta'zi ...

. Thus, winning the cup for the first time in 32 years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, Stanley Bernard Stephen 1986 births Living people Malaysian people of Indian descent Malaysian footballers Sportspeople from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia international footballers Malaysian expatriate footballers Malaysian expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in India I-League players Association football forwards Kuala Lumpur City F.C. players