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Randolph FitzGerald Samuel (born 23 December 1963) is a Trinidad-born Canadian former soccer player who played as a defender. His 82 international caps were a Canada national team record until he was surpassed by Paul Stalteri in September 2010.
He started his career with the Edmonton Eagles and Vancouver Whitecaps before joining Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven in 1985. Playing just five Eredivisie games for PSV, he moved on to FC Volendam in 1987, becoming a key member of the team until he moved on to league rivals Fortuna Sittard in 1990. Sittard were relegated into the second tier, and Samuel moved on to English side Port Vale in November 1995. Failing to make an impact in England, he left in May 1996 and signed with Norwegian side Harstad IL. He later played for the Vancouver 86ers, the Hampton Roads Mariners, and the Montreal Impact.
Making 82 appearances for Canada between 1983 and 1997, he appeared in all three games of the 1986 FIFA World Cup. He also helped his nation to win the 1990 North American Nations Cup and 1985 CONCACAF Championship. He played at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1991 and 1993. In 2012 as part of the Canadian Soccer Association's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.
In 2000, he returned to the North American A-League. He spent the 2000 season with the Hampton Roads Mariners, who lost to the Richmond Kickers in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals. He finished his professional playing career with the Montreal Impact, playing four games of their 2001 season.
Canada missed out on qualification to the 1989 CONCACAF Championship after losing to Guatemala on away goals. However, Samuel continued to feature regularly and appeared in the 1990 North American Nations Cup, which Canada won. He played two of Canada's three games at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
He played five of Canada's six group games in the first round of 1994 World Cup qualification, as they finished ahead of Jamaica and Bermuda to qualify for the final round of group games. He played each of the two games against Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras; they finished second behind the Mexicans, meaning they had to beat Australia in a CONCACAF–OFC play-off to qualify. Before this game was the 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup; Samuels played all three of Canada's games, including the 8–0 capitulation to Mexico in front of 70,000 Mexicans at the Estadio Azteca – the biggest defeat in Canada's history was their last game before the all-important match with Australia. Samuel did not feature in the 2–1 win at the Commonwealth Stadium but did play in the second leg at the Sydney Football Stadium. The Aussies won 2–1 to take the game to a penalty shoot-out, which the "Canucks" lost 4–1.
Samuel won the final 14 caps of his 13-year international career in qualification for the 1998 World Cup. He played all six of the initial group stage games, as Canada finished ahead of El Salvador, Panama and Cuba. He then played eight of Canada's ten games in the final round of qualifying, as they finished bottom of the group behind Mexico, the United States, Jamaica, Costa Rica and El Salvador. He made his final appearance for his nation in the 3–1 defeat to the Costa Ricans in San José on 16 November 1997.
His 82 international caps were a Canadian national team record until he was surpassed by Paul Stalteri in September 2010. Samuel was inducted into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in 2006.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition NASL: Randy Samuel | |||
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 1984 | North American Soccer League | |
| PSV Eindhoven | 1985–86 | Eredivisie | |
| 1986–87 | Eredivisie | ||
| FC Volendam | 1987–88 | Eredivisie | |
| 1988–89 | Eredivisie | ||
| 1989–90 | Eredivisie | ||
| Fortuna Sittard | 1990–91 | Eredivisie | |
| 1991–92 | Eredivisie | ||
| 1992–93 | Eredivisie | ||
| 1993–94 | Eerste Divisie | ||
| 1 | |||
| Vancouver 86ers | 1998 | USISL A-League | |
| Hampton Roads Mariners | 2000 | USL A-League | |
| Montreal Impact | 2001 | USL A-League | |
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | |
| Canada | 0 |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
Canada
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