Samuel Jack Ling (born 17 December 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League club Dagenham & Redbridge.
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.[3] 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.[4] Ling was one of a number of players to leave Dagenham due to the club's financial issues.[5] His father, Martin, was also director of football at Orient.[4] He made his long-awaited debut for the club on 17 February, coming on as a substitute in the second-half against Chester.[3] He scored his first goal for the club on 15 March 2019 in a 3–2 away win at Barrow.[3] He played a key role at right-back as Orient won the National League title at the end of the 2018–19 season.[5] Ling started the 2019–20 season well and was nominated for the Orient's Player of the Month award in August.[3] On 9 September 2019 he signed a new one-year extension to his contract until the summer of 2021.[6] He had been an ever-present in the side since promotion and their return to the English Football League.[6] He made his 50th appearance for the club on 21 September 2019 in a 2–1 defeat to Colchester United.[3] 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.[7]
On 9 July 2021, Ling returned to National League side Dagenham & Redbridge on a free transfer.[7] 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."
His father is Martin Ling.[6]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leyton Orient | 2013–14[8] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014–15[8] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2015–16[8] | 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[9] | IL Premier Division | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Histon (loan) | 2015–16[10] | SL Premier Division | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| Dagenham & Redbridge | 2016–17[8] | National League | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2017–18[8] | National League | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| Total | 40 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 44 | 3 | |||
| Leyton Orient | 2017–18[8] | National League | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2018–19[8] | National League | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[a] | 0 | 27 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20[11] | League Two | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[12] | League Two | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[b] | 1 | 34 | 1 | |
| Total | 80 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 92 | 2 | ||
| Dagenham & Redbridge | 2021–22[13] | National League | 32 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 3[a] | 0 | 37 | 2 | |
| 2022–23[14] | National League | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2023–24[15] | National League | 40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 1 | 41 | 2 | ||
| 2024–25[16] | National League | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||
| Total | 119 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | 5 | 1 | 127 | 5 | |||
| Career total | 246 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 270 | 11 | ||
