Farnborough is a nice place to live. Placidly lying on the eastern shore of the River Blackwater, less than an hour from London, it boasts a trademark clock house from the late 19th century, the charming Saint Michael's Abbey, where Napoleon III of France is buried, and an aviation trade exhibition held every other year at the local airfield.
No one can question the town’s tranquillity and discreet charm, yet what were the chances of two future stars of the Malaysian national team getting to know each other right here, in northeast Hampshire?
Still, this is the very place where Samuel Somerville and Junior Eldstal first got to know each other, in a time when the two could hardly imagine that one day they’d be both sporting the black-and-yellow shirt and singing the Negaraku on the same pitch.
“Mine and Junior’s relation developed from the youth team of Farnborough,” Somerville told Goal. “We have a lot of good memories, like getting into the FA Youth Cup’s earlier stages and playing against elite teams such as Cheltenham.
"When he was too old to play for the youth team, I was already on loan to Godalming, playing first-team football there, so he went to university but we stayed really good friend.”
Farnborough and Godalming are just two stops of a long journey through England’s lower leagues that proved instrumental in Somerville’s development both as goalkeeper and man.
“I’m a firm believer that a goalkeeper is better off playing than training, even if he needs to drop a couple of leagues to get some game time,” he reflected.
“A goalkeeper learns from match experience, not from training. I’ve been quite fortunate because I got asked to play senior football at the age of 15. Getting match experience at senior level is something that developed my game and helped me to play football at a good standard quite early on in my career.”
And yet, such a successful career wasn’t even meant to unfold between the sticks.
“My love for football started on the playground of the school I went to,” Somerville reminisced.
“When I was around eight I started to attend a Saturday school called Brazilian Soccer School. It was the time of Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and I was into Joga Bonito, the ball work, the turns, the tricks and everything.
"I stayed there for a couple of years and when I was around 10, I told my father that I wanted to join a team, so he signed me up for one in the town close to where I lived. They asked me to play in a tournament, just to see how I was. I played a couple of games and it was OK, then they asked me to go in goal, and I had a very good tournament.
"They basically said to me ‘Look, we can take you on the team, but would you mind being our goalkeeper?’ I just wanted to join a team, so I agreed to it, and it went from there. I didn’t know much about goalkeeping. I’d never really wanted to be a goalkeeper, I wanted to be a striker. It was just a little bit of luck.”
Nevertheless, that kid dreaming to play up front grew fast, made a name for himself as one of the most promising young goalkeepers west of London and started to look for the opportunity to step up his game. Even better if he could also pay homage to his Malaysian heritage in the process, given his bound with the Southeast Asian country by means of a beloved grandmother hailing from Kulim.
Sure enough, he was shown such opportunity by none other than Eldstal.
“One day he came back, we went to the gym and he told me that he was coming over to Malaysia to do some work experience in Sabah; then he got the offer from Sarawak to play out here,” reminisced Somerville.
“We knew we both had Malaysian heritage, but he had the passport and I didn’t, so a lot of work went into getting it. Initially, I came over for a trial with Johor, which was successful, then we went into the passport application phase, which took around six months. I’m very grateful for the help I received.”
Legally a Malaysian citizen, the young shot-stopper could instantly feel the pride emanating from the brand-new passport he was holding in his hands.
“I’m really proud to be Malaysian and to represent Malaysia on a national scale,” he pointed out. “I used to come here when I was a kid and it’s a country I fell in love with from the first minute. When I got the passport, it was a really proud day for me and my family. We cried with happiness.”
Somerville’s first chance to prove his worth on Malaysian soil came at JDT II, following an inevitable yet very conscious choice.
“When I moved over from the UK in October 2015, I was training with the JDT first team and we had a trip to Thailand planned for the pre-season. I pulled my quad quite badly four days before we were meant to fly out, and obviously I had to stay put in Johor.
"Coach Mario Gomez basically pulled me into the office after they’d got back and said ‘You’re so young. Do you want to stay here and wait, or do you want to go down to JDT II and get some experience?’. I’m convinced that the only way to get experience for goalkeepers is to play games, so I decided to join JDT II.”
