Darren Lok

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lok.

Darren Lok
Lok playing for Malaysia in 2022
Personal information
Full name Darren Lok Yee Deng
Date of birth (1990-12-14) 14 December 1990 (age 34)[1]
Place of birth Hailsham, England
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Sabah
Number 28
Youth career
2009–2012 Eastbourne Borough
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Eastbourne Borough 140 (23)
2012 → Horsham (loan) 2 (1)
2016–2019 Johor Darul Ta'zim II 23 (9)
2017–2019 Johor Darul Ta'zim 5 (0)
2020 Terengganu 4 (0)
2020 Terengganu II 3 (0)
2021–2022 Petaling Jaya City 29 (13)
2023– Sabah 27 (7)
International career‡
2016– Malaysia 38 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 September 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 December 2024

Darren Lok Yee Deng (simplified Chinese: 陆伊腾; traditional Chinese: 陸伊騰; pinyin: Lù Yīténg; born 14 December 1990)[1] is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Malaysia Super League club Sabah. Born in England, he represents the Malaysia national team.[2]

Early life

Born in Hailsham, East Sussex, Lok is of Chinese Malaysian and English descent.[3][4] His father is from Tengkera [ms] in Malacca.[5]

Club career

Eastbourne Borough

Lok began his career with the Eastbourne Borough Academy. Later, he was promoted to the senior squad in 2012. Darren Lok was working shifts in an NHS psychiatric hospital as a psychiatric support worker[6] in the south of England while also playing part-time football for Eastbourne Borough of the National League South, the sixth tier overall of the English football league system.[7]

Horsham (loan)

At the start of the 2012–13 season, he was loaned to Horsham. He impressed at Horsham,[8][9] but was recalled by Eastbourne after 2 games, due to a player shortage at the club.[10]

Early in his Borough career, Lok gained a reputation as a 'super-sub' due to the late goals he would score after coming off the bench.[11]

Johor Darul Ta'zim

At the end of the 2015-16 season, Lok left Eastbourne to sign for Johor Darul Ta'zim II in the Malaysia Premier League. His registration was delayed, due to having to apply for a Malaysian passport. In September 2016 he received his Malaysian passport, which enabled him to play for JDT II as well as the Malaysia national football team.[12] Darren Lok only managed to appear twice for the JDT II team before the season ended.

For the 2017 Malaysia Super League, JDT Coach Mario Gómez announced that Lok would be promoted to the JDT first team for the 2017 season.

Terengganu

In January 2020, Terengganu has signed Lok to be with the team for the 2020 Malaysia Super League season.[13] He only managed to make 4 league appearances for the team.[14]

Petaling Jaya City

Petaling Jaya City announced the signing of Lok from Terengganu in December 2020. He cited a lack of playing time as one of the reasons for his decision to join PJ City after a one-year stint with Terengganu .[15]

Sabah

In December 2022, Lok signed with Sabah.

International career

Born in England, Lok was eligible to play either for England or Malaysia through his father.[7]

Lok made his international debut against Singapore on 7 October 2016 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

He scored his first international goal against Syria on 22 August 2017 at the Hang Jebat Stadium.[7]

Lok was also part of the Malaysian team that qualified for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and scored the fourth goal in their last qualifier, his second international goal. Lok also represented the nation at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

