Randolph FitzGerald Samuel (born 23 December 1963) is a Trinidad-born Canadian former

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 played as a defender. His 82 international caps were a Canada national team record until he was surpassed by

Paul Stalteri Paul Andrew Stalteri (born October 18, 1977) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. He spent most of his professional career in Germany, winning the league and cup double with Werder Bremen in th ...

in September 2010. He started his career with the Edmonton Eagles and

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

, before joining Dutch champions

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

in 1985. Playing just five

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

games for PSV, he moved on to

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional Association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football from the 2022–23 season following promotion ...

in 1987, becoming a key member of the team until he moved on to league rivals

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

in 1990. Sittard were relegated into the second tier, and Samuel moved on to English side

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in November 1995. Failing to make an impact in England, he left in May 1996, and signed with Norwegian side

Harstad IL Harstad Idrettslag is a Norwegian sports club from Harstad, Troms. It has association football, futsal and nordic skiing sections. The club formerly had sections for track and field, skiing and speed skating, but this was discontinued in 1987. T ...

. He later played for the

Vancouver 86ers Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The G ...

, the

Hampton Roads Mariners Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales * Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick * H ...

, and the Montreal Impact. Making 82 appearances for Canada between 1983 and 1997, he appeared in all three games of the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

. He also helped his nation to win the 1990 North American Nations Cup and

1985 CONCACAF Championship The 1985 CONCACAF Championship was the ninth edition of the CONCACAF Championship. It also served as the qualification for the 1986 World Cup. A total of 18 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. The North, Central American and Caribbean zone w ...

. He played at the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. In 2012 as part of the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.

Club career

North America

Samuel, born in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, grew up in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

, and graduated from McNair High School. He was selected by the

in the 1981

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

draft, though he never signed with the club. In 1983, Samuel began his professional career with the Edmonton Eagles of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. He signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps the following year, yet he never played a game for them before returning to the Eagles.

Netherlands

In 1985, Samuels left Canada for the Netherlands where he played in the Dutch First Division with

. PSV were crowned champions in 1985–86 and 1986–87, but Samuels played just five league games before he moved on to

, who were newly promoted to the top-flight in 1987–88. After a mid-table finish in 1988–89, Volendam missed out on qualification to the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

by only two points in 1989–90. He switched to

in 1990, who finished mid-table in 1990–91 and 1991–92, before dropping into the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

after suffering

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in 1992–93. After Sittard finished the 1993–94 season mid-table in the Dutch second tier he left both the club and the country.

England

After a trial at

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 ...

First Division side

, he signed forms with the club in November 1995. He got off to a flying start, scoring on his debut, in a 1–1 draw with

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

on 18 November 1995. By the end of the year he was out of action due to a knee injury. He recovered, but failed to return to the first team and was released by manager

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

in May 1996, having made just ten appearances in 1995–96.

Norway and back to North America

He then moved out to Norway, and played for First Division side

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. The club were relegated and the next year he moved back to Canada to sign with the

of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

. The 86ers qualified for the Western Conference quarter-finals in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, where they were defeated by the

San Diego Flash San Diego Flash was an American soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the team returned to competitive play in 2011 and most recently played in the Southern Conference of the West Division of the National P ...

. Samuels returned to Harstad in 1999, now in Group 8 of the

Norwegian Second Division The Norwegian Second Division, also called 2. divisjon and often referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the third-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. There are 28 teams divided into two groups, and at the ...

. In 2000, he returned to the North American A-League, and spent the 2000 season with the

, who lost to the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

at the Eastern Conference quarter-finals. He finished his professional playing career with the Montreal Impact, playing four games of their 2001 season.

International career

Samuel earned his first cap for Canada in a 3–1 loss to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 671,460 ...

on 11 November 1983. After a further ten appearances in friendly games, the only victory coming against his birth nation

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, he played seven of Canada's eight games at the

; they finished above Honduras and

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in the final round to claim the nation's first major honour in the sport since the

1904 Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...

. Their success won them a place at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

finals – thus far the country's only appearance at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

finals. Samuel played all three of Canada's games in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

; a 1–0 defeat to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and 2–0 defeats to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Canada missed out on

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

to the

1989 CONCACAF Championship The 1989 CONCACAF Championship was the tenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Championship held under the format of serving as qualification to the 1990 FIFA World Cup and having no host nation for the final round. The tournament would be succee ...

after losing to

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. Samuel continued to feature regularly though, and appeared in the 1990 North American Nations Cup, which Canada won. He went on to play two of Canada's three games at the

1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the first edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the eleventh overall CONCACAF tournament. The last time the CONCACAF Championship was he ...

. He played five of Canada's six group games in the First Round of

1994 World Cup qualification File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, as they finished ahead of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

to qualify for the final round of group games. He played each of the two games against

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

and Honduras; they finished second behind the Mexicans, meaning they had to beat

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in a CONCACAF–OFC play-off in order to qualify. Before this game was the

1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the second edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The format of the tournament stayed the same as in 1991: eight teams were broken up into ...

; Samuels played all three of Canada's games, including the 8–0 capitulation to Mexico in front of 70,000 Mexicans at the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...

– the biggest defeat in Canada's history was their last game before the all important match with Australia. Samuel did not feature in the 2–1 win at the

Commonwealth Stadium Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multipurpose stadium located in the McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily used for Canadian fo ...

, but did play in the second leg at the

Sydney Football Stadium The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...

. The Aussies won 2–1 to take the game to a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

, which the "Canucks" lost 4–1. Samuel won the final fourteen caps of his thirteen-year international career in qualification for the 1998 World Cup. He played all six of the initial group stage games, as Canada finished ahead of El Salvador,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. He then played eight of Canada's ten games in the final round of qualifying, as they finished bottom of the group behind Mexico, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Jamaica, Costa Rica and El Salvador. He made his final appearance for his nation in the 3–1 defeat to the Costa Ricans in San José on 16 November 1997. His 82 international caps were a Canadian national team record until he was surpassed by

in September 2010. Samuel was inducted into the

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Hal ...

in 2006.

Coaching career

In 2010, he was appointed Head coach of Lobbans FC in the

Vancouver Metro Soccer League The Vancouver Metro Soccer League (VMSL) is a soccer men's league operating in British Columbia, Canada primarily in the Lower Mainland area. History The league is an amateur league, and does not compete against or promote teams to the Canadian ...

. He now also runs his own soccer business in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

PSV Eindhoven *

: 1985–86, 1986–87 Canada *

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

*North American Nations Cup:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

References

External links

* /

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, Randy 1963 births Living people People from Richmond, British Columbia Black Canadian soccer players Soccer people from British Columbia Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to Canada Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian soccer players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees CONCACAF Championship-winning players Association football defenders Edmonton Eagles players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Eredivisie players PSV Eindhoven players FC Volendam players Fortuna Sittard players Expatriate footballers in England Port Vale F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Norway Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Harstad IL players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Virginia Beach Mariners players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canadian Professional Soccer League (original) players English Football League players A-League (1995–2004) players Canadian soccer coaches Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England