Shahril Ishak Explained

Shahril Ishak
Upright:1.1
Full Name:Mohammad Shahril bin Ishak
Birth Date:1984 1, df=yes
Birth Place:Singapore
Height:1.73 m
Position:Midfielder, forward
Youthyears1:2000–2002
Youthclubs1:National Football Academy
Years1:2003–2006
Clubs1:Young Lions
Caps1:101
Goals1:20
Years2:2007–2010
Clubs2:Home United
Caps2:98
Goals2:42
Years3:2011
Clubs3:Persib Bandung
Caps3:7
Goals3:1
Years4:2012
Clubs4:Medan Chiefs
Caps4:32
Goals4:5
Years5:2012–2013
Clubs5:LionsXII
Caps5:40
Goals5:18
Years6:2013–2016
Clubs6:Johor Darul Ta'zim II
Caps6:75
Goals6:23
Years7:2017
Clubs7:Warriors
Caps7:24
Goals7:10
Years8:2018–2021
Clubs8:Lion City Sailors
Caps8:48
Goals8:23
Years9:2021–2022
Clubs9:Hougang United
Caps9:8
Goals9:0
Totalcaps:539
Totalgoals:190
Nationalyears1:2003–2018
Nationalteam1:Singapore
Nationalcaps1:146
Nationalgoals1:14

Shahril Ishak (born 23 January 1984) is a Singaporean retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. A former captain of the Singapore national team where he become the first Singaporean to win three AFF Championship title.

Along with Baihakki Khaizan, Hassan Sunny and Khairul Amri, Shahril was in the pioneer batch of the National Football Academy in 2000.[1]

Shahril led Singapore to become the first nation to win four titles in the tournament's history. He followed it up by winning the 2012 AFF Championship 'Most Valuable Player' award and the AFF 'Player of the Year' (Men) award in 2013.[2] He was also included in the ASEAN Football Federation Best XI in 2013.

Shahril also won the 2010 S.League 'Player of the Year' award and was included in the 2018 Singapore Premier League 'Team of the Year'.

Shahril has also scored against an European opponent such as Norway and Azerbaijan.

Club career

Young Lions

Shahril joined the newly created Young Lions ahead of the 2003 S.League season and soon made his international debut. After four seasons, Shahril left the Young Lions in 2007 to join Home United.

Home United

Shahril made his Home United debut in at the start of the 2007 season. He played his final game for Home United on 21 September 2010, scoring two crucial goals against title rivals Tampines Rovers. He then left for Indonesia with five games remaining in the S.League season. He finished his last season in Home United with 17 goals to his name and was the third highest scorer during the 2010 S.League season.[3] He also won the 2010 S.League Player of the Year award.[4]

Persib Bandung

In 2010, Shahril signed a 1-year contract with Indonesian side, Persib Bandung, along with his fellow Singapore national football team player, Baihakki Khaizan.[5]

Medan Chiefs

In February 2011, Shahril signed a one-year deal worth $400,000 with Liga Primer Indonesia side, Medan Chiefs. He then went on to score 8 league goals in 32 matches for Medan Chiefs.

LionsXII

Shahril returned to Singapore with newly formed club side LionsXII in December 2011. During his stint at LionsXII, he won the 2013 Malaysia Super League title in his second season as well as scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances, finishing as the club top scorer in the 2013 season.

Johor Darul Ta'zim II

Shahril signed a 4-year contract at the end of the 2013 Malaysia Super League by joining Malaysia Premier League club, Johor Darul Ta'zim II. He was given the number 17 shirt upon his arrival to the club. He was appointed as the captain for his new club in the 2014 Malaysia Premier League. He was converted back to a centre midfielder/play-maker role and led his new club to a 5th placing position, finishing the season with 7 goals and 8 assists for his new team. He led Johor Darul Ta'zim II for the 2015 Malaysia Premier League as the captain again, and led his club to a 5th placing position again, finishing the season with 5 goals and 6 assists. In total, Shahril scored 23 goals in 75 appearances for JDT II between 2014 and 2016.

