Sam Ling
English footballer (born 1996)
Samuel Jack Ling (born 17 December 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League club Hornchurch.
01Career
Ling began his career at Leyton Orient, progressing through the O's academy to become Youth Team captain and also featured on the bench for the first-team a number of times. He moved to Dagenham & Redbridge in 2016. On 7 February 2018, he returned to fellow National League and former club Leyton Orient for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. Ling was one of a number of players to leave Dagenham due to the club's financial issues. His father, Martin, was also director of football at Orient. He made his long-awaited debut for the club on 17 February, coming on as a substitute in the second-half against Chester. He scored his first goal for the club on 15 March 2019 in a 3-2 away win at Barrow. He played a key role at right-back as Orient won the National League title at the end of the 2018-19 season. Ling started the 2019-20 season well and was nominated for the Orient's Player of the Month award in August. On 9 September 2019 he signed a new one-year extension to his contract until the summer of 2021. He had been an ever-present in the side since promotion and their return to the English Football League. He made his 50th appearance for the club on 21 September 2019 in a 2-1 defeat to Colchester United. He made a total of 87 appearances for Orient in three and a half seasons before he was released in the summer of 2021 following the expiration of his contract.
On 9 July 2021, Ling returned to National League club Dagenham & Redbridge on a free transfer. Daggers boss, Daryl McMahon, spoke of his acquisition, "He obviously comes from a good footballing family, with his dad Martin. I've known Sam since he was about five or six, from when I played for Martin at Leyton Orient. He's been at the football club before and did really well here, so we know what we're getting." He left after the end of the 2024-25 season.
He joined National League South club Hornchurch on 13 January 2026, and he debuted on 24 January 2026 during the 2-1 victory against Weston-super-Mare. His first goal for Hornchurch was scored on 9 May 2026 and it was the winning goal in the 3-2 victory against Torquay United during the promotion play-off final which saw Hornchurch promoted to the National League for the first time in their history.
02Career statistics
- As of match played 9 May 2026
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leyton Orient | 2013-14 | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014-15 | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2015-16 | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Grays Athletic (loan) | 2014-15 | IL Premier Division | 0 | 0 | , | , | , | 0 | 0 | |||
| Histon (loan) | 2015-16 | SL Premier Division | 7 | 1 | , | , | , | 7 | 1 | |||
| Dagenham & Redbridge | 2016-17 | National League | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | , | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2017-18 | National League | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | , | 1 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| Total | 40 | 3 | 3 | 0 | , | 1 | 0 | 44 | 3 | |||
| Leyton Orient | 2017-18 | National League | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | , | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2018-19 | National League | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | , | 4 | 0 | 27 | 1 | ||
| 2019-20 | League Two | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 2020-21 | League Two | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 1 | |
| Total | 80 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 92 | 2 | ||
| Dagenham & Redbridge | 2021-22 | National League | 32 | 2 | 2 | 0 | , | 3 | 0 | 37 | 2 | |
| 2022-23 | National League | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | , | 1 | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2023-24 | National League | 40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | , | 1 | 1 | 41 | 2 | ||
| 2024-25 | National League | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | , | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| Total | 119 | 4 | 3 | 0 | , | 5 | 1 | 127 | 5 | |||
| Hornchurch | 2025-26 | National League South | 15 | 0 | , | , | 2 | 1 | 17 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 261 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 287 | 12 | ||
03Honours
Leyton Orient
- National League: 2018-19
- FA Trophy runner-up: 2018-19
Hornchurch
- National League South play-offs: 2026
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Sam Ling”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.