Alex Samuel

Samuel started his career at Welsh Premier League side Aberystwyth Town, progressing through the various youth levels at the club's academy.[3] Whilst still playing in the academy at Aberystwyth, he briefly spent time at the club he supported, Swansea City, but travelling difficulties meant he returned to Aberystwyth's youth set-up.[3] Samuel trained with the Aberystwyth first-team in the opening months of the 2011–12 season, whilst also competing for the club's U16 side at the same time.[3] He made his first-team debut for Aberystwyth just two weeks after his 16th birthday,[4] coming on as a 77th-minute substitute in a 2–0 away defeat to Llanelli Town on 8 October 2011.[5] In only his third first-team appearance, he came off the substitute's bench to score a late equaliser in Aberystwyth's 1–1 Welsh Cup draw with Llandudno in January 2012.[6] He featured sporadically for the first-team for the remainder of the 2011–12 campaign, making nine appearances in all competitions and scoring once.[7]

Having been involved in regular first-team football despite only just turning sixteen, Samuel attracted interest from several then-Premier League clubs, including Aston Villa, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Swansea City.[3] He opted to join Swansea City, who he had briefly spent time at a couple of years earlier, signing on a two-year scholarship in the summer of 2012.[3] Samuel spent the next two seasons in the academy set-up at Swansea before signing his first professional contract in May 2014.[8] During the 2014–15 season, he played regularly for the Swansea City U21 side as they secured the Professional Development League Two title that season.[2][9][10] At the end of the season, in May 2015, he signed a new two-year contract extension to remain at Swansea until the summer of 2017.[9]

Samuel was offered the chance to join Greenock Morton of the Scottish Championship on loan on transfer deadline day at the start of September 2015,[11] an offer he stated he "knew straight away" that he wanted to take.[11] He signed a four-month loan contract with Morton, with the deal running until January 2016.[11][12] He made his Morton debut as a 78th-minute substitute for Romario Sabajo in a 4–2 away victory at Livingston on 5 September.[13] Samuel became a regular in the first-team for Morton almost immediately,[14] scoring his first two goals for the club in a 3–2 extra-time Scottish League Cup win over Motherwell at Cappielow in his fourth appearance for the club.[15] His first goal in the match came courtesy of a sweeping effort in the first-half, before netting the winning goal in the 100th-minute with a first-time finish from a low cross.[15] Samuel scored his first Scottish League goal in the Renfrewshire derby, scoring the equalising goal from close range in a 1–1 draw away at St Mirren on 20 November 2015.[16][17] He added a fourth goal to his tally for the season on 18 December 2015 when he scored midway through the first half to briefly give Morton the lead in an eventual 2–1 home defeat to Raith Rovers.[18] In January 2016, his loan deal was extended for the rest of the 2015–16 season.[19][20] A month later, he briefly returned to Swansea to receive treatment after sustaining a knee injury in a Development League West match against Queen's Park.[21] The injury ultimately ruled Samuel out of action for a month,[22] before returning to the Morton first-team as a late substitute in a 3–2 win over Queen of the South on 15 March 2016.[23] He went on to feature largely from the substitute's bench for the remainder of the season,[14] making 30 appearances and scoring four goals in all competitions during his time at Morton, with the club finishing in fifth place in the Scottish Championship.[14]

Upon his return to Swansea, Samuel started the 2016–17 season playing regularly for the Swansea City U23 side.[24] He also made three appearances in the EFL Trophy for the U23s,[25] scoring once in a 2–1 away victory at Newport County in a group-stage match in October 2016.[26] Despite appearing for the U23s throughout the first half of the campaign,[24] Samuel had made no first-team appearances for Swansea and was subsequently loaned out to League Two club Newport County on 13 January 2017, who he had scored against three months prior, on loan until the end of the season.[27][28] Samuel made his Newport debut as a 29th-minute substitute in a 0–0 draw away at Barnet on 21 January 2017.[29] His first three appearances for Newport were as a substitute, but he started every game he played in thereafter,[25] scoring his first goal for the club in a 3–1 home loss to Blackpool on 18 March 2017.[30] A week later, he scored a late consolation goal in a narrow 2–1 defeat to Portsmouth at Fratton Park.[31] Samuel made 18 appearances and scored twice during the five-month loan spell,[25] as Newport narrowly avoided relegation after winning five of their last seven games to secure their League Two status for another year.[32] He was named as the club's Player of the Year at the end of the season.[33]

Samuel signed for League Two club Stevenage on a two-year deal in May 2017, joining the Hertfordshire club on a free transfer.[34][35] He made his Stevenage debut against his former club, Newport County, on the opening day of the 2017–18 season, playing the first 57 minutes in a 3–3 draw at Broadhall Way.[36] Samuel scored his first goal for Stevenage in the club's 6–2 EFL Trophy defeat to Oxford United on 29 August 2017, capitalising on a slip in defence to score a late consolation.[37] He scored two further goals in the EFL Trophy that season, both coming in Stevenage's home 3–1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion U21s on 7 November 2017.[38] Samuel made 28 appearances during the season, of which 16 were from the substitute's bench, scoring four times.[39] He was released at the end of the season.[40]

Samuel signed for newly-promoted League One club Wycombe Wanderers on 23 August 2018, initially on a short-term deal until 20 January 2019.[41] He made his debut as an 80th-minute substitute in the EFL Cup on 28 August 2018, replacing Adebayo Akinfenwa as Wycombe progressed via penalties against Forest Green Rovers.[42] He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 win against Fulham U21s at Adams Park in the EFL Trophy on 18 September 2018.[43] A month later, on 27 October 2018, Samuel scored his first league goal for Wycombe, coming on as a 68th-minute substitute and scoring an injury-time consolation in a 3–2 loss away at Walsall.[44] Samuel signed a contract extension until June 2021 on 16 November 2018, with Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth praising the player's work ethic and character.[45] He was a regular starter in the Wycombe team during the 2018–19 season, scoring six goals in 36 games as Wycombe finished in 17th place in League One.[46]