Easah Suliman

Easah Zaheer Suliman (born 26 January 1998) is a Pakistani professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Vilafranquense on loan from Primeira Liga club Vitória de Guimarães. Suliman is a product of the Aston Villa Academy.

Easah Suliman
Personal information
Full name Easah Zaheer Suliman[1]
Date of birth (1998-01-26) 26 January 1998
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Vilafranquense
(on loan from Vitória de Guimarães)
Number 16
Youth career
2012–2015 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2020 Aston Villa 0 (0)
2016–2017 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 9 (0)
2018 → Grimsby Town (loan) 2 (0)
2018 → FC Emmen (loan) 3 (0)
2020– Vitória de Guimarães 18 (0)
2021–2022 → Nacional (loan) 13 (0)
2022– → Vilafranquense (loan) 8 (0)
International career‡
2012–2014 England U16 5 (0)
2013–2015 England U17 16 (0)
2015–2016 England U18 5 (0)
2016–2017 England U19 10 (1)
2017–2018 England U20 10 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:21, 4 April 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:01, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Suliman has represented England at youth level and is the first player of Asian heritage to captain an England football side, having done so at Under-16, Under-17 and Under-19 levels. Suliman played every game at centre back in the England Under-19s victorious UEFA European Under-19 Championship campaign in July 2017, scoring the opening goal in England's 2–1 final victory over Portugal. Suliman has played on loan at English Football League sides Cheltenham Town and Grimsby Town as well as Eredivisie side FC Emmen.

Club career

Aston Villa

Having joined the Aston Villa academy at a young age, Suliman was called up to train with the first-team squad by Rémi Garde during the 2015–16 season, and was named as a substitute for a match in the League Cup against Notts County on 25 August 2015.[3] Suliman made his first team debut under manager Steve Bruce, featuring as a late substitute in a 4–1 League Cup victory over Wigan Athletic on 22 August 2017.[4]

Cheltenham Town loan

On 4 August 2016, Suliman joined Cheltenham Town on loan until 2 January 2017.[5] He made his Cheltenham debut on 6 August 2016 in a 1–1 home draw against Leyton Orient.[6] Three days later he played the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 League Cup win against League One side Charlton Athletic.[7]

Grimsby Town loan

On 31 January 2018, Suliman joined League Two side Grimsby Town until the end of the 2017–18 season.[8] He made his league debut in a 1–1 draw with Port Vale on 10 March 2018.[9]

FC Emmen loan

On 17 August 2018, Suliman joined Dutch Eredivisie side FC Emmen on a season-long loan deal.[10] On 28 December 2018, Suliman was recalled from his loan spell at Emmen due to him playing only 9 minutes in his 4-month spell there. The Villa staff and Emmen manager came to an agreement that the loan was 'no longer useful'.[11]

Vitoria Guimaraes

On 21 January 2020, Suliman joined Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes for an undisclosed fee.[12] On 5 June 2020, Suliman made his debut in a 2–2 draw with Sporting CP. In doing so, he became the first player of Pakistani descent to play in the top flight in Portugal.[13] He made his first Primeira Liga start on 30 June 2020, helping his side earn a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over Vitória.[14]

Nacional loan

On 28 July 2021, Suliman joined recently relegated Nacional on a season-long loan.[15] On 15 August 2021, he made his debut for Nacional as a late substitute in a 4–0 victory over Vilafranquense.[16] Suliman made his first start on 28 August 2021 in a 2–1 home victory against Varzim in which he played the full ninety minutes.[17]

Vilafranquense loan

On 1 September 2022, Suliman joined Vilafranquense in the Portuguese second tier on a season-long loan.[18] Suliman made his debut for the club on 8 October 2022, in a 0–1 home defeