Feruz, Islam

Players who Never Played a Game | A-Z of Players

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Personal

Fullname: Islam Feruz
aka: –
Born: 10 Sep 1995
Birthplace: Kismaayo, Somalia
Signed: 2005 (juniors)
Left: 2011 (to Chelsea)
Position: Forward
Internationals: Scotland U16-21

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Biog

Islam Feruz’s name has unintentionally become synonymous for a football wonderkid turned spectacular failure. It has hardly been a short list over the history of sport, however related to Celtic prospects, the club has not seen as such a calamitous fall from the initial high predictions to the scraping of the barrel as occurred with his career.

His back story is very interesting. Feruz was born in Somalia and moved to the UK with his family to seek asylum to escape war & violence, and eventually moved to Glasgow, initially living in the high-rises in Castlemilk.

He was soon spotted by Celtic youth coach John Simpson who saw his potential and signed him up for the Celtic youth academy. He was such a precocious talent and had physically developed early, that he was already playing with the Celtic U14s when he was 11.

As happens, he was immediately touted for greatness with comparisons to other great youth players that have come through at Celtic, for example McStay, Nicholas and McGeady.

However, at 12 his family was suddenly threatened with an end to their asylum status. Celtic Coach Tommy Burns (who was a deeply faithful practising Catholic) worked hard to campaign and to assist the family to remain, all for their benefit and in keeping with his faith; the campaign was successful, and Tommy Burns’ role was critical in this whole process.

Sadly, Tommy Burns passed away prematurely from cancer. Out of respect, Feruz at 14 played in a testimonial in honour of Tommy Burns, and that brought him and his story to the mass support. It all just seemed to fit so perfectly at Celtic on paper at least.

Feruz was to become Scotland’s youngest U21 cap to date, and was being praised by all for his skill. Mark Wotte (a Dutch ex-player, manager and coach, and then Director of Football for the SFA from 2011-14) even likened Feruz to Brazilian great Romario. The young Feruz was being hailed the next big thing for Celtic & Scotland, despite being still of school age.

The problem for Celtic was that agents were hanging around like leeches and Feruz was coveted across football. Sadly, Chelsea nipped in with big cheques, fat contracts and sparkling promises, and Islam Feruz was off! His head had been turned and Celtic got peanuts for their investment in him. Feruz didn’t even blink at the offer, and he was perceived to not have made any show of respect to those who had followed and assisted him in his progress.

To many, he had slapped his coaches in Glasgow in the face. Celtic were to get relatively next to nothing for all the help and assistance they had given him and his family (just the nominal development payment). He was deemed to have paid lip service to all. Reports had already questioned his attitude and manner, but still common sense should have prevailed to hold on at Celtic for the long-run.

On social media, the reaction from the more zealous Celtic fans was strong, but Islam Feruz decided to become involved and showed a very dark side to him (some would say he was rubbing salt into others’ wounds):

“Celtic did f*** all with me staying in this country, get your f****** facts right and stop going with the story you read in the papers.”

The above quote prompted a rebuttal from Gerry Collins, ex-Partick Thistle manager and lifelong friend of Tommy Burns:

“It’s disgusting what the boy has said and shows a terrible lack of respect for everything Tommy did for him and his family. He hasn’t achieved anything yet in the game and I can tell him this, whatever he does go on to achieve in football will be down to Tommy Burns and he should be eternally grateful.

“I remember Tommy telling me he had discovered a gem in Feruz but the family were facing deportation to a war zone and the issue became something Tommy fought tooth and nail to prevent. Football was a secondary issue, it was an act of humanity and compassion from Tommy, which was typical of the man.”

Ex-Celt Billy Stark (who was a close confidant of Tommy Burns) commented:

“It is a massive step for Islam and for Scottish football. Now for him personally it is the beginning of a major adventure, he will have to work, work and work and raise his own level. Playing for a top club like Chelsea, where the major word in the squad is quality, will oblige him to show his own quality and deliver his best and convince the staff that he is more than just a major prospect.”

He even decided to turn on his supportive coaches by turning his back on the Scotland youth & senior sides, publicly stating he now wished to play in the African Cup. There had been regular call-offs from Scotland youth squads, much to the frustration of his coaches who also decried in private his poor attitude and unwillingness to integrate with his squad-mates. It was all disrespectful. He tried to backtrack later on this but the door was shut.

