Zeli Ismail

Zeli Ismail (born 12 December 1993) is an Albanian-born English professional footballer who plays as a right midfielder for League Two side Bradford City. He has represented England at both under-16 and under-17 level.

Zeli Ismail
Personal information
Full name Zeli Ismail[1]
Date of birth (1993-12-12) 12 December 1993
Place of birth Kukës, Albania
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder/Winger
Club information
Current team
 Bradford City
Number 11
Youth career
2004–2012 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Wolverhampton Wanderers 9 (0)
2012–2013 → Milton Keynes Dons (loan) 7 (0)
2014 → Burton Albion (loan) 15 (3)
2014 → Notts County (loan) 14 (4)
2015–2016 → Burton Albion (loan) 3 (0)
2016 → Oxford United (loan) 5 (0)
2016 → Cambridge United (loan) 11 (1)
2016–2018 Bury 37 (3)
2017–2018 → Walsall (loan) 16 (1)
2018–2019 Walsall 32 (3)
2019– Bradford City 14 (1)
National team
2008 England U16 3 (0)
2009 England U17 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:33, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

Career

Born in Kukës,[3] Ismail is a product of Wolverhampton Wanderers' academy, which he joined at the age of 10. In 2008 former academy manager Chris Evans said he could "see enormous money being spent on Zeli."[4] The midfielder signed his first professional contract in 2010,[5] and made his senior debut on 25 September 2012 as a substitute in a 0–6 defeat at Chelsea in the League Cup under Ståle Solbakken.[6]

In November 2012 he joined League One side Milton Keynes Dons on loan until 2 January 2013.[7] Here, he made his league debut on 24 November 2012 as a substitute in a 5–1 win over Colchester.[8] Upon the end of his initial loan period he was immediately re-loaned for the remainder of the campaign,[9] but this was ended after a month as Ismail failed to establish himself in their first team.[10]

Following Wolves' relegation to League One at the end of the 2012–13 campaign, Ismail was cited by new manager Kenny Jackett as being part of his plans for the first team.[11] He made his first league appearance for Wolves on 10 August 2013 when he started a 4–0 win against Gillingham, in what was the first of nine league appearances.[12]

Despite these games, Ismail did not hold down a regular place in the Wolves' team and, after not gaining any playing time at all during December 2013, he was loaned to League Two club Burton Albion in January 2014 in a one-month loan deal.[13] He scored his first senior goal on 8 February 2014 to earn a 1–0 victory at Morecambe.[14] His loan stay was subsequently extended until the end of the season, allowing Ismail to play in the League Two Play-off Final for the Brewers, where they lost 0–1 to Fleetwood.

In July 2014, Ismail signed a six-month loan deal with League One Notts County.[15] He scored four times in sixteen appearances before suffering a knee injury against Accrington in November 2014 that meant he had to return to his parent club and undergo surgery.[16]

On 29 July 2015, it was announced that Ismail would return to former club Burton Albion on loan until January.[17] This spell was however hampered by an ankle injury.[18] Having recovered, he joined Oxford United in February 2016 on a month's loan,[19] during which time he made 6 substitute appearances (5 of them in League matches).[20] Ismail was almost immediately loaned out again; this time joining another League Two side, Cambridge United, until the end of the 2015–16 season,[21] where he made 11 appearances, scoring once against Morecambe.[22]

At the conclusion of the campaign his parent club announced they would not be taking up the option of offering Ismail a new contract.[23] He made 12 appearances in total for the club, but none above League One level.

On 25 June 2016 he signed for Bury.[24] He scored his first goal for Bury in an EFL Trophy tie against Morecambe on 30 August 2016.[25]

On 31 August 2017, Ismail joined fellow League One club Walsall on loan until January 2018.[26] Ismail scored his first goal for Walsall in an EFL Trophy tie against West Bromwich Albion Under-23s on 19 September 2017.[27]

He was released by Bury at the end of the 2017–18 season.[28]

After making sixteen league appearances on loan for the club, Ismail joined Walsall permanently on 26 June 2018, signing a one-year deal.[29][30]

He was released by Walsall at the end of the 2018–19 season.[31]

In June 2019 it was announced that he would sign for Bradford City on 1 July 2019, after signing a one-year contract with the club.[32] He made his debut for the club on 3 September 2019 in an EFL Trophy match against Bolton Wanderers and made his league debut for the club on 7 September 2019 in a 2–1 win against Northampton Town, where he was also sent off.[33]

