Sam Tillen

Samuel Lee Tillen (born 16 April 1985) is an English professional footballer, most notable for his eight years in as a left back in Icelandic football with Fram and FH. He also played in the Football League for Brentford. Tillen was capped by England at U19 level and represented the Football League at U21 level.

Sam Tillen
Tillen warming up for Brentford in 2006.
Personal information
Full name Samuel Lee Tillen[1]
Date of birth (1985-04-16) 16 April 1985
Place of birth Reading, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Left back. left midfielder
Club information
Current team
 ÍH
FH (youth team manager)
Youth career
1997–2002 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2005 Chelsea 0 (0)
2005–2008 Brentford 68 (1)
2008–2012 Fram 98 (6)
2013–2016 FH 28 (0)
2016 → Fram (loan) 15 (0)
2020– ÍH 4 (0)
National team
2003 England U19 2 (0)
2006 Football League U21 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:25, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Chelsea

A left back, Tillen joined the academy at Premier League club Chelsea at the age of 12.[3] He completed a scholarship and signed his first professional contract in 2002,[4][5] but his progress was hindered by 17 months out with a stress fracture in his back and a torn anterior cruciate ligament.[6] Tillen progressed to the reserve team,[7] but despite an injury crisis at full back in the first team ranks in late in February 2005,[8] he did not receive a call into the first team squad before departing Stamford Bridge at the end of the 2004–05 season.[9]

Brentford

On 27 May 2005, Tillen joined League One club Brentford on a one-year contract, with a one-year option.[10] He was a regular in the promotion-chasing team throughout the 2005–06 season and manager Martin Allen took up the option on his contract in February 2006.[7][11][12] Tillen finished the 2005–06 season with 43 appearances and experienced the disappointment of defeat to Swansea City in the play-off semi-finals.[11][12] In July 2006, he signed a new undisclosed-length contract.[13]

Tillen was again a regular under new manager Leroy Rosenior early in the 2006–07 season and retained his place after Rosenior was sacked and replaced with Scott Fitzgerald in November 2006.[14][15] He scored the first senior goal of his career with a late equaliser to secure a 1–1 draw with Leyton Orient on 9 September 2006.[14] Brentford suffered relegation to League Two at the end of the 2006–07 season and Tillen finished the campaign with 38 appearances and one goal.[14][16] Aside from two early 2007–08 season substitute appearances,[17] Tillen was frozen out of the first team squad by new manager Terry Butcher and failed to break back in after Butcher was replaced by Andy Scott in December 2007.[18] On 10 January 2008, Tillen departed Brentford after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.[19] During two-and-a-half seasons at Griffin Park, Tillen made 83 appearances and scored one goal.[20]

Fram

In February 2008, Tillen moved to Iceland to join Úrvalsdeild club Fram on a one-year contract.[21] He had been recommended to try Icelandic football by his former Brentford teammate Ólafur Ingi Skúlason.[22] Tillen remained at Fram for five seasons, making 170 appearances, scoring 19 goals and eventually becoming club captain.[23][24][25][26] He departed the club in October 2012.[27]

FH

On 22 October 2012, Tillen moved to Úrvalsdeild club FH on a two-year contract.[28] He had a good 2013 season, making 36 appearances and winning the Icelandic Super Cup,[29] but he missed 11 months of football after breaking a leg in 2014 and he suffered a torn calf and a broken cheekbone and eye socket upon his return.[30] He made just eight league appearances during FH's 2015 Úrvalsdeild title-winning season.[25][31][32] Tillen was not in manager Heimir Guðjónsson's plans for the 2016 season and he spent the campaign away on loan.[31] Tillen elected to retire from football in December 2016 and finished his FH career with 65 appearances and two goals.[25][33]

Fram (loan)

On 4 May 2016, Tillen dropped down to the 1. deild karla to return to Fram on loan for the 2016 season.[34] His season was ended early due to a broken cheekbone suffered in August 2016 and he made 16 appearances in a mid-table season for the club.[24][35] Across his two spells with Fram, Tillen made 186 appearances and scored 19 goals.[23][24][25]

ÍH

In August 2020, Tillen came out of retirement to join 4. deild karla club ÍH.[36] During what remained of the 2020 season, he made five appearances and helped the club to promotion via the 4. deild karla promotion play-offs.[24][37]

International career

Tillen won caps for England in two 2004 European U19 Championship first qualifying round wins in September 2003.[38] He made one appearance for the Football League U21 representative team in a 1–0 victory over Serie B U21 on 21 February 2006.[39]

Coaching career

Tillen began coaching the FH U12 team while recovering from a broken leg in 2014.[30] After his retirement from football in 2016, Tillen became a full-time coach at FH.[33][40][41]

Personal life

Tillen's brother Joe was also a professional footballer and the pair attended Newbury Athletic Club and later played together at Chelsea and Fram.[33][42][43] He is married and after retiring from football, he settled in Iceland.[33] Between 2012 and 2014, Tillen wrote a blog for fotbolti.net.[44]