Chelsea Non-Career
Islam Feruz had a bright start scoring for Chelsea twice in an FA Youth Cup final, and then made his debut for the seniors in a friendly in the Far East. He was then touted by them as their next big star, which was quite a comment taking in the number of stars they had both at junior and senior level. The Chelsea punters were salivating on their steal.

That was as good as it would get.

He was to be loaned out repeatedly to a number of different clubs over coming seasons, and never managed a credible number of games taking in his early sporting credits, with little good to report back. He played for OFI Crete, Blackpool, Hibs, Excel Moscron (Belgium), FC Aktobe (Kazakhstan), and Swindon Town over 3-4 years, with a total of just 23 games (mostly coming on as a substitute) but zero goals and no plaudits. He even once moved to Russia on loan only for the deal to be cut after just 48 hours due to homesickness (which many cynics were unconvinced of). He even went AWOL after one day at a training camp whilst at FC Aktobe (Kazakhstan).

On his loan to Hibs, the club were then in the second tier in Scotland, yet he was a shambles and made no impact despite his supposed skill. His team-mates were said to have found him ‘a bit aloof’ and ‘often unimpressive’ in training. His loan was cancelled early unsurprisingly but his Hibs manager (Alan Stubbs) did speak kindly of him. A reminder, Feruz was once touted by the major clubs in Europe but now was struggling against lesser teams in Scotland’s second tier.

For anyone who would argue against the Scottish second tier for development, Celtic youngster Liam Henderson was on loan at Hibs at the same time and was subbed off for Feruz to come on for his debut, and it was Liam Henderson who went on to have a successful career in the game.

His personal attitude didn’t seem to help either, being charged driving an £80k Porsche whilst disqualified and then not turning up in court in one of the trials.

‘It would be nice to be judged on what I do at Hibs and how I behave in Scotland,’
Islam Feruz (2016)

It was all a disaster, one he was to admit when he later recommended a later prodigy at Celtic to stay at the club and not follow his lead to move down south. He now admitted that he’d wished he’d stayed at Celtic but it was all too late, and there was no sympathy at Celtic mostly due to the disrespect he had shown Tommy Burns after his help to Feruz’s family.

At Chelsea, his name in social media circles had become a byword for failure and flop as well as club PR hyperbole. He was a laughing stock in Chelsea punters circles and it was a poor sight. Chelsea even had to force him to close-down his Twitter account for his own good due to his spats against Scotland and Celtic fans. After his poor form, it was for the best as later he would have faced possibly worse from disgruntled jumped up Chelsea fans online.

As Celtic were to play in the Champions League and win domestic trebles under Brendan Rodgers, with young players like Dembele, Ntcham, McGregor, Forrest, Edouard and others all gaining great experience and plaudits, Feruz could only now wonder ‘What If?’.

His career never got started. He never even played a senior competitive game for Chelsea or any top side in the top tiers of football, even domestically. His career at 23 was over.

As a comparison, Moussa Demebele had moved from London to Celtic whilst Feruz had snubbed Celtic to move to London. Both were of a similar age, but it was Dembele at Celtic with experience in Scotland and Europe, as well as developing with France U21s, who was the main man in demand. Dembele had won a £20m transfer to Lyon from Celtic, whereas at the same time Feruz couldn’t even get a loan deal to any club anywhere in season 2018/19.

Feruz’s name joins a long list of gifted kids not to reach any notable level despite the initial forecasts, such as famously England’s highly publicised 1990s wonderkid Sonny Pike. Unlike some of those other failed prospects, Islam Feruz was not getting much sympathy from anywhere. His name kept cropping up in English media circles with either the word flop or failure.

Due to his disrespectful mistreatment of various respected figures at Celtic and elsewhere, schadenfreude is the main emotional reply expected but really that should be parked. He was young and arrogant on his transfer down south, but his party of advisors had misled him and it ended up ruining it all. He was not going to be able to look back on his ‘career’ with any real pride.

All that promise, all gone now. We don’t genuinely wish him any ill, but reality has been harsh. Talent is one thing but attitude and effort are also requirements.

He was released (very quietly) from Chelsea in January 2019 with half a season left on his contract.

Post-Football

“I’m not going into every detail but if I could turn the clock back then I would definitely have stayed at Celtic for longer.”
Islam Feruz (2016)

In October 2019, whilst Scotland were defeating San Marino at home 6-0 in the Euro qualifiers, coincidentally Islam Feruz was playing across the road in a low level juniors level match as a substitute in a 4-0 defeat. His career was over. Former teammates of Islam Feruz were on the pitch at Hampden with Scotland whilst Islam Feruz was nearby yet so far away. Chelsea et al were well shot of him by now, and little did they care.

Any hopes that there was still any chance to make up for lost time and reboot his sporting career were now unarguably over.

Scotland then qualified for the Euros, their first major championship since 1998, with a glut of highly-rated & some world class players, but Islam Feruz was nowhere near even just for consideration.

The tabloids stated he had fully quit the game at the age of 24 to move to try to start up a clothing brand. However, after a few years out, in 2023 he did attempt a futile comeback to play as a forward for Radnicki Nis (‘The Labourers‘) in Serbia, but the spell only lasted two months, and it doesn’t appear that he even made a single first team game.

Regardless of any past indiscretions, we all moved on and wished him the best in his post-football life.

“I’m not going into every detail but if I could turn the clock back then I would definitely have stayed at Celtic for longer.”
Islam Feruz (2016)

“Celtic did f*** all with me staying in this country, get your f****** facts right and stop going with the story you read in the papers.”
Islam Feruz on Twitter (2011)

“Heres a fact for you tweeps … 6-7 yrs at celtic n never reached a cup final, one year at chelsea … What happens??”
Islam Feruz on Twitter (2012)

“It’s disgusting what the boy has said and shows a terrible lack of respect for everything Tommy did for him and his family. He hasn’t achieved anything yet in the game and I can tell him this, whatever he does go on to achieve in football will be down to Tommy Burns and he should be eternally grateful.
“I remember Tommy telling me he had discovered a gem in Feruz but the family were facing deportation to a war zone and the issue became something Tommy fought tooth and nail to prevent. Football was a secondary issue, it was an act of humanity and compassion from Tommy, which was typical of the man.”
Gerry Collins, ex-Partick Thistle manager and lifelong friend of Tommy Burns (From Nutmeg Issue 1)

“It’s hard to put into context the lack of gratitude this kid shows with these comments, it’s very sad.”
Billy Stark (from Nutmeg Issue 1)

“There is no doubting my ability as a footballer. I’m only 21. What I have to do is show everyone that I have matured. There are many things in my life I’d do differently. Yes, I’ve done things I’m not proud of. The only thing that keeps you happy is playing football. I am wiser and doing things differently.”
Islam Feruz

“It hasn’t worked out for him here for one reason or another. We are looking to send him back as it hasn’t happened for him here. It’s not about your background, it’s the way you perform in training and off the field which gives you a place in the team.”
Blackpool manager Lee Clark, commenting on Feruz’s return to Chelsea

“He won every game for us really, scoring hat-tricks all the time. I think he’s still at Chelsea actually. He’s been down there a long time. I remember when he left and obviously Celtic were gutted to lose him but I think he couldn’t quite turn it down. It’s maybe not quite worked out the way he wanted it but I’m sure we’ll see him along the way.”
Liverpool’s Andy Robertson on Feruz (both were Celtic youth players) (2018)

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Pictures

• Player Pics

Media

• See Nutmeg Scottish Periodical Issue 1 for a very good analysis of his career.

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Articles

Chelsea outcast Islam Feruz sends warning to Celtic starlet Karamoko Dembele

The 21-year-old says he should have stayed at Celtic instead of switch to Stamford Bridge.

Nick Howson
By Nick Howson
Updated October 11, 2016 19:02 BST

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/chelsea-outcast-islam-feruz-sends-warning-celtic-starlet-karamoko-dembele-1585842Feruz has never made a senior appearance for Chelsea as his career has dwindled. Getty Images

Chelsea outcast Islam Feruz has admitted he wishes he had stayed with childhood club Celtic, after his move to west London triggered a catalogue of misbehaviour that has left his career spiralling towards obscurity. The 21-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge in 2011 but is yet to make a senior appearance having not properly applied himself during a series of loan spells.

The forward joined the Hoops aged 10, spending six years at the club where he learned his trade and stood on the brink of making his professional debut. But after being approached by several third party agents his head was turned and he joined the Blues for a compensation fee of £300,000, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Feruz made an impressive start to life at Chelsea, winning the Under-21 Premier League and the FA Youth Cup while helping the club reach the final of the NextGen Series alongside an impressive batch of youngsters from the club’s Cobham academy. The Scot quickly outgrew the youth ranks however and was sent out on loan to gain first team experience. That was when the problems began.