Career statistics
As of match played 19 August 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2012–13[34] Championship 000010—10
2013–14[35] League One 90101000110
2014–15[36] Championship 00—00—00
2015–16[37] Championship 000000—00
Total 90102000120
Milton Keynes Dons (loan) 2012–13[34] League One 7020—0090
Burton Albion (loan) 2013–14[35] League Two 153——2[lower-alpha 1]0173
Notts County (loan) 2014–15[36] League One 14410001[lower-alpha 2]0164
Burton Albion (loan) 2015–16[37] League One 300000—30
Oxford United (loan) 2015–16[37] League Two 5000001[lower-alpha 2]060
Cambridge United (loan) 2015–16[37] League Two 1110000—111
Bury 2016–17[38] League One 16310101[lower-alpha 3]1194
2017–18[39] League One 210—10—220
Total 373102011414
Walsall (loan) 2017–18[39] League One 16110—3[lower-alpha 3]2203
Walsall 2018–19[40] League One 32320113[lower-alpha 3]0384
Total 484301162587
Bradford City 2019–20[41] League Two 11100001[lower-alpha 3]0121
Career total 16016805112318520
  1. Appearances in League Two play-offs
  2. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  3. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Bradford City" (PDF). English Football League. p. 11. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  2. Zeli Ismail at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  3. "Zeli Ismail". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  4. "Wolves £100m wonder kid". News of the World. 12 October 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  5. "Wolves sign up Zeli Ismail and Liam McAlinden". Express & Star. 15 December 2010.
  6. "Chelsea 6–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 25 September 2012.
  7. "Zeli Ismail joins MK Dons from Wolves on loan". BBC Sport. 23 November 2012.
  8. "MK Dons 5–1 Colchester". BBC Sport. 24 November 2012.
  9. "MK Dons re-sign Zeli Ismail from Wolves". BBC Sport. 4 January 2013.
  10. "Ismail returns to Wolves". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 8 February 2013.
  11. "The Potential of Youth". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 26 June 2013.
  12. "Wolves 4–0 Gillingham". BBC Sport. 10 August 2013.
  13. "Zeli Ismail joins Burton from Wolves". BBC Sport. 8 January 2014.
  14. "Morecambe 0–1 Burton". BBC Sport. 8 February 2014.
  15. "Zeli Ismail: Notts County sign Wolves winger on loan". BBC Sport. 18 July 2014.
  16. "Knee injury rules Wolves winger Zeli Ismail out for six months". Express & Star. 1 December 2014.
  17. "ZELI ISMAIL RETURNS TO BURTON ALBION". Burton Albion FC. 29 July 2015.
  18. "Fresh injury blow for Burton's Zeli Ismail". Eurosport. 28 October 2015.
  19. "Oxford United sign Zeli Ismail". 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  20. Pritchard, David (3 March 2016). "Oxford United send Zeli Ismail back to Wolverhampton Wanderers". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  21. "Cambridge: Wolves loan out winger Zeli Ismail until end of season after Oxford loan". BBC Sport. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  22. "Cambridge 7-0 Morecambe". BBC Sport. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  23. "Contract decisions revealed". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 9 May 2016.
  24. "Bury: Ben Williams, Zeli Ismail & Niall Maher join League One side". BBC Sport. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  25. "Report: Bury 4 Morecambe 1". buryfc.co.uk. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  26. "Walsall: Burnley forward Daniel Agyei and Bury winger Zeli Ismail on loan". BBC Sport. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  27. "Walsall 3-1 West Brom U21s". saddlers.co.uk. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  28. "Neil Danns: Bury offer new contract to veteran midfielder". BBC Sport. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  29. Briggs, Daniel. "Zeli Ismail re-signs!". Walsall FC. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  30. "Zeli Ismail: Walsall re-sign former Wolves winger from Bury". BBC Sport. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  31. "Walsall: New Saddlers boss releases 11 players following relegation to League Two". BBC Sport. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  32. "Bradford City sign former Walsall winger Zeli Ismael". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  33. "Bradford City 2 -1 Northampton Town". bbc.co.uk. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  34. "Games played by Zeli Ismail in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  35. "Games played by Zeli Ismail in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  36. "Games played by Zeli Ismail in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  37. "Games played by Zeli Ismail in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  38. "Games played by Zeli Ismail in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  39. "Games played by Zeli Ismail in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  40. "Games played by Zeli Ismail in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  41. "Games played by Zeli Ismail in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
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