Issey Nakajima-Farran

Issey Morgan Nakajima-Farran (; born 16 May 1984) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a winger or forward.

Nakajima-Farran has played professionally in Japan, Singapore, Denmark, Australia, Cyprus, Canada, Malaysia, and Spain and represented Singapore at youth international level and Canada at senior international level.

Early life Nakajima-Farran was born in Calgary in Canada, to an English-Canadian father who was born in Rhodesia, and a Japanese mother.

Nakajima-Farran began playing at youth level with Verdy Kawasaki. After moving to England, he joined the Crystal Palace Academy.

In 2004, he was loaned to their Singaporean satellite club Albirex Niigata Singapore in the S.League, playing for two seasons.

In July 2007, he signed with Danish Superliga side FC Nordsjælland on a four-year contract. On 17 July 2007, he made his debut for the club and scored his first goal in a 1-0 victory over FC Copenhagen.

In the summer of 2009, Nakajima-Frarran went on a trial with Eredivisie team De Graafschap. In his first season, he helped the club earn promotion to the first tier. In August 2011, he agreed to a mutual termination of the remainder of his contract.

Australia In late August 2011, Nakajima-Farran signed a one-year contract with A-League club Brisbane Roar. He scored his first goal for Brisbane and set up another a 7–1 victory over Adelaide United on 28 October 2011. In November 2011, he scored two goals in a 4-0 victory over Perth Glory, earning Man of the Match honours, with the victory setting set a new Australian sports team record of 36 unbeaten games, which dated back to the previous season.

Cyprus In July 2012, Nakajima-Farran signed a two-year deal with Cypriot First Division side AEK Larnaca. In January 2013, he was loaned to Alki Larnaca for the remainder of the 2012-13 season.

First stint in Canada In January 2014, Nakajima-Farran went on trial with Canadian club Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. On 28 March 2014, he officially signed a contract with the club. He scored his first goal for Toronto FC on 5 April against the Columbus Crew, in a 2–0 away victory.

On 16 May 2014, Nakajima-Farran was traded to the Montreal Impact along with allocation money in exchange for Collen Warner. At the end of the 2014 season, he was waived and released by the club.

Malaysia Following his release from MLS, Nakajima-Farran joined CF Suburense in the Segona Catalana, the sixth tier of the Spanish football league system to stay fit and be close to his family.

In April 2015, he signed with Malaysia Super League club Terengganu. After his first season, the club was relegated to the second tier Malaysia Premier League and the club was planning to release him, but he chose to remain with the club and helped them to secure promotion back to the first tier with a second place finish in 2017. In November 2017, he chose to depart the club.

Second stint in Canada

In March 2019, Nakajima-Farran signed with Canadian Premier League club Pacific FC, ahead of their inaugural season. He scored his first goal on 1 July against Cavalry FC on a free kick.

In January 2020, he joined CCB LFC United of the Vancouver Metro Soccer League club CCB LFC United at the senior amateur level.

Spain In March 2021, he signed for Spanish club UE Tàrrega in the fifth tier Primera Catalana.

He joined CF Cubelles in the seventh tier Segona Catalana later in 2021, after finishing the 2020-21 season with Tàrrega. In July 2022, he extended his contract for another season.

In April 2023, he retired from playing professionally.

In March 2024, he began playing in the seven-a-side Kings League with Rayo de Barcelona.

International career Nakajima-Farran holds Canadian, Japanese, and British citizenship.

Singapore In 2005, Nakajima-Farran was invited to play a match with the Singapore U21 national team against Japan U23, earning man of the match honours after scoring a goal and assisting another in a 2-2, before defeating Japan in penalty kicks, with Nakajima-Farran converting his kick. There was interest in him becoming a full international for Singapore, with him being eligible for a Singaporean passport after having played in the country for two years.

Canada In November 2006, Nakajima-Farran was called up to Canada for the first time ahead of a friendly against Hungary. He made his debut in the match on 12 November 2016. He earned a total of 38 caps for Canada and played at three editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup (2007, 2009, and 2013) and was named an alternate for the 2011 edition.

Nakajima-Farran is also an artist, having taken up painting at age 13 when he broke his ankle, and has sold over two dozen paintings. Danish Superliga

2010–11 Primera Catalana

2021–22 Segona Catalana

2022–23 Segona Catalana

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International

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nakajima-Farran goal. + List of international goals scored by Issey Nakajima-Farran

Honours Albirex Niigata J2 League: 2003

Vejle Boldklub Danish First Division: 2005–06

AC Horsens Danish First Division: 2009–10

Brisbane Roar A-League: 2011–12

Montreal Impact Canadian Championship: 2014

Individual Singapore 'Young Player of the Year': 2005 PFAM Player of the Month: August 2015, October 2015