He joined second tier Russian outfit FC Krylia Sovetov in 2014 on a season-long loan, but the deal was cancelled just 48 hours later after Feruz complained of being homesick. Days later he moved to Greek Superleague club OFI Crete for the remainder of the campaign, but made just two appearances before the agreement was cut short.

Despite training with Cardiff City, Feruz moved to Championship strugglers Blackpool where he played just twice, before being shipped back to Chelsea after writing on Twitter of the eventually relegated Tangerines: “This team take more kick-offs than corners.”

Though his move to Scottish Championship side Hibernian the followed season lasted a little longer, with six outings coming in the first half of the campaign, his 12-month deal was cancelled in January after he failed to make an impact. An opportunity to train with Kazakhstan side FC Aktobe at their warm-weather training camp the following February then ended after one day.

Now the Scotland Under-21 international, who is yet to declare his international allegiance, has moved to Excel Mouscron for the whole of 2016-17. He appears relatively settled with the Belgian side but has only made two appearances since joining in September.

Speaking in a rare interview with the Daily Mail, Feruz says he allowed mediators and agents to distract him from his football career and convince him to swap his humble upbringing at Celtic for the lights of London. He admits his tale should act as a warning to any youngster – with Bhoys’ 13-year-old protégé Karamoko Dembele the target for his advice.

“I’m not going into every detail but if I could turn the clock back then I would definitely have stayed at Celtic for longer,” he said. “That would have given me more experience and a better chance of playing first-team football. Listen, I had my head turned at 15 years of age. I didn’t realise there was money involved in football. I just played football for the love of the game.

“There is no doubting my ability as a footballer. I’m only 21. What I have to do is show everyone that I have matured. There are many things in my life I’d do differently. Yes, I’ve done things I’m not proud of. The only thing that keeps you happy is playing football. I am wiser and doing things differently.
Feruz has represented several of Scotland’s youth sides but is yet to reveal his international allegiance. Getty Images

“Thankfully, I have a few very good people around me, two of whom are Amadou Anglade and Brian Wilson. They are wise men and they have different life experiences. I am learning from them and moving in the right direction.”

He added on Dembele, who played nine minutes for Celtic’s Under-20s against Hearts recently: “I’ve been told he has a genuine chance to go all the way. It takes me back to the situation I was in seven or eight years ago. The main thing is to stay focused and concentrate on football. If he keeps doing what he has been doing then he will continue to improve. He has been recognised by the Celtic under-20 team. That will have boosted him.

“If he keeps progressing at this speed then who knows what he will be ready to achieve at 16? I hope he stays with Celtic, plays for their first team and score lots of goals. Never forget that playing football makes you happy. If he does that, the next step of his career will be a natural progression. He will not need to chase anything or rush into anything. He just has to keep his head down, stay focused and not allow himself to be distracted. That’s the best advice I can give him.”

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Where did it all go wrong for Chelsea prospect Islam Feruz? Scottish wonderkid vanishes again from his latest club

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3441591/Where-did-wrong-Islam-Feruz-Former-Scottish-wonderkid-vanishes-latest-club.html

Islam Feruz lasted barely a day on trial with Kazakhstani side Aktobe
Scottish youngster disappeared completely from club’s training camp
Feruz walked out on Russian side Krylia Sovetov Samara after just 24 hours citing homesickness

A host of spells at other clubs have also failed for the Chelsea striker

By Brian Marjoribanks For The Scottish Daily Mail

Published: 01:05, 11 February 2016 | Updated: 15:06, 11 February 2016

The impression of Islam Feruz as a little boy lost grows by the week. After gradually disappearing from sight these past few months during a dismal loan spell at Hibs, this week the Chelsea striker lasted barely a day on trial with Kazakhstani Premier League side FC Aktobe before vanishing completely from the club’s warm-weather training camp in Turkey.

While it was undoubtedly a curious incident, it was not without precedent in the troubled tale of this gifted but controversial 20-year-old talent.

Back in September 2014, Feruz walked out on Russian side Krylia Sovetov Samara after just 24 hours, citing homesickness. A short-lived, unsuccessful loan followed in Greece at OFI Crete under the management of World Cup-winning former Italy and Rangers midfielder Rino Gattuso.

