Chair with Queens Park Rangers in 2018
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ilias Emilian Chair [1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1997-10-30) 30 October 1997 (age 26)[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 | 217 | (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 03:40, 30 March 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 professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers and the Morocco national team.
Ilias Chair was born in Antwerp in Belgium to a Moroccan father and Polish mother.[3][4]
Chair began his career in the youth system at Lierse.[5] He also spent time at the academy of Club Brugge, as well as the JMG Academy Belgium.[6] Chair made his professional debut for Lierse at the age of 17, playing in the Belgian Second Division, when he came as a 76th-minute substitute in Lierse's 1–1 away draw at Coxyde 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 to Cercle Brugge.[7][9]
Chair went on trial at Championship club QPR in January 2017.[5] During the trial period, he scored in a 3–1 friendly win for the U23s against Bournemouth.[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 the 2016–17 season playing for the club's U23 team.[5]
Having impressed QPR manager Ian Holloway in training,[10] Chair was named as a substitute in club's first round EFL Cup tie against Northampton TownatLoftus Road on 8 August 2017.[11] He replaced Luke 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 against Preston North EndatDeepdale 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 the 2017–18 campaign on 28 April 2018, scoring a volley at the far post as QPR overturned a one-goal deficit to win 3–1 against Birmingham 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 the 2018–19 season,[16] Chair joined League Two club Stevenage 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 over Yeovil TownatBroadhall 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 leaders Lincoln 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 against Swindon 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 manager Dino 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.[23]
Upon his return to QPR, he signed a new three-year contract with the club in September 2019.[24] Under new manager Mark 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.[25]
Chair started the 2021–22 season in good form and won the Championship Goal of the Month award for October 2021 after an impressive strike against Blackburn Rovers.[26]
Chair was born in Belgium and is Moroccan by descent.[3] He was called up to the Morocco U20 squad for a week-long training camp in Rabat in June 2017.[3] Chair represented the Morocco U23s in a 1–0 friendly defeat to the Senegal U23s on 23 March 2018.[27]
He debuted with the senior Morocco national team in a friendly 1–0 win over Ghana on 9 June 2021.[28] 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 over Guinea-Bissau.[29]
On 10 November 2022, Chair was named in Morocco's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World CupinQatar.[30][31] On 17 December, he made his World Cup debut in the 3rd place playoff against Croatia in an eventual 2–1 loss.[32]
On 23 February 2024, Chair, along with his brother Jaber, were convicted of assaulting a truck driver by a court in Antwerp. He was found to have assaulted the truck driver with a rock, breaking his skull and leaving him unconscious.[33] He was sentenced to 12 months in prison with a further 12 months suspended. Chair is appealing the sentence, and Queens Park Rangers have stated that he will remain available for selection during the appeals process.[34]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | 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[36] | Championship | 41 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 45 | 5 | ||
| 2020–21[37] | Championship | 45 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 47 | 8 | ||
| 2021–22[38] | Championship | 39 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 9 | ||
| 2022–23[39] | 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 | [40] |
Individual
Orders
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Queens Park Rangers F.C. – current squad
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Morocco squads
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