Curran Singh Ferns

Curran Singh Ferns
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-07-06) 6 July 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Darwin, Australia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder / Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Kuala Lumpur City
Youth career
2000–2008 Monash City
2009 Victorian Institute of Sport
2009–2010 Melbourne Victory Youth
2010 Football Federation Victoria
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Brisbane City 11 (0)
2016 Johor Darul Ta'zim II 1 (0)
2016–2017 Negeri Sembilan 20 (1)
2017–2018 Felda United 18 (0)
2018–2019 Sukhothai 14 (0)
2019 Port Melbourne 12 (0)
2020 Melaka United 7 (0)
2024– Kuala Lumpur City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 October 2020

Curran Lawrance Singh Ferns (born 6 July 1993 in Darwin) is an Australian–born Malaysian professional footballer who plays for Malaysia Super League club Kuala Lumpur City. Ferns is a central midfielder but also can play as a centre-back.[1][2]

Ferns is a highly composed technical player with advanced passing skills,[3] but is also known for his competitive and defensive attributes on the field.

Club careers

Australia

Ferns grew up in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. At the age of 15, Ferns was selected for an elite sports scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport Men's Football Program, and shortly after represented Melbourne Victory FC Youth which competes in the National Youth League. At Melbourne Victory FC Youth and the Football Federation Victoria National Training Centre he was coached and mentored by Mehmet Durakovic.[4][5]

Ferns began playing senior professional football in Australia in the National Premier Leagues competition with Brisbane City.[6][7] and later played for half a season at Port Melbourne.

Malaysia

During 2015, Ferns left Australia to trial with Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C.[8] based in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia and was signed for Johor Darul Ta'zim II F.C. for the beginning of the 2016 season.[9] After spending 6 months with Johor Darul Ta'zim II F.C. he signed with Negeri Sembilan FA[10] making his debut against Felda United F.C. in the Malaysia Cup tournament.

After a successful 12-month period with Negeri Sembilan FA, Ferns received an offer to join Felda United F.C. at the beginning of the 2017 mid-season transfer window.[11] He left the Negeri Sembilan FA team while they were in first position of the Malaysia Premier League, having gone undefeated during their first 13 successive league games, and after reaching the semi-final stage of the Malaysia FA Cup.[12]

Ferns made his debut for Felda United F.C. in the Malaysia Super League with a 2-1 win against Pahang FA[13] in July 2017. Under the guidance of head coach B. Sathianathan,[14] Ferns made a successful contribution,[15][16][17] helping the team reach 3rd place in the Malaysia Super League and semi-final of the Malaysia Cup. Unfortunately, in the off-season of 2017 the club was notified it was being relegated to the Malaysia Premier League for the 2018 season after failing the Football Association of Malaysia club licence financial audit.[18][19][20] Despite this setback, Ferns and the majority of the squad stayed at the club to help Felda United F.C win the title and secure promotion back to the Malaysia Super League for 2019.[21]

In late 2019, FOX Sports Asia reported Ferns had joined Melaka United for the 2020 season.[22]

Thailand

Ferns confirmed a move to Thailand's Thai League 1 to join Sukhothai FC to FOX Sports Asia in an article in June 2018. Ferns left Felda United F.C. with a commanding eleven point lead at the top of the Malaysia Premier League with only six games remaining for the 2018 season. Ferns played his first game for Sukhothai FC in the 2018 Thai League Cup on 13 June 2018 against Port FC.[23][24] Ferns subsequently re-signed a new contract with Sukhothai FC to represent the club for the 2019 season.[25]

Honours

Felda United

  • Malaysia Premier League Championship: 2018

Career statistics

Club

As of 7 October 2020.[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Negeri Sembilan 2016 Malaysia Premier League 11 0 0 0 0 0 – 11 0
2017 Malaysia Premier League 9 1 1[a] 0 0 0 – 11 1
Total 20 1 1 0 0 0 – 22 1
Felda United 2017 Malaysia Super League 8 0 0 0 9[b] 0 – 17 0
2018 Malaysia Premier League 10 0 4[a] 0 0 0 – 14 0
Total 18 0 4 0 9 0 – 31 0
Sukhothai 2018 Thai League 1 10 0 1[c] 0 1[d] 2 28 0
2019 Thai League 1 2 0 0[c] 0 0[d] 0 2 0
Total 12 0 1 0 1 0 – 14 0
Melaka United 2020 Malaysia Super League 7 0 - - - - - - 7 0
Career Total 57 1 6 0 10 0 – – 74 1
  1. ^ a b Appearances in Malaysia FA Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in Malaysia Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances in Thai FA Cup
  4. ^ a b Appearances in Thai League Cup

Personal life

Ferns is a naturalised Malaysia citizen. His mother was born in Johor Bahru and grew up in Penang. His father was born in Australia and grew up in Liverpool, UK. He is also the grand-nephew of the late Malaysian lawyer and politician Karpal Singh. Ferns has publicly expressed his desire to represent the Harimau Malaya.[27]

References

  1. ^ "Exclusive: FELDA move brings me closer to vegemite – Curran Ferns". NST Online. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  2. ^ "CURRAN LAWRANCE PEMAIN NATURALISASI KEDUA FELDA UNITED". NST Online. Retrieved 31 May 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Curran Singh Ferns - Official 2014 & 2015 Season Highlights". Youtube.com. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  4. ^ "NYL: Melbourne Victory FC – The Corner Flag". www.cornerflag.com.au. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  5. ^ "National Youth League 2009/10 Round 27 Review". Hyundai A-League. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Ferns Is Latest City Recruit - Football Queensland - NPL - SportsTG". SportsTG. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  7. ^ "2. Curran Ferns". www.brisbanecityfc.com.au. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Curran Ferns Interested to Join JDT". NST Online. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  9. ^ "JDT complete signing of five mixed-heritage Malaysian players". NST Online. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Negeri Sembilan to unleash new boy Henrique in Malaysia Cup vs. Felda". NST Online. 10 July 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  11. ^ "Felda hope imports will change their fate". NST Online. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Pahang look to finish the job against Negeri Sembilan in the FA Cup Semi final". NST Online. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Satiananthan disappointed Zah Rahan's red card incident". NST Online. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  14. ^ "FERNS WANTS TO REPAY SATHIANATHAN'S FAITH BY HELPING FELDA LIFT THE MALAYSIA CUP". NST Online. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  15. ^ "5 more foreign-born football players that can represent the Harimau Malaysia". NST Online. Archived from the original on 17 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  16. ^ "11 players who could play for Malaysia in 2018". NST Online. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Curran Singh Ferns - Official 2017 Season Highlights - Felda United FC". Youtube.com. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  18. ^ "Sathianathan reacts to Felda's relegation to Premier League". NST Online. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  19. ^ "Relegated Felda United guard against complacency, aim to win Malaysia Cup". NST Online. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  20. ^ "Felda United demoted for licence failure; Negeri Sembilan rise to MSL". NST Online. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  21. ^ "Felda United capture 2018 Premier League title". NST Online. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  22. ^ "Melaka United umum dapatkan Curran Ferns title". NST Online. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  23. ^ "Port overcome 3 goals to beat Sukhothai 4-3". NST Online. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  24. ^ "Malaysians abroad: Curran makes debut in disappointing thriller". NST Online. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  25. ^ Santoo, Estu (15 October 2018). "Bek Berdarah Malaysia Kelahiran Australia Salip Duo Pemain Bertahan Indonesia di Liga Thailand". BolaSport. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  26. ^ "Curran Singh Ferns". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Ferns: Playing for Malaysia would be a great honour". NST Online. Archived from the original on 20 July 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2017.