Career statistics

Club

As of 16 December 2023.[16][17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Eastbourne Borough 2012–13[18] Conference South 31 5 3 2 — 2[a] 0 36 7
2013–14[18] Conference South 38 6 3 1 — 3[b] 0 44 7
2014–15[18] Conference South 38 8 5 1 — 4[c] 1 47 10
2015–16[18] National League South 33 4 3 1 — 8[d] 4 44 9
Total 140 23 14 5 — 17 5 171 33
Horsham (loan) 2012–13 Isthmian League Division One South 2 1 0 0 — 0 0 2 1
Johor Darul Ta'zim II 2016 Malaysia Premier League 2 0 — 2 0
Johor Darul Ta'zim 2017 Malaysia Super League 3 0 — 5[e] 2 — 8 2
2018 Malaysia Super League 2 0 2 0 2[e] 0 5[f] 0 11 0
Total 5 0 2 0 7 2 5 0 19 2
Johor Darul Ta'zim II 2018 Malaysia Premier League 13 8 — 7[g] 0 20 8
2019 Malaysia Premier League 8 1 — 4[g] 1 12 2
Total 21 9 — 11 1 32 10
Terengganu FC 2020 Malaysia Super League 4 0 0 0 1[e] 0 — 5 0
Terengganu FC II 2020 Malaysia Premier League 3 0 — 3 0
Petaling Jaya City 2021 Malaysia Super League 9 3 — 6[e] 3 — 15 6
2022 Malaysia Super League 20 10 2 2 2[e] 0 — 24 12
Total 29 13 2 2 8 3 — 39 18
Sabah 2023 Malaysia Super League 19 6 1 1 3 1 5 6 28 14
Career Total 225 52 19 8 19 6 38 12 301 78
  1. ^ One appearance in FA Trophy, one appearance in Sussex Senior Challenge Cup
  2. ^ One appearance in FA Trophy, two appearances in Sussex Senior Challenge Cup
  3. ^ One appearance in FA Trophy, three appearances and one goal in Sussex Senior Challenge Cup
  4. ^ Four appearances and one goal in FA Trophy, four appearances and three goals in Sussex Senior Challenge Cup
  5. ^ a b c d e Appearances in Malaysia Cup
  6. ^ Appearances in AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and appearances in AFC Cup
  7. ^ a b Appearances in Malaysia Challenge Cup

International

As of 26 March 2024[16]
National team Year Apps Goals
Malaysia
2016 5 0
2017 4 1
2022 10 2
2023 11 3
2024 4 0
Total 34 6

International goals

Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first.[19]
No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 22 August 2017 Hang Jebat Stadium, Malacca, Malaysia  Syria 1–2 1–2 Friendly
2. 14 June 2022 Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Bangladesh 4–1 4–1 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification
3. 14 December 2022 Kuala Lumpur Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Maldives 1–0 3–0 Friendly
4. 3 January 2023 Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Singapore 1–0 4–1 2022 AFF Championship
5. 6 September 2023 East Town Sports Park Stadium, Chengdu, China  Syria 2–2 2–2 Friendly
6. 21 November 2023 Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan  Chinese Taipei 1–0 1–0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Johor Darul Ta'zim

Johor Darul Ta'zim II

Malaysia

References

  1. ^ a b Football Association of Malaysia - Facebook, 14 December 2023.
  2. ^ Darren Lok at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ^ "Sussex Born & Bred: Darren Lok". Sussex FA. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  4. ^ Shamsudin, Shaiful (3 July 2021). "Euro 2020: Setiap kejohanan utama 'it's coming home', kata Darren Lok". stadiumastro.com (in Malay). Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  5. ^ "JOHOR Southern Tigers". Facebook. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  6. ^ The Armchair Malaysia Ep 10 | Darren Lok and Building Lok-al Stars!, archived from the original on 18 April 2022, retrieved 18 April 2022, Minute 3:15.
  7. ^ a b c "Darren Lok: The phone call that turned non-league player into Malaysia international". BBC Sport. 8 October 2019. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Whitstable Town 2-2 Horsham". Horsham F.C. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Whitstable Town 2-2 Horsham - We're not finishing teams off, says Whitstable boss Justin Luchford". Kentish Football. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  10. ^ "Lok's the key as Borough end their losing streak in style". Eastbourne Herald. 18 September 2012. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Lok aims to be more than an impact sub". Eastbourne Herald. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Darren Lok granted passport - eligible to play for Malaysia and JDT II". Nicolas Anil. ESPN. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  13. ^ "DARREN BAKAL MEMBERIKAN PILIHAN BUAT NAFUZI ZAIN DALAM VARIASIKAN JENTERA SERANGAN TFC". Terengganu FC. 30 January 2020. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Malaysia - Darren Lok - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". my.soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  15. ^ Monday, 14 Dec 2020 05:27 PM MYT (14 December 2020). "Darren Lok among three new signings of PJ City FC | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ a b Darren Lok at Soccerway
  17. ^ DARREN YEE DENG LOK - Malaysian Football League.
  18. ^ a b c d "D. Lok: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Lok Yee Deng, Darren". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  20. ^ Fai, Ooi Kin (25 September 2022). "Harimau Malaya lose King's Cup final after penalty shootout heartbreak". nst.com.my. Chiang Mai, Thailand: New Straits Times. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  21. ^ BERNAMA (9 August 2024). "Malaysia Beat Lebanon 1-0 In Final Of 2024 Merdeka Tournament". BERNAMA. Retrieved 8 September 2024.