.jpg) Lok playing forMalaysia in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Darren Lok Yee Deng | ||
| Date of birth | (1990-12-14)14 December 1990 (age 35)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Hailsham, England | ||
| Position | 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 | 38 | (10) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016– | Malaysia | 38 | (6) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17 August 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals 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 professionalfootballer who plays as astriker forMalaysia Super League clubSabah. Born in England, he represents Malaysia atinternational level.[2]
Born inHailsham,East Sussex, Lok is ofChinese Malaysian and English descent.[3][4] His father is fromTengkera [ms] inMalacca.[5]
Lok began his career with theEastbourne 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 theEnglish football league system.[7]
At the start of the 2012–13 season, he was loaned toHorsham. 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]
At the end of the2015-16 season, Lok left Eastbourne to sign forJohor Darul Ta'zim II in theMalaysia 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 theMalaysia national football team.[12] Darren Lok only managed to appear twice for the JDT II team before the season ended.
For the2017 Malaysia Super League, JDT CoachMario Gómez announced that Lok would be promoted to theJDT first team for the 2017 season.
In January 2020,Terengganu has signed Lok to be with the team for the2020 Malaysia Super League season.[13] He only managed to make 4 league appearances for the team.[14]
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]
In December 2022, Lok signed withSabah.
Born in England, Lok was eligible to play either forEngland orMalaysia through his father.[7]
Lok made his international debut againstSingapore on 7 October 2016 at theJalan Besar Stadium.
He scored his first international goal againstSyria on 22 August 2017 at theHang Jebat Stadium.[7]
Lok was also part of the Malaysian team that qualified for the2023 AFC Asian Cup and scored the fourth goal in their lastqualifier, his second international goal. Lok also represented the nation at the2023 AFC Asian Cup.
| 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 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 23 | 3 | ||
| 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 | 36 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 3 | — | 46 | 18 | |||
| Sabah | 2023 | Malaysia Super League | 19 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 29 | 14 |
| 2024–25 | Malaysia Super League | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 5 | ||
| 2024–25 | Malaysia Super League | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 3 | ||
| Career Total | 244 | 56 | 21 | 11 | 20 | 6 | 38 | 12 | 322 | 86 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | |||
| 2016 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 10 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 11 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 34 | 6 |
| 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 |
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Johor Darul Ta'zim II
Malaysia
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)