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. He moved with his family from Calgary to Tokyo, Japan at age three, and then from Tokyo to London, England at age ten.
Nakajima-Farran began playing at youth level with Verdy Kawasaki. After moving to England, he joined the Crystal Palace Academy. At age 16, he returned to Japan and signed a youth contract with Tokyo Verdy (which re-branded from Verdy Kawasaki, his former youth club).
Club career
Albirex Niigata In 2003, Nakajima-Farran began his professional soccer career after signing with J2 League's Albirex Niigata.
In 2004, he was loaned to their Singaporean satellite club Albirex Niigata Singapore in the S.League, playing for two seasons. In 2005, he was named the S.League Young Player of the Year.
Denmark In the winter transfer window of 2006, Nakajima-Farran had trials with English sides Millwall, Portsmouth for a month and Reading for a couple of days.
In the spring of 2006, he signed with Danish First Division team Vejle Boldklub. He helped the club win the championship and gain promotion to the top league in the Danish football system, the Superliga. In February 2007, he extended his contract until the summer of 2009.
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 September 2009, he signed with second tier side AC Horsens. 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.
In May 2018, he signed with Pahang.
Second stint in Canada
In March 2019, Nakajima-Farran signed with Canadian Premier League club Pacific FC, ahead of their inaugural season. He made his debut on 28 April against the HFX Wanderers, in a substitute appearance. 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. His father was born in the former Rhodesia and is English-Canadian, his mother was born in Japan.
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. He had hoped the performance could lead to a call-up to Japan, however, but the Japanese coach stated he was not interested in calling him up. 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 scored his first international goal on 15 June 2008 in a World Cup qualification match against St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 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.
Personal life He is the brother of Paris Nakajima-Farran, who was also a professional player.
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.
After his retirement from playing, he bought a yacht to live on in Barcelona, after also previously living on a boat on Vancouver Island while playing for Pacific FC in 2019.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsNordsjælland2008–09Danish Superliga161000030191Horsens2010–11Danish Superliga2840000002842011–12Danish Superliga3100000031Total315000000315Brisbane Roar2011–12A-League234000000234AEK2012–13Cypriot First Division101000000101Alki (loan)2012–13Cypriot First Division153200000173Toronto FC2014Major League Soccer5220000072Montreal Impact2014Major League Soccer130000020150Terengganu2015Malaysia Super League1292153—19132016Malaysia Super League1870000—1872017Malaysia Premier League1885132—2611Total48247285006331Pahang2018Malaysia Super League1062000—126Pacific FC2019Canadian Premier League1812000—201Tàrrega2020–21Primera Catalana123––—123Cubelles2021–22Segona Catalana2315––—23152022–23Segona Catalana169––—169Total39240000003924Career total24074152855026881
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsCanada200610200770200871200930201040201110201370201430201540201610Total381
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 |- | style="text-align:center"|1 || 20 June 2008 || Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines || || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|3–0 || 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
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
References
External links
Official website
Issey Nakajima-Farran Interview (archived) Who is: Issey Nakajima-Farran (archived) Issey Nakajima-Farran at La Preferente