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.jpeg) Chair withQueens Park Rangers in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ilias Emilian Chair[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1997-10-30)30 October 1997 (age 27)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Antwerp, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Queens Park Rangers | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2007–2009 | Club Brugge | ||
| 2009–2014 | JMG Academy Belgium | ||
| 2014–2015 | Lierse | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2017 | Lierse | 2 | (0) |
| 2017– | Queens Park Rangers | 250 | (34) |
| 2018–2019 | →Stevenage (loan) | 16 | (6) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Morocco U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2018 | Morocco U23 | 1 | (0) |
| 2021– | Morocco | 12 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:30, 17 December 2022 (UTC) | |||
Ilias Emilian Chair (Arabic:إلياس إميليان الشاعر; born 30 October 1997) is a professionalfootballer who plays as a forward forEFL Championship clubQueens Park Rangers and theMorocco national team.
Ilias Chair was born inAntwerp in Belgium to a Moroccan father and Polish mother.[3][4]
Chair began his career in the youth system atLierse.[5] He also spent time at the academy ofClub Brugge, as well as theJMG Academy Belgium.[6] Chair made his professional debut for Lierse at the age of 17, playing in theBelgian Second Division, when he came as a 76th-minute substitute in Lierse's 1–1 away draw atCoxyde on 9 August 2015.[7][8] He subsequently started his first match a month later, on 9 September 2015, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–2 home defeat toCercle Brugge.[7][9]
Chair went on trial atChampionship clubQPR in January 2017.[5] During the trial period, he scored in a 3–1 friendly win for the U23s againstBournemouth.[5] He subsequently signed for QPR on a permanent basis on 31 January 2017.[5] Chair was added to the club's Elite Development Squad and spent the remainder of the2016–17 season playing for the club's U23 team.[5]
Having impressed QPR managerIan Holloway in training,[10] Chair was named as a substitute in club's first roundEFL Cup tie againstNorthampton Town atLoftus Road on 8 August 2017.[11] He replacedLuke Freeman in the 63rd minute of the match to make his first-team debut.[7][11] Chair made his first starting appearance for QPR in a 1–0 defeat againstPreston North End atDeepdale on 2 December 2017.[12] He signed a two-year contract extension with the club on 9 February 2018, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2020.[13] He scored his first goal for the club during QPR's final home game of the2017–18 campaign on 28 April 2018, scoring a volley at the far post as QPR overturned a one-goal deficit to win 3–1 againstBirmingham City.[14] Chair made seven first-team appearances during the season, scoring once.[15]
Having made eight appearances for QPR during the first half of the2018–19 season,[16] Chair joinedLeague Two clubStevenage on a loan deal for the remainder of the season on 31 January 2019.[17][18] He made his Stevenage debut in the club's 1–0 victory overYeovil Town atBroadhall Way on 2 February 2019, playing the full match.[19] Chair scored his first goals for Stevenage by scoring two long-range efforts late-on in a 2–2 away draw at league leadersLincoln City on 16 February 2019.[20] A month later, on 12 March 2019, he scored from within his own half in Stevenage's 2–0 home win againstSwindon Town.[21] Chair was nominated for League Two Player of the Month for March 2019 having contributed four goals and four assists during the month.[22] He made 16 appearances during the loan agreement, scoring six times and assisting six goals.[16][23] Stevenage managerDino Maamria described Chair as "the best player that has ever worn the Stevenage shirt", as well as the best player to have ever played in League Two. Maamria went on to state he feels Chair had the potential to be a Premier League player, adding that it is "a shame" what has happened to him so far.[24][23]
Upon his return to QPR, he signed a new three-year contract with the club in September 2019.[25] Under new managerMark Warburton, Chair became a key player for QPR at the start of the 2019–20 season.
On 29 January 2021, Chair signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal that would see him remain at the club until 2025, with the club having the option to extend this contract by another year.[26]
Chair started the2021–22 season in good form and won the Championship Goal of the Month award for October 2021 after an impressive strike againstBlackburn Rovers.[27]
Chair was born in Belgium and isMoroccan by descent.[3] He was called up to theMorocco U20 squad for a week-long training camp inRabat in June 2017.[3] Chair represented theMorocco U23s in a 1–0 friendly defeat to theSenegal U23s on 23 March 2018.[28]
He debuted with the seniorMorocco national team in a friendly 1–0 win overGhana on 9 June 2021.[29] On 6 October 2021, in his fourth appearance for his country, Chair scored his first Morocco goal with the third in a 5–0 win overGuinea-Bissau.[30]
On 10 November 2022, Chair was named in Morocco's 26-man squad for the2022 FIFA World Cup inQatar.[31][32] On 17 December, he made his World Cup debut in the 3rd place playoff againstCroatia in an eventual 2–1 loss.[33]
On 23 February 2024, Chair, along with his brother Jaber, were convicted of assaulting a truck driver by a court inAntwerp. He was found to have assaulted the truck driver with a rock, breaking his skull and leaving him unconscious.[34] He was sentenced to 12 months in prison with a further 12 months suspended. Chair is appealing the sentence, andQueens Park Rangers have stated that he will remain available for selection during the appeals process.[35]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lierse | 2015–16[7] | Belgian Second Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17[7] | Belgian First Division B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Queens Park Rangers | 2017–18[15] | Championship | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | |
| 2018–19[16] | Championship | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20[37] | Championship | 41 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 45 | 5 | ||
| 2020–21[38] | Championship | 45 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 47 | 8 | ||
| 2021–22[39] | Championship | 39 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 9 | ||
| 2022–23[40] | Championship | 40 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 42 | 5 | ||
| 2023–24 | Championship | 44 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 44 | 7 | ||
| Total | 217 | 34 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 1 | — | 236 | 35 | |||
| Stevenage (loan) | 2018–19[16] | League Two | 16 | 6 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 235 | 39 | 8 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 254 | 40 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 2021 | 7 | 1 |
| 2022 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 October 2021 | Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium,Rabat, Morocco | 4 |  Guinea-Bissau | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | [41] |
Individual
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