 Brendan playing forMalaysia in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brendan Gan Seng Ling | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1988-06-03)3 June 1988 (age 37) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Sutherland, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Sutherland Sharks | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| –1999 | Marton Hammers | ||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2007 | Sutherland Sharks | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Sydney FC | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Sutherland Sharks | 15 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2011 | Sydney FC | 38 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Bonnyrigg White Eagles | 9 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Sabah | 19 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Rockdale City Suns | 22 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Kelantan | 31 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Perak | 28 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2023 | Selangor | 60 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Kuala Lumpur City | 16 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Sutherland Sharks | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Malaysia U23 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2024 | Malaysia | 38 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17 June 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 26 March 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
Brendan Gan Seng Ling (simplified Chinese:颜兴龙;traditional Chinese:顏興龍;pinyin:Yán Xìng Lóng; born 3 June 1988) is a professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder forNational Premier Leagues NSW clubSutherland Sharks. Born in Australia, he plays for theMalaysia national team.[1]
Gan began playing football for his local club, Marton Hammers before signing for theSutherland Sharks in 2000 when he was twelve years old, progressing through their youth grades to make his senior debut for the club in 2008. He made 15 league appearances scoring 6 goals, and 3 appearances in the Finals Series.[2] It was this debut season that shot Gan to prominence within the local media which brought with it a growing reputation to match.[3] His performances eventually led to his being crowned theNew South Wales Premier League player of the year, winning the Gold Medal award for the competition.[4]
Gan was than signed bySydney FC for their inauguralNational Youth League squad ahead of competition from rival A-League clubs.[5][6] On 28 November 2008, he made his debut forSydney FC againstQueensland Roar with a 5-minute cameo where he turned heads.[7][8] On 7 December, he scored the winning goal in the 78th minute for Sydney FC againstNewcastle Jets to give them their first win in 7 games.[9]
Gan was given his full senior debut on 13 December against theCentral Coast Mariners.[10] He scored his second senior goal againstMelbourne Victory with a long range strike from outside the penalty area.[11] Brendan scored his third senior goal againstWellington Phoenix with a powerful header from a corner. This goal gave Sydney FC a 2–0 win over Wellington and placed them on the top of the table, leapfroggingGold Coast United. On 2 December 2010, in only his second start for the season, he scored the opening goal in a 3–1 win, once again against Wellington Phoenix. He was released from Sydney, along with several other players at the end of Sydney's2011 AFC Champions League campaign.[12]
Gan signed forBonnyrigg White Eagles in theNSW Premier League,[13] and made his debut in the Round 15 game againstSydney United.[14]
On 17 November 2011, Gan moved to Malaysian club,Sabah as one of the two foreign players allowed in the2012 Malaysia Super League. Brendan, alongside his fellow countrymen,Michael Baird signed a one-year contract with Sabah.[15]
In January 2013, he returned home to signed withNSW Premier League sideRockdale City Suns.[16]
In November 2013, Gan returned to Malaysia and signed a three-year contract withMalaysia Super League clubKelantan ahead of the2014 season. He was supposed to be registered as a local player for Kelantan but did not get the approval fromFAM because according toFAM, any player to be registered as a local player is required to have Malaysian identity card or passport. On 6 April, he officially obtained an identity card as a Malaysian and was registered byKelantan as a local player during the April 2014 transfer window.[17][18][19][20]
Gan made his debut during the match betweenKelantan againstTerengganu which ended 1–1. In the first match of the2015 Malaysia Super League, Gan suffered a serioustorn ACL in his right knee that would keep him out for most of the 2015 season.[21] In September 2016, Brendan suffered another ACL injury, this time in his left knee which keep him out for 10 months, ruling him out for the2016 AFF Championship where he was released by the club at the end of 2016.[22]
