“I look forward to showcasing my skills to the Stevenage fans,” said Moroccan forward Ilias Chair upon joining us at the end of January 2019. The 21-year-old had listened to what Luke Freeman and Seny Dieng had to say when making up his mind. Judging by the fact he still came, we can only assume the verdict from the two former Boro’ players was a positive one.

With a handful of appearances under his belt by the time he arrived at the Lamex, Chair was already impressing QPR fans. And it wasn’t long before he was dazzling us too. For the gaffer, Ilias Chair is the greatest player to ever wear the Stevenage shirt. Can we say anything to counter that? Not really. He seemed to only trade in wonder goals, becoming only one of three Boro’ players in recent years to score from his own half.

The fact we had to let him go back to QPR was, while inevitable, deeply disappointing.

Ilias Chair: Before Boro’

Chair is of Moroccan descent, but was actually born in Belgium. There, his football career took flight; starting at Club Brugge as a young ‘un and moving through the JMG Academy Belgium and onto Lierse S.K.. Chair moved into senior football at Lierse S.K. and must’ve made an impression. Just two years as a fully-fledged pro, he was coming over to Blighty to turn out for QPR.