Ilhan bin Fandi Ahmad (born 8 November 2002), more commonly known as Ilhan Fandi or mononymously as Ilhan, is a Singaporean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

club

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Leie, ...

and the Singapore national team.

Club career

Early career

Ilhan embarked on his quest to become a professional footballer in Europe, by enrolling in an English school to study and train. The teenager left for England on 8 September 2017 to study at the Queen Ethelburga's College in York for the next two years. Ilhan trained with the i2i Football Academy, which has links to English football club Leeds United. The academy also has partnerships with both York College and York St John University and will assist in linking up players with English professional and semi-professional clubs.

Young Lions

Ilhan signed with the

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

club Young Lions in 2019. He made his debut in a 1-1 draw against

Brunei DPMM Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club in English, commonly known as DPMM FC) is a professional football club based in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. The club played in the Brunei Pr ...

on 7 August 2019. He became the third son of Fandi Ahmad to lace up his boots for the Young Lions – following in the footsteps of his brothers

Irfan Fandi Irfan bin Fandi Ahmad (born 13 August 1997), more commonly known as Irfan Fandi or mononymously as Irfan, is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Thai League 1 club BG Pathum United and the Singapore national t ...

and Ikhsan Fandi. Ilhan made his first professional start in a league game at the age of 16 years and 331 days, where he scored his first goal in a 1-4 loss against Albirex Niigata Singapore on 15 August 2019. Ilhan scored his third goal for the club in a heavy 4-1 defeat at the hands of Hougang United in the Young Lions' opening match of the

2020 Singapore Premier League The 2020 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 3rd season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since ...

season. As of April 2020, Ilhan has scored 3 goals in just 5 matches for the Young Lions. IIhan scored the first goal of the Young Lions'

2021 Singapore Premier League The 2021 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 4th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since ...

season, helping his team to a 3-3 draw against Balestier Khalsa FC. He ended the

season with 7 goals in 18 league matches. Ilhan notched 2 goals for the Young Lions before leaving for Albirex in the mid-season transfer window. In total, Ilhan has grabbed 13 goals in 33 games, a better strike rate than his older brothers, striker-turned-defender Irfan (eight in 43) and forward Ikhsan (10 in 52), managed during their time in the SPL.

Albirex Niigata (Singapore)

On 21 April 2022, Albirex Niigata (S) confirmed they had signed Ilhan for the remaining 2022 season. Ilhan signed the contract which runs until the end of the 2022 season. Ilhan made his debut on 27 May 2022 in a 8–2 win against Geylang International. His presence after coming on changed the game and he was awarded the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

, where he was involved in 3 of the 5 Albirex goals after coming on for 22 minutes, showing his vision, strength and composure respectively. He also assisted and scored on his debut. In his first four games for the White Swans, Ilhan has already racked up three goals. Ilhan notched his first career hat-trick in his sixth game for the club, which included an outrageous bicycle kick that opened the scoring for Albirex. He has managed 12 goals in his first 11 matches for the Japanese side. Ilhan won the

2022 Singapore Premier League The 2022 Singapore Premier League (also known as the AIA Singapore Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) is the 5th season of the Singapore Premier League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since ...

title with the White Swans, with 2 games to spare, helping his team's cause by averaging almost a goal a game with 14 goals for the White Swans since his arrival at Jurong East Stadium. Ilhan was rewarded for his efforts in the season as he clinched the SPL Young Player of the Year and the Goal of the Year awards, and was also named in the SPL Team of the Year.

Deinze

On 12 December 2022, it was announced that Ilhan had signed for

club

K.M.S.K. Deinze Koninklijke Maatschappij Sportkring Deinze, or KMSK Deinze, is a Belgian football club founded in 1926 based in Deinze, East Flanders. The club colours are orange and black and the team currently plays in the Belgian First Division B, the seco ...

and will join up with his new team after the conclusion of the

2022 AFF Championship The 2022 AFF Championship (officially AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 due to sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and was the 1 ...

International career

Despite being only 17, Ilhan has been invited to train with the Singapore under-22 team. Ilhan received his first senior team training session in 2021. Ilhan played in an unofficial closed-door friendly against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

on 29 May 2021. Ilhan made his official international debut and started in the second-round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

on 3 June 2021. On his second cap against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

on 26 March 2022, Ilhan played alongside his brothers

Irfan In Islam, ‘Irfan (Arabic/Persian/Urdu: ; tr, İrfan), literally ‘knowledge, awareness, wisdom’, is gnosis. Islamic mysticism can be considered as a vast range that engulfs theoretical and practical and conventional mysticism, but the co ...

and Ikhsan. It was the first time that the three Fandi brothers played in the same match for the national team together. It was also the first time in Singapore's history to have three brothers on the pitch for the national team. Ilhan scored his first international goal in a 3-1 win over

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

in the final pre-tournament friendly, ahead of the

, heading in from a

Christopher van Huizen Christopher James van Huizen (born 28 November 1992) is a Singaporean professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, full-back or midfielder#Winger, winger for Singapore Premier League clu ...

’s cross from the left for his first international goal on his fifth cap. He netted in back-to-back games for the Lions when he clinically headed in yet another

’s lovely floater for his second international goal in six caps, in a 3-2 win over

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

in the Lions' opening match of the

Style of play

Ilhan plays as an attacking midfielder, noted for his footwork, coordination and composure as cited by Singapore football legend,

Noh Alam Shah Mohd Noh Alam Shah (born 3 September 1980) is a retired professional football player from Singapore who currently manages Tanjong Pagar United. Once regarded as one of the best forwards in South East Asia, Alam Shah was a member of the Singapor ...

. In the 2020 season, he was given the role as a

false 9 Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

as he "has really good technique and good reading of the game", pointed out by head coach Nazri Nasir.

Personal life

Ilhan is the third son of Singaporean footballing legend Fandi Ahmad and South African model Wendy Jacobs. His brothers,

and Ikhsan, are also footballers playing for BG Pathum United F.C., BG Pathum United. He has an older sister Iman and a younger brother Iryan Fandi, Iryan who plays for Hougang United FC, Hougang United under-17.

Career statistics

Club

*Young Lions are ineligible for qualification to Asian Football Confederation, AFC competitions in their respective leagues.

International

International caps

International goals

U23 International caps

U16 International caps

Honours

Club

Albirex Niigata (Singapore) *

: 2022 Singapore Premier League, 2022

Individual

Albirex Niigata (Singapore)

Young Player of the Year: 2022 Singapore Premier League, 2022 *

Team of the Year: 2022 Singapore Premier League, 2022 *

Goal of the Year: 2022 Singapore Premier League, 2022

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilhan Fandi 2002 births Living people Singaporean footballers Singaporean expatriate footballers Singapore Premier League players Expatriate footballers in England Singaporean people of Malay descent Singaporean people of South African descent Association football forwards Association football midfielders Young Lions FC players Singapore youth international footballers