Jlloyd Samuel

Aston Villa

Jlloyd Tafari Samuel was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, on 29 March 1981, Samuel grew up in London and as a youth he played for Sunday league team Senrab, lining up in 1994 alongside future England internationals John Terry and Jermain Defoe. He was released from West Ham United on the same day as Paul Konchesky, Bobby Zamora (both of whom later returned to the Hammers) and Fitz Hall. He signed for Aston Villa in July 1997 as a youth training scheme trainee, spending the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons in their youth team. Samuel's Aston Villa debut came in a second-round second-leg League Cup match against Chester City on 21 September 1999, which finished 5–0 in Aston Villa's favour. He replaced Gareth Barry after 51 minutes at Villa Park. On 25 March 2000, due to an injury to England international Gareth Southgate, he made his league debut in a 2–0 home win over Derby County, playing in central defence. Samuel was loaned to First Division club Gillingham, where he made seven full appearances and one substitute appearance between 25 October and 3 December 2001. After he returned to Villa, the team's starting right-back, Mark Delaney, suffered an injury and Samuel filled his position; after the Welshman returned, Samuel was given a favoured left-back position. He reflected in a 2013 interview that his versatility helped him become a regular starter: "If you're just in one position and you're out of favour, you won't play. But if you can play in a…

Samuel was called up for England in March 2004 whilst enjoying a spell of good form for Aston Villa and could have made his debut in the 1–0 friendly loss to Sweden if Sven-Göran Eriksson had selected him. He had previously represented England at U-18, U-20 and U-21 level. Later on, Samuel wanted to represent Trinidad and Tobago in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but the application was rejected by FIFA. The rules in place at the time said that only players under the age of 21 could change their international allegiances. On 7 August 2009, it was revealed that Bobby Zamora and Samuel had received Trinidad and Tobago passports, making them eligible to play for the Soca Warriors. He made his debut for Trinidad and Tobago on 5 September in a 4–1 loss away to Honduras in World Cup qualification and appeared for the second and last time four days later, receiving a yellow card in a 1–0 home loss to the United States.

Jlloyd Samuel was married to Emma and had three children with her, as well as a child from a previous relationship. His son Lakyle, born in 2006, is part of Manchester City's academy and captained England at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Samuel's life and death were covered in the 2022 ITVBe documentary The Footballer, His Wife, and the Crash. The documentary claimed he had a secret second wife in Iran, fashion designer Helia Sahimi, and that he had converted to Islam to marry her.

Aston Villa

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001 FA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000 Esteghlal

Hazfi Cup: 2011–12 Iran Pro League: 2012–13