Despite being 14 hours away from home, his first impact with the country as an adult definitely strengthened Somerville’s intention of settling down in Malaysia.
“I was so baffled that you can pay pretty much everything in cash here, while in England everything’s done over the bank,” he explained. “That’s one of the reasons why I love the country – it’s so relaxed, so easygoing, so beautiful. Moreover, I’m not a fan of cold and rain, so I’m really grateful to be still playing out here. Hopefully I’ll be in this country for many more years to come.”
This serenity in dealing with a new reality must have been one of the reasons behind Somerville’s breakthrough season at Penang, where he only conceded eight goals throughout the whole 2020 campaign, turning quite a few heads in the process.
“The move from Johor was one that I wanted to make, and that I had to make for the good of my career,” he mused. “I came here with the mentality of working my socks off every day, building good relationships with people around the club, especially my goalkeeping coach, for whom I have a lot of respect. I just had a point to prove, I had to show that I deserved to be over here.”
Obviously, such determination is matched by uncommon goalkeeping skills, whose origin and current state of development Somerville can lucidly assess:
“Modern football’s goalkeeper is the 11th man on the field. For me, it stemmed from playing in England. I’ve been playing senior football for a long time, which is very physical, and I had no problem with that, I was more than ready to rough up with the big boys," he explained.
"English football in the lower leagues is not like the Premier League; it’s very direct and straight-to-the-goal. Gaining so much experience from playing men’s football regularly from the age of 16 made me read the game well. There are things that only a proper game can teach – training and small-sided games won’t.
"I’m a loud goalkeeper, I like to communicate and tell people where they should be, as it makes my job easier. I like to think I’m well-equipped in every area of my game and I wouldn’t say there’s one thing I lack in, even though I’m obviously working hard to make what I’m good at even better.”
When asked about how important going through different training methods has been in order to become the player he’s today, Somerville has similarly clear ideas.
“In England, they’re very focused on footwork and moving around your goal. Sometimes you don’t need to dive, just make a couple of steps and you can get to the ball,” he stated.
“My first impression when I came here is that there was a lot more jumping and flying. I remember one drill we did when I first arrived; there was a hurdle in the middle of the goal and there were ten balls – five each side – thrown at the top corner, and I had to dive over the hurdle, get up and dive the other side. I think both techniques can be useful. Wherever you play in the world, you’ll pick up different things. You have to be a sponge, because knowledge is power.”
In May 2021, the English-born goalkeeper’s journey finally came full circle with his first call-up to the Malaysian national team, with which he got to take part to the World Cup qualifiers as the third-choice goalkeeper.
“I like to put myself in the coach’s shoes and think ‘What would I do?’,” he observed. “If I called up three goalkeepers and for one of them this is the first experience with the national team, I’d probably do the same.
"For a goalkeeper, experience is vital. At the moment, the goalkeepers ahead of me in the national team have done a lot more for the country in terms of football, so I’m at ease. I’m 26, I have ten years left if I condition myself right and I think I’ll get experience over time. I know I have to be patient – I’ll get my chance.”
Penang keeper’s ambition isn’t limited to the pitch either.
“I think it’s important to build for what’s after your football career, which is very short,” he remarked.
“Even though I’m focused on my playing career at the moment, I’d like to grow slowly with my line of gloves. In business, you can’t have results after just two or three years. I wanted to get started as soon as possible so that when I’m 35, hopefully I’ll have a good foundation of something I can go and put my mind to.
"The reason behind SJS Goalkeeping is that when I first got to Malaysia, all goalkeepers wore top-of-the-range gloves that cost more than 500 ringgits. So I started to think about something of good quality but that doesn’t cost that much. Now I hope that this glove brand can grow with me, and it’s going really well.”
Talent, dedication and a healthy dose of self-confidence are the main ingredients of Somerville’s path to the top, both on and off the pitch. It’s a path that’s far from complete but one from which both Penang and the whole of Malaysian football will undoubtedly benefit a lot, especially looking at the awareness with which he describes it.
“It’s never a straight line. It’s up-and-down, it’s squiggly, you have to turn back on yourself sometimes. I know there’s going to be some bumps in the road, some smooth sailing, but I know where I want to be, and I’ll get there,” Somerville concluded.
