Marvin Hamilton-Omole (born 8 October 1988), commonly known as Marvin Hamilton, is a professional footballer who plays for Hythe Town. Born in England, he represented the Sri Lanka national team.[4][5][6]

Marvin Hamilton
Hamilton playing for Whitehawk in 2019
Personal information
Full name Marvin Hamilton-Omole[1]
Date of birth (1988-10-08) 8 October 1988 (age 35)[2]
Place of birth Leytonstone, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
2005–2007 Gillingham
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Gillingham 15 (0)
2008Folkestone Invicta (loan) 4 (2)
2008 Dover Athletic 4 (0)
2010 APEP 26 (5)
2011–2012 Hemel Hempstead Town 4 (0)
2012–2013 Eastbourne Borough 33 (0)
2013 Southern Stars 5 (4)
2013 Albany Creek 8 (5)
2014 Ware 6 (1)
2014–2015 Eastbourne Borough 35 (2)
2015 Whitehawk 8 (1)
2015 Dartford 1 (0)
2015 VCD Athletic 8 (0)
2015–2016 Eastbourne Borough 12 (0)
2016–2017 Whitehawk 19 (2)
2017Margate (loan) 10 (0)
2017–2018 Ware 11 (1)
2018 Haringey Borough[3] 1 (0)
2018–2019 Eastbourne Borough 16 (0)
2019–2021 Whitehawk 33 (3)
2021 Burgess Hill Town 3 (0)
2021–2022 Sittingbourne 8 (0)
2022–2023 Hythe Town 32 (1)
2023 F.C. Baresi ? (?)
2023– Hythe Town 1 (0)
International career
2021–2022 Sri Lanka 6 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:00, 10 October 2021 (UTC)

Born in England to a Nigerian father and a Sri Lankan mother,Hamilton began his career with Gillingham and has subsequently gone on to play for a number of non-League clubs in the south of England, as well as spending brief spells playing in Cyprus, Australia and the USA.

Career edit

Club career edit

After junior trials with Arsenal, Hamilton also played for Waltham Forest and Ridgeway Rovers before joining Gillingham as a youth player in July 2005.[7] He signed as a professional on a one-year contract on the eve of the 2007–08 season[8] and made his first-team debut as a substitute in an away defeat to Luton Town on 25 August 2007. After a change of manager and a loan spell at Folkestone Invicta,[9] he was released by Gillingham on 31 March 2008 [10] and joined Dover Athletic.[11] Hamilton started the 2008–09 season as a trialist at AFC Wimbledon and Lincoln City before signing for Cypriot side APEP in January 2010. Hamilton played for Hemel Hempstead Town and then joined Conference South club Eastbourne Borough on 24 February 2012.[12]

Hamilton then had a brief spell playing in Australia, first in the Victoria Premier for Southern Stars (now known as Dingley Stars) before moving in the July 2013 transfer window to Albany Creek in the Brisbane Premier League.[13][14][15] After a trial at Chelmsford City, Hamilton joined Isthmian League club Ware, where he scored the league goal of the month in April 2014.[16]

Hamilton returned to The Sports for the 2014–15 season [17] before being released in February 2015[18] and signing for Whitehawk until the end of the season.[19] After a spell playing in the US, Hamilton signed briefly for Dartford on 6 August 2015 [20] and then Isthmian League side VCD Athletic[21] before re-joining Eastbourne Borough for the third time on 30 October.[22]

Hamilton then re-signed for Whitehawk for the start of the 2016–17 season.[23]

He re-signed for Whitehawk for the start of the 2019–20 season but announced he was leaving at the end of the curtailed 2020–21 season, to pursue opportunities in Sri Lanka.[24]

In September 2022, Hamilton signed for Hythe Town,[25] but missed the Isthmian League South East Division play-off final defeat against his former club Whitehawk through injury. He then left Reachfields[26] to sign for F.C. Beresi[27] in the Essex Alliance Football League Senior Division (step 7), returning to Hythe Town in November 2023.[28]

International career edit

Hamilton was eligible to represent England, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. He was first called up to the Sri Lankan national team, for which he qualifies through his mother, on 7 May 2019.[29] This was for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 & AFC Asian Cup 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1.[30] However, he could not make it to the Sri Lankan squad at that time due to certain formalities and procedures being uncompleted.[29] He played in a friendly warmup match against Qatar in 2018.[31]

In May 2021, he received a call-up from the Football Federation of Sri Lanka to play in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon and South Korea.[31] He made his senior international debut on 5 June 2021, in a 3–2 defeat against Lebanon.[32] Then on 4 October, Hamilton scored his first goal against Nepal in a 3–2 defeat at the 2021 SAFF Championship.

International goals edit

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 4 October 2021 National Stadium, Malé, Maldives     Nepal 1–2 2–3 2021 SAFF Championship

References edit

  1. ^ "Marvin Hamilton – Whitehawk FC". Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008-09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  3. ^ "New Trio for Haringey". 29 January 2018.
  4. ^ Hassimdeen, Irshard (21 May 2020). "Marvin Hamilton – from England to Sri Lanka Football". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Playing for Sri Lanka is a memory I won't forget: Marvin Hamilton". themorning.lk.
  6. ^ "Hamilton set to lift country's morale". sundayobserver.lk (Archived).
  7. ^ Official Gillingham website Archived 18 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "HOME PAGE". Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Hamilton-Omole thankful for his time on loan at Folkestone". Kentish Football.
  10. ^ http://www.gillingham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=104842/ [dead link]
  11. ^ "Pacey Marvin Signs in – Dover Athletic Fc".
  12. ^ "More Squad Additions on eve of Staines Fixture". Eastbourne Borough F.C. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  13. ^ "Marvin Hamilton-Omole - Player Statistics".
  14. ^ "Richmond leapfrog Stars with first points | Football Federation Victoria". www.footballfedvic.com.au. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017.
  15. ^ "2013 Transfer Window | Football Federation Victoria". www.footballfedvic.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Marvin Hamilton wins April Goal of the Month". Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  17. ^ "Sinclair among four Boro signings". The Argus. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Eastbourne Borough part with two players". The Argus. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  19. ^ "South American among three signings for Whitehawk". The Argus. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  20. ^ "Dartford FC sign Mark Onyemah on loan from Luton Town and fellow full-back Marvin Hamilton". Kent Online. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  21. ^ "Marvin Hamilton - 1st Team - VCD Athletic Football Club". Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  22. ^ "Hamilton Returns to Eastbourne". Vanarama National League. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.[permanent dead link]
  23. ^ "Hawks make first summer signings". Pitchero Non League. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  24. ^ "Abdulla and Hamilton Depart the Hawks".
  25. ^ "Marvellous Marvin new at Hythe". www.isthmian.co.uk. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  26. ^ https://www.kentonline.co.uk/hythe/sport/marv-departs-cannons-287004/
  27. ^ https://twitter.com/Fc_Baresi/status/1677071000767176705
  28. ^ https://www.hythetownfc.co.uk
  29. ^ a b "Sri Lankan football crusader Hamilton set to lift country's morale". Sunday Observer. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  30. ^ "31 player Sri Lanka Pool for World Cup Qualifiers". ThePapare.com. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  31. ^ a b "UK-based Hamilton 'super excited' to play for Sri Lanka". 9 May 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  32. ^ "Lebanon vs. Sri Lanka - 5 June 2021". Retrieved 5 June 2021.

External links edit