Robert Cullen (footballer)

Robert Cullen (カレン・ロバート, Karen Robāto, born 7 June 1985) is a former Japanese footballer.

Robert Cullen
カレン・ロバート

Personal information
Full name	Robert Cullen
Date of birth	7 June 1985
Place of birth	Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward, Midfielder
Youth career
2001–2003	Funabashi High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2010	Júbilo Iwata	110	(29)
2010	Roasso Kumamoto	18	(3)
2011–2013	VVV-Venlo	69	(7)
2014	Suphanburi	22	(7)
2015	Seoul E-Land	35	(2)
2016	NorthEast United	8	(0)
2018	Leatherhead	8	(3)
Total		270	(51)
National team
2003–2005	Japan U-20	11	(0)
Honours Júbilo Iwata Winner J.League Cup 2010 Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2004 Representing  Japan AFC U-19 Championship 2004 Malaysia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Cullen is a forward, Cullen made his senior football debut for Júbilo Iwata on 5 May 2004, Oita Trinita being the opponent.

Cullen started training in the youth ranks at Kashiwa Reysol before eventually joining the team at Funabashi Municipal High School. After his graduation, he signed with Jubilo Iwata in 2004. Although mostly limited to substitute appearances and the occasional league cup start in his rookie year, big things were expected of Cullen as he matured and gained experience playing with such seasoned professionals as Masashi Nakayama and Toshiya Fujita.

He left Júbilo in 2010 to join Roasso Kumamoto of J2 League. In January 2011 it was announced that Cullen joined Dutch Eredivisie club VVV-Venlo, best known in Japan for featuring another Japanese, Maya Yoshida, and having been Keisuke Honda's first European club.[1] In July 2018, Cullen signed for English non-league side Leatherhead FC.[2]

National team career

In 2005, Cullen selected Japanese citizenship in order to be able to play for the Japanese national team. He was a member of the Japan U-20 national team which played in the 2005 World Youth Championship held in the Netherlands. He played all 4 matches.[3]

In February 2012 it was reported that Michael O'Neill had contacted Cullen with a view to convincing him to play for the Northern Ireland national team.[4]

Club statistics

[5]

Club	Season	League		Cup^1		League Cup^2		Continental^3		Other^4		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Funabashi High School	2003	-		3	0	-		-		-		3	0
	Total	-		3	0	-		-		-		3	0
Júbilo Iwata	2004	9	0	0	0	4	0	2	1	-		15	1
	2005	31	13	2	1	2	0	5	1	-		40	15
	2006	23	5	2	0	5	0	-		-		30	5
	2007	26	7	1	2	4	2	-		-		31	11
	2008	16	4	1	1	3	3	-		-		20	8
	2009	4	0	3	1	1	0	-		-		8	1
	2010	1	0	0	0	0	0	-		-		1	0
	Total	110	29	9	5	19	5	7	2	-		145	41
Roasso Kumamoto	2010	18	3	1	0	-		-		-		19	3
	Total	18	3	1	0	-		-		-		19	3
VVV-Venlo	2010/11	15	2	-		-		-		4	2	19	4
	2011/12	28	3	1	0	-		-				29	3
	2012/13	26	2			-		-				26	2
	Total	69	7	1	0	-		-		4	2	68	9
Suphanburi	2014	22	7	-		-		-		0	0	22	7
	Total	22	7	0	0	-		-		0	0	22	7
Seoul E-Land	2015	35	2	-		-		-		0	0	35	2
	Total	35	2	0	0	-		-		0	0	35	2
NorthEast United	2016	8	0	-		-		-		-		8	0
	Total	8	0	-		-		-		-		8	0
Career total		262	48	15	5	19	5	7	2	4	2	307	62

¹Includes Emperor's Cup.

²Includes J. League Cup.

³Includes AFC Champions League.

⁴Includes Eredivisie Playoffs.

References

1. "Iers/Japanse aanvaller Cullen op weg naar Venlo" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
3. Robert Cullen – FIFA competition record
4. NI boss Michael O'Neill sounds out Dutch-based Robert Cullen
5. "Japan – Robert Cullen – Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway.

External links

• Robert Cullen – FIFA competition record
• Robert Cullen at J.League (in Japanese)
• Robert Cullen – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean) (in Korean)
• Official website (in Japanese)