Warriors FC

Sharil returned to Singapore to play in the S.League with Warriors FC for the 2017 S.League campaign together with Baihakki Khaizan.[6] He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–3 win over the Garena Young Lions and notched his first brace for the club in a 2–2 draw with Home United, scoring both goals in the final 9 minutes of the match, extending the Warriors' unbeaten run at the start of the season to 6 games.[7] [8] [9] He scored a further two goals in the Warriors' tenth league game of the season, sealing a 2–0 win over Geylang International to end a wretched two months spell for his club, where they only won once and was dumped out of the Singapore Cup.[10] Shahril had a great season despite his advancing years, scoring 1/3 of his team's goals (11) and playing in all 24 league games, starting 23 of them.[11]

Return to Home United (Now known as Lion City Sailors)

Sharil returned to Home United for the newly revamp 2018 Singapore Premier League season, coming into replace last season's top-scorer Stipe Plazibat who had left for Thailand as well as Khairul Nizam who had moved in the other direction to Warriors FC.

In 2020, Home United was privatised by new owner, Forrest Li and was rebranded as Lion City Sailors. In his first season with the sailors, Shahril scored appeared 9 times and scored 3 in all club competitions.

Hougang United

After 4 season with his previous club, Sharil joined Hougang United in January 2021.[12] He helped them win the 2022 Singapore Cup, their first ever piece of silverware in the club history.

On 21 February 2023, he announced his retirement from football at age of 39.

International career

Singapore's most natural creative midfielder to emerge in recent years, Shahril quickly established himself as the heartbeat of the Lions engine room since he made his international debut aged just 19 against Maldives on 4 March 2003.

With winger Ridhuan Muhammad, defender Baihakki Khaizan and keeper Hassan Sunny, he was part of the "NFA Gang of Four", the quartet which had played together since their early teenage years and earned senior international honours in 2003.

He has been employed in various positions across the midfield by coach Radojko Avramović, but Shahril staked a strong claim for an influential central role with a series of convincing performances there in the second half of 2004.

On 28 January 2004, Shahril scored his first international goal against Norway in a friendly match which resulted in a 2-5 lost

He played a major role in the victory in the 2004 AFF Championship and also the 2007 AFF Championship, He was also part of the 2005 SEA Games squad and the 2006 Asian Games.He was part of the Singapore Under-23 team that took part in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Korat, Thailand that won a bronze medal.

Capped for Singapore at senior, U23, U18 and U16 levels.

In August 2010 Shahril was revealed as the new captain of the national team, and led the Lions for the AFF Suzuki Cup in December.

On 24 February 2011, Shahrill Ishak converted a penalty into a goal in a 2–2 draw against Azerbaijan national football team.

Shahril is an inductee of the FIFA Century Club.[13]

As captain, he was instrumental in Singapore's 2012 AFF Championship win, scoring 4 goals in 7 appearances to help the Lions win their 4th title.[14]

Singapore selection

Shahril was selected as part of the Singapore Selection squad for The Sultan of Selangor's Cup to be held on 6 May 2017.[15]

Personal life

Away from the pitch, Shahril is also the founder of inlovebytns, a clothing brand jointly managed with his wife, Nur Hidayah, that was started in late 2014. The business began in 2013 as a streetwear label called The Number Seventeen – a reference to Shahril's jersey number and TNS for short. All TNS apparel are designed by Shahril.[16]

Career statistics

Club

. Caps and goals may not be correct.

ClubSeasonS.LeagueSingapore CupSingapore
League Cup
AsiaTotal
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Young Lions2003????----????
2004????----????
2005????----????
2006????----????
Total1012000000010120
Home United2007????----????
2008??8----??8
2009230----230
2010291710--3017
Total98421000009942
ClubSeasonIndonesia Super LeagueIndonesia FA CupIndonesia League CupAsiaTotal
Persib Bandung2010–2011110----110
Total110000000110
Medan Chiefs2011–2012328----328
Total328000000328
ClubSeasonMalaysia
Super League
Malaysia
FA Cup
Malaysia CupAsiaTotal
LionsXII2012[17] 1910311033214
2013[18] 2181061289
Total401841164006023
Johor Darul Ta'zim II2014????????????????
2015????????????????
2016????????????????
Total75230000007523
ClubSeasonS.LeagueSingapore CupSingapore
League Cup
AsiaTotal
Warriors201724101044002914
Total24101044002914
Home United2018231352001254019
2019167100030207
Total392062001556026
Lion City Sailors20209300000093
Total9300000093
Hougang United20218000000080
20220000000000
Total8000000080
Career total437145113164155479167