After making his recovery from a long term ACL injury, On 15 December 2017, Gan signed withPerak.[citation needed] On 24 February 2018, Gan played his first football match in over a year during a league match againstPahang FA. He would than played in the club2019 AFC Champions Leaguepreliminary round 2 match against Hong Kong club,Kitchee where he played the entire 120th minute helping the club to progress to the final play-off round against KoreanUlsan Hyundai. On 8 February 2019, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw againstKedah FA.[citation needed]
On 1 December 2019, Gan officially joinedMalaysia Super League clubSelangor. In July 2021, Gan was diagnosed withtesticular cancer and missed the rest of season.[23][24] In June 2022, he made his return in a 7–0 overSarawak United, scoring a brace.[25] He was appointed as Selangor's captain since 2021. At the end of the2023 Malaysia Super League season, Selangor confirmed Gan's departure with them after spending four seasons together.[citation needed]
On 1 April 2024, Gan signed for rivals clubKuala Lumpur City. He scored his first goal on 21 June in a 3–0 away league win againstNegeri Sembilan. On 26 September 2024, during the2024–25 ASEAN Club Championship group stage match against Indonesian clubBorneo Samarinda, Gan scored the only goal in the match to secure all 3 points.[26]
After spending nearly eleven years in Malaysia, on 15 July 2025, Brendan returned to Australian to signed with hometown clubSutherland Sharks which competes in theNational Premier Leagues NSW
Gan made his first appearances with Malaysia as an overage player with theMalaysia U23 team againstYemen U23 in a preparation for the2014 Asian Games.[citation needed]
Gan later debuted forMalaysia national team on 24 March 2016 in a2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match againstSaudi Arabia.[27] He scored his first international goal on 14 July 2019 in a 2–1 victory overThailand during the2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match.[28]
Gan was called up to the Malaysia's squad for the2022 AFF Championship where he played in all of the six matches for Malaysia.
In January 2024, Gan was called up by head coachKim Pan-gon to the Malaysia's squad for the2023 AFC Asian Cup. He make his only debut in the tournament playing the entire match in the last group stage fixtures in a 3–3 draw toSouth Korea on 25 January.
Gan was born in Australia to an Australian mother andMalaysian Chinese father fromSeremban,Negeri Sembilan.[citation needed]
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Australia | League | Cup | Other | Asia | Total | |||||||
| 2008 | Sutherland Sharks | NSW Premier League | 15 | 6 | 3 | 0 | – | 18 | 6 | |||
| Total | 15 | 6 | 3 | 0 | – | 18 | 6 | |||||
| 2008–09 | Sydney FC | A-League | 9 | 2 | – | 9 | 2 | |||||
| 2009–10 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 22 | 1 | |||||
| 2010–11 | 10 | 2 | – | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | |||||
| 2011–12 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Total | 38 | 5 | 3 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 41 | 5 | |||
| 2011 | Bonnyrigg White Eagles | NSW Premier League | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 10 | 2 | |||
| Malaysia | League | FA Cup | Malaysia Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
| 2012 | Sabah | Malaysia Super League | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2 | |
| Australia | League | Cup | Other | Asia | Total | |||||||
| 2013 | Rockdale City Suns | National Premier Leagues | 22 | 3 | 4 | 0 | – | 26 | 3 | |||
| Malaysia | League | FA Cup | Malaysia Cup | Asia | Total | |||||||
| 2014 | Kelantan | Malaysia Super League | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | 23 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2016 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 23 | 0 | |||
| Total | 31 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | – | 47 | 0 | |||
| 2018 | Perak | Malaysia Super League | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | – | 23 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 7 | ||
| Total | 28 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 9 | ||
| 2020 | Selangor | Malaysia Super League | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 11 | 4 | |
| 2021 | 11 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 11 | 0 | ||||
| 2022 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 26 | 5 | |||
| 2023 | 23 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | 29 | 4 | |||
| Total | 60 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 0 | – | 77 | 13 | |||
| 2024–25 | Kuala Lumpur City | Malaysia Super League | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2[a] | 1 | 23 | 4 |
| Career total | 234 | 37 | 27 | 2 | 43 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 306 | 42 | ||
| Malaysia national team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2016 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 37 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 November 2019 | Bukit Jalil National Stadium,Bukit Jalil, Malaysia | 14 |  Thailand | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Perak
Sydney FC
Selangor
Malaysia
Individual