After training with Cardiff City, Feruz then had a change of heart and swiftly joined Blackpool, where he managed just 16 minutes of action. He was summarily sent back to Chelsea by boss Lee Clark after tweeting ‘This team take more kick-offs than corners’ after a 4-0 defeat at Brentford.

It was against this backdrop of failed loans that the controversial Scotland kid arrived at Easter Road in September.

With a steely glare, and a slight croak in his voice, he used his unveiling Press conference to urge his doubters not to focus on his lengthy list of past misdemeanours and railed against accusations he was a trouble-maker and a lost cause.

‘It would be nice to be judged on what I do at Hibs and how I behave in Scotland,’ said Feruz. ‘I’ve got wiser. I’ve made mistakes, got into trouble, but I’ve learned from them.

‘And I am determined to make the most of this chance at Hibs.’

Barely 24 hours after those words had spilled out of his mouth, however, Scotland’s youngest-ever Under-21 international was spending his last day as a 19-year-old behind bars in Glasgow.

Cruising in his £80,000 Porsche through the city’s Gorbals area, Feruz was stopped by police and subsequently charged with driving while banned, without insurance and of perverting the course of justice, with trial set for June.

It was the worst possible start to the latest attempt to rehabilitate his battered reputation. If his actions off the pitch brought unwanted attention, though, on the pitch his impact was far less striking: not a single first-team start or a goal scored for a side currently residing in Scotland’s second tier.

It was a pitiful return from a youngster whose gifts had prompted no less a judge than Jose Mourinho to hand him his Chelsea first-team debut in the summer of 2013.
Feruz’s latest sorry scrape is a far cry from the superstardom that seemed to beckon after he swapped his war-torn homeland of Somalia for a new life in the Sighthill district of Glasgow.

During a kickabout at Castlemilk Sports Centre, his talent was spotted and then nurtured by Celtic. A rule change pushed through by the then SFA chief executive Gordon Smith would open the door to Feruz representing Scotland by dint of having come through the country’s education system.

Once in the Scotland youth set-up, his pace, power and skill saw him likened to a young Romario — Brazil’s 1994 World Cup-winning striker — by an excitable Mark Wotte, then the SFA’s performance director.

After watching his boy score a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over Switzerland Under-17s at Falkirk in 2012, Wotte predicted Feruz could one day lead the line successfully for the full national team.

A year earlier, though, warning bells had begun to ring when Feruz turned his back on Celtic after six years and signed for Chelsea. His head had been turned and the £300,000 move left deep wounds, which he would later seemingly revel in pouring salt into.

On social media, the headstrong teenager posted messages which downplayed the role of the Parkhead club — and, by extension, the late Tommy Burns — in his family’s successful fight against deportation from the UK.
And, since his switch to Stamford Bridge, recurring off-field incidents have only added to Feruz’s ever-growing reputation as an unmanageable enfant terrible.

There were the regular call-offs from Scotland youth squads, much to the frustration of his coaches who also decried in private his poor attitude and unwillingness to integrate with his squad-mates.

After tweeting an ambition to one day play in the Africa Cup of Nations, Feruz eventually communicated to the SFA his desire not to be picked by Scotland any longer; a claim he unconvincingly denied during that opening Press conference at Hibs.

But such wavering commitment to his adopted nation didn’t stop Feruz infuriating the hierarchy at Chelsea by posting racy pictures of himself online, canoodling with a mystery girl wearing his Scotland strip.

Feruz’s last appearance for Scotland came in a record 6-0 Under-21 defeat to England at Bramall Lane in August 2013. He barely had a kick before being substituted on 62 minutes.
By the time he washed up at Hibs in September, Wotte admitted the boy he had likened to Romario had gone on to have ‘a very, very average’ career to date and represented ‘a big challenge’ for Alan Stubbs to manage.

At Easter Road, team-mates found him ‘a bit aloof’ and ‘often unimpressive’ in training. It was telling that his decision last month to cut yet another loan spell short failed to trouble the back pages in the way his arrival had four months earlier.

While those he leaves behind at the Leith club have a League Cup Final to look forward to next month, Feruz once more stands at a career crossroads trying to find his bearings.

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Alan Pattullo: Lament for the unfulfilled career of Islam Feruz