Former Canada player Issey Nakajima-Farran retires from professional football

Issey Nakajima-Farran, a former Concacaf semifinalist who also represented Canada across three cycles of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, has retired from professional football as an active player. Nakajima-Farran made 38 international “A” appearances for Canada across 11 seasons from 2006 to 2016, including three appearances for Canada during their run at the 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Nakajima-Farran’s professional career took him across Asia, Europe and North America, including stops in Canada with Toronto FC, Impact de Montréal, and Pacific FC. He most recently spent the last three seasons in Spain including the last two seasons with CF Cubelles. Across his career, he won a J2 League title with Albirex Nigata in 2003, Danish 1.Division titles with Vejle Boldklub in 2005-06 and AC Horsens in 2009-10, and an A-League Championship with Brisbane Roar in 2011-12.

Nakajima-Farran represented Canada in three editions of the Concacaf Gold Cup, including a trip to the Semi-Finals in 2007. He also represented Canada at the 2009 and 2013 editions. He was 22 years old when he made his international “A” debut on 12 November 2006. He later scored his first international goal in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on 15 June 2008 against St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

He played his club football in Japan, England, Singapore, Denmark, Australia, Cyprus, Canada, Malaysia and Spain, including matches in UEFA Cup and Concacaf Champions League. He notably made more than 100 appearances in the Danish Superligen with Vejle Boldklub, FC Nordsjælland and AC Horsens. He typically featured either across the midfield or up front as a winger. He played his last professional match on 4 February 2023 with CF Cubelles.

Born in Calgary, Nakajima-Farran grew up in Tokyo, Japan and London, England. Off the pitch, Nakajima-Farran is a talented artist, including commissioned paintings that have been created for former teammates including Marco di Vaio and Julian de Guzman.