Honours

FH

ÍH

Career statistics
As of match played 3 October 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brentford 2005–06[12] League One 33 0 6 0 1 0 — 3[lower-alpha 1] 0 43 0
2006–07[14] 34 1 1 0 2 0 — 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 38 1
2007–08[46] League Two 1 0 0 0 1 0 — 0 0 2 0
Total 68 1 7 0 4 0 — 4 0 83 1
Fram 2008[47] Úrvalsdeild 21 2 2 0 8 1 — 1[lower-alpha 3] 0 32 3
2009[48] 18 1 4 2 4 1 4[lower-alpha 4] 2 4[lower-alpha 3] 1 34 7
2010[49] 19 1 4 0 9 2 — 3[lower-alpha 3] 1 35 4
2011[50] 21 0 2 0 6 1 — 4[lower-alpha 3] 0 33 1
2012[24] 19 2 3 1 9 0 — 5[lower-alpha 3] 1 36 4
Total 98 6 15 3 36 5 4 2 17 3 170 19
FH 2013[29] Úrvalsdeild 20 0 1 0 8 0 6[lower-alpha 5] 0 1[lower-alpha 6] 0 36 0
2014[45] 0 0 0 0 4 1 2[lower-alpha 4] 0 4[lower-alpha 7] 0 10 1
2015[51] 8 0 3 0 6 0 1[lower-alpha 4] 0 — 18 0
2016[52] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 6] 0 1 0
Total 28 0 4 1 18 1 9 0 6 0 65 2
Fram (loan) 2016[52] 1. deild karla 15 0 1 0 — — — 16 0
Fram total 113 6 16 3 36 5 4 2 17 3 186 19
ÍH 2020[24] 4. deild karla Group A 4 0 — — — 1[lower-alpha 8] 0 5 0
Career total 213 7 27 4 58 6 13 2 28 3 339 22
  1. 2 appearances in Football League One play-offs, 1 appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  3. Appearances in Reykjavik Tournament
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. 4 appearances in UEFA Champions League, 2 appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearance in Icelandic Super Cup
  7. Appearances in Fótbolti.net Cup
  8. Appearance in 4. deild karla promotion play-offs

References
  1. "Sam Tillen". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  2. "Sam Tillen". 11v11.com. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  3. "Tryggð leikmanna" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  4. "Chelsea's man in Iceland". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  5. "Sam Tillen klar för Brentford". SvenskaFans.com (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  6. "The other side of John Terry that's rarely mentioned". Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  7. "Tillen contract extended by Bees". 7 February 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  8. "Bridge will miss rest of season". 21 February 2005. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  9. "Mourinho offers young duo deals". 31 May 2005. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  10. "Brentford buoyed by double deal". BBC Sport. 27 May 2005. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  11. "Brentford results for the 2005–2006 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  12. "Games played by Sam Tillen in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  13. "Sam signs on". brentfordfc.co.uk. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  14. "Games played by Sam Tillen in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  15. "Rosenior sacked as Brentford boss". 18 November 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  16. "Brentford Complete History". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  17. "Sam Tillen Player Profile". ESPN FC. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  18. "Terry Butcher departs". brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  19. "A second Sam departs this week". brentfordfc.co.uk. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  20. Sam Tillen at Soccerbase
  21. "Leikmadur: 9 – Sam Tillen" [Player: 9 – Sam Tillen] (in Icelandic). Knattspyrnufélagið Fram. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  22. "Þegar ungur leikmaður fer frá Íslandi til Englands" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  23. Sam Tillen at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  24. "Samuel Lee Tillen". Knattspyrnusamband Íslands (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  25. "Sam Tillen – FH Hafnarfjördur – Urvalsdeild – Iceland". Elite Football. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  26. "Sam Tillen: Ekki eins og okkur hafi verið rúllað upp í allt sumar". Vísir. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  27. "Sam Tillen genginn til liðs við FH". Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  28. Einarsson, Magnús Már (22 October 2012). "Sam Tillen í FH (Staðfest)" (in Icelandic). Fótbolti.net. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  29. "Leikmaður – Samuel Lee Tillen". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  30. "Sam Tillen: An English abroad legend who has built a life in Iceland". English players abroad. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  31. "FH leyfir Sam Tillen að fara á lán" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  32. "Sam Tillen alvarlega meiddur – Spilar líklega ekkert í sumar". Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  33. "Sam Tillen leggur skóna á hilluna" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  34. "Sam Tillen sneri aftur í Fram". Vísir. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  35. "Sam Tillen meiddist illa gegn Keflavík – Knattspyrnufélagið Fram". Knattspyrnufélagið Fram (in Icelandic). 24 August 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  36. "Sam Tillen í ÍH (Staðfest)". www.fotbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  37. "Summary – 4. Deild – Iceland – Results, fixtures, tables and news". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  38. "England Matches – Under-19's 1991–2010". www.englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  39. "Football League 1 Serie B 0". brentfordfc.co.uk. 22 February 2006. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  40. "Þjálfarar – FH – Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar". FH – Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  41. "2. flokkur karla". FH – Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  42. "Leikmadur: 29 – Joe Tillen" [Player: 29 – Joe Tillen] (in Icelandic). Knattspyrnufélagið Fram. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  43. "Records – Boys". Newbury Athletic Club. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  44. "Fótbolti.net". fotbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  45. "Leikmaður – Samuel Lee Tillen". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  46. "Games played by Sam Tillen in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  47. "Leikmaður – Samuel Lee Tillen". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  48. "Leikmaður – Samuel Lee Tillen". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  49. "Leikmaður – Samuel Lee Tillen". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  50. "Leikmaður – Samuel Lee Tillen". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  51. "Leikmaður – Samuel Lee Tillen". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  52. "Leikmaður – Samuel Lee Tillen". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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