Laydah Samani Explained

Laydah Anitae Samani (born 18 February 1992) is a Solomon Islands women's footballer and former captain of the national women's team. She plays for the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Royals, winners of the inaugural Solrais Women's Premier League 2020, as well as the Solrais Women's Football Championship in the same year.

Early life

Samani is from Malaita.^[1]

Club career

In June 2016 Samani joined Wellington United, becoming the first player from the Solomon Islands to play in New Zealand.^{[2] [3]}

In 2018 Samani was a forward for Solomon Warriors.^[4]

As of 2020, she was playing for the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Royals.^{[5] [6]}

International career

Samani made her international debut for the Solomon Islands in the country's first women's international match on 9 April 2007, starting in the 2007 OFC Women's Championship match against Papua New Guinea.^[7] In 2009 she was shortlisted for the OFC Women's Player of the Year Award.^[8]

She captained the Solomon Islands team for the 2018 OFC Women's Nations Cup.^[9]

In 2021 she was selected as a women's football ambassador for the Oceania Football Confederation.^[10]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Solomon Islands	2007	5	1
	2011	3	3
	2015	2	0
	2018	3	2
Total		13	6

Scores and results list the Solomon Islands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Samani goal.

List of international goals scored by Laydah Samani

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	30 August 2007	Toleafoa J.S. Blatter Complex, Apia, Samoa		1–1	1–1	2007 South Pacific Games
2	2 September 2011	Stade PLGC, Nouméa, New Caledonia		1–0	align=center rowspan=3	4–0	2011 Pacific Games
3				2–0
4				3–0
5	24 August 2018	Churchill Park, Lautoka, Fiji		1–0	align=center rowspan=2	2–0	2018 OFC Women's Nations Cup qualification
6				2–0
7	8 July 2019	National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa		2–4	2–5	2019 Pacific Games

External links

• Profile at oceaniafootball.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: ALL IN: Laydah Samani (Solomon Islands) . Oceania Football Confederation . Savannah Tafau-Levy . 29 August 2021 . 25 August 2022.
2. Web site: Wellington United football experience a success for Solomon Islander Laydah Samani . Stuff . Jacob Beleski . 18 August 2016 . 25 August 2022.
3. Web site: Windy Wellington shaped Samani’s journey . Oceania Football Confederation . 29 August 2018 . 25 August 2022.
4. Web site: 22 August 2018 . OFC Women's Nations Cup 2018 – Qualifying Stage: Official Team List . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180824003005/https://www.oceaniafootball.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Official-Team-Lists-of-the-OFC-Womens-Nations-Cup-2018-QS.pdf . 24 August 2018 . 29 August 2018 . oceaniafootball.com . . 3.
5. Web site: RSIPF Commissioner congratulates women’s football team for winning the inaugural premier league . Solomon Star . 23 November 2020 . 25 August 2022.
6. Web site: Royals crowned champ . Solomon Star . 8 December 2020 . 25 August 2022.
7. News: Papua New Guinea hit Solomons for six . oceaniafootball.com . . 9 April 2007 . 29 August 2018 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170923095938/https://www.oceaniafootball.com/archives-11457/ . 23 September 2017.
8. Web site: Naka in the List for OFC Player of the Year Award . Solomon Times . 6 January 2009 . 25 August 2022.
9. Web site: Samani Strikes 2 For Solomons . Fiji Sun . Yogesh Chandra . 25 August 2018 . 25 August 2022.
10. Web site: OFC are ALL IN with their first women's football strategy . EMTV . 16 July 2021 . 25 August 2022.