International

No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 28 January 2004 2–2 2–5 Friendly
2 29 December 2004 4–2 4–3 2004 Tiger Cup
3 11 October 2005 0–1 0–2 Friendly
4 11 October 2005 0–2 0–2 Friendly
5 15 January 2007 National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore 4–0 11–0 2007 ASEAN Football Championship
6 24 February 2012 1–2 2–2 Friendly
7 19 November 2012 Jurong West Stadium, Jurong, Singapore 3–0 4–0 Friendly
8 25 November 2012 1–0 3–0 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup
9 2–0
10 1 December 2012 1–2 4–3 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup
11 2–2
12 5 March 2014 3–1 3–1 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification
13 10 October 2014 2–1 2–1 Friendly
14 17 November 2014 Yishun Stadium, Yishun, Singapore 3–2 4–2 Friendly

Honours

Club

LionsXII

2013

Hougang United

International

Singapore

2004, 2007, 2012

Individual

2012

See also

Notes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Interview With Baihakki Khaizan . dead . https://archive.today/20130903072521/http://www.fas.org.sg/news/interview-baihakki-khaizan . 3 September 2013 . 21 March 2014 . FAS.
  2. Web site: Football: S'pore sweep inaugural AFF awards, with Lions, Shahril & Raddy leading the way. 3 April 2013. The Straits Times. 7 March 2014.
  3. Web site: S.League football: Shahril Ishak hits farewell goal in Home United's victory over Tampines. Kenneth. Tan. RED SPORTS.
  4. News: Shahril returns Home, joins Protectors for 2018 season. 2018-01-01. FourFourTwo. 2018-01-01. en-SG. https://web.archive.org/web/20180101194415/https://www.fourfourtwo.com/sg/features/shahril-returns-home-joins-protectors-2018-season. 1 January 2018. dead.
  5. News: The Singaporean footballers who tried their luck overseas. 2017-03-15. FourFourTwo. 2017-04-24. en-SG.
  6. Web site: Warriors sign up Shahril Ishak and Baihakki Khaizan. TODAYonline.
  7. Web site: S.League.com – Warriors FC. sleague.com. en. 2017-04-23.
  8. News: Derby day draw as Shahril haunts former club. 2017-04-22. FourFourTwo. 2017-04-23. en-SG. https://web.archive.org/web/20170424002139/https://www.fourfourtwo.com/sg/news/derby-day-draw-shahril-haunts-former-club. 24 April 2017. dead.
  9. Web site: Young Lions Unable To Hold on To Lead Young Lions. younglions.com.sg. en-US. 2017-04-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20170424012702/http://younglions.com.sg/news/young-lions-unable-to-hold-on-to-lead/. 24 April 2017. dead.
  10. News: Shahril double fires Warriors to victory. 2017-06-17. The New Paper. 2017-06-17. en.
  11. Web site: FFT'S S.League XI of 2017: Who makes the cut?. 2017-11-22. FourFourTwo. 2017-12-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20181014130045/https://www.fourfourtwo.com/sg/features/ffts-sleague-xi-2017-who-makes-cut. 14 October 2018. dead.
  12. Web site: Singapore stalwart Shahril Ishak joins Hougang United – Football Association of Singapore. 2021-01-18. spl.sg. en.
  13. Web site: FIFA Century Club fact sheet. https://web.archive.org/web/20130521035635/http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/stats-centclub/52/00/59/centuryclub1204.13.pdf. dead. 21 May 2013. FIFA. 12 April 2013.
  14. News: Where are they now? Singapore's AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 Champions. 2016-07-27. FourFourTwo. 2017-04-24. en-SG.
  15. Web site: Singapore Selection Squad for the Sultan of Selangor's Cup Revealed – Football Association of Singapore. 2021-07-02. en-US.
  16. News: Off the football pitch, Shahril scores on fashion runway. 2017-04-24.
  17. Web site: LionsXII fixtures and results for 2012 season. LionsXII. 6 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20180729050118/http://lionsxii.sg/fixtures-and-results/?league=malaysia-super-league-2012. 29 July 2018. dead.
  18. Web site: LionsXII fixtures and results for 2013 season. LionsXII. 6 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20180216204656/http://lionsxii.sg/fixtures-and-results/?league=malaysia-super-league-2013. 16 February 2018. dead.