Darren Lok Yee Deng (born 18 September 1991; simplified Chinese: 陆伊腾; traditional Chinese: 陸伊騰; pinyin: Lù Yīténg) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Malaysia Super League side Petaling Jaya City and the Malaysia national team.[1]
![]() Darren Lok playing for Malaysia in 2022 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Darren Lok Yee Deng | ||
Date of birth | (1991-09-18) 18 September 1991 (age 31) | ||
Place of birth | Hailsham, England | ||
Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Sabah F.C. | ||
Number | 9 | ||
Youth career | |||
2009–2012 | Eastbourne Borough | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2012–2016 | Eastbourne Borough | 140 | (23) |
2012 | → Horsham (loan) | 2 | (1) |
2016 | Johor Darul Ta'zim II | 26 | (5) |
2017–2019 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 5 | (0) |
2018–2019 | → Johor Darul Ta'zim II (loan) | 22 | (9) |
2020 | Terengganu | 4 | (0) |
2021– | Petaling Jaya City | 29 | (13) |
National team‡ | |||
2016– | Malaysia | 11 | (2) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 October 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 June 2022 |
Born in Hailsham, East Sussex, Lok is of Malaysian Chinese and English descent.[2] His father is from Tengkera in Malacca.[3]
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[4] 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.[5] At the start of the 2012–13 season, he was loaned to Horsham. He impressed at Horsham,[6][7] but was recalled by Eastbourne after 2 games, due to a player shortage at the club.[8]
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.[9]
At the end of the 2015-16 season, Lok left Eastbourne to sign for Johor Darul Ta'zim II of 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.[10] 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 from JDT II for the upcoming 2017 season.
In January 2020, Terengganu FC has signed Darren Lok to be with the team for the Malaysia League 2020 season.[11] He only managed to make 4 league appearances for the team.[12]
Petaling Jaya City FC announced the signing of Darren Lok from Terengganu FC in December 2020. He cited a lack of playing time as one of the reasons for his decision to join PJ City FC after a one-year stint with Terengganu FC.[13]
Born in England, Lok was eligible for Malaysia through his father.[5]
Lok made his Malaysia national football team debut against Singapore in 2016 and scored his first international goal against Syria in 2017.[5] Lok is also part of the Malaysian team that qualified for the 2023 Asian Cup and scored the fourth goal in their last qualifier, his second international goal.
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Eastbourne Borough | 2012–13[15] | Conference South | 31 | 5 | 3 | 2 | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 36 | 7 | |
2013–14[15] | Conference South | 38 | 6 | 3 | 1 | — | 3[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 44 | 7 | ||
2014–15[15] | Conference South | 38 | 8 | 5 | 1 | — | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | 47 | 10 | ||
2015–16[15] | National League South | 33 | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | 8[lower-alpha 4] | 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 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||
Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2017 | Malaysia Super League | 3 | 0 | — | 5[lower-alpha 5] | 2 | — | 8 | 2 | ||
2018 | Malaysia Super League | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 5[lower-alpha 6] | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
Total | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 2 | ||
Johor Darul Ta'zim II | 2018 | Malaysia Premier League | 14 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 7[lower-alpha 7] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 8 |
2019 | Malaysia Premier League | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 7] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | |
Total | 22 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 10 | ||
Terengganu FC | 2020 | Malaysia Super League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Terengganu FC II | 2020 | Malaysia Premier League | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
Petaling Jaya City | 2021 | Malaysia Super League | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 5] | 3 | — | 15 | 6 | |
2022 | Malaysia Super League | 20 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | — | 22 | 12 | ||
Total | 29 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 18 | ||
Career Total | 207 | 47 | 18 | 7 | 21 | 6 | 22 | 5 | 268 | 65 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Malaysia | |||
2016 | 5 | 0 | |
2017 | 4 | 1 | |
2022 | 2 | 1 | |
Total | 11 | 2 |
No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 22 August 2017 | Hang Jebat Stadium, Malacca, Malaysia | ![]() | 1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
2. | 14 June 2022 | Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | ![]() | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification |
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Johor Darul Ta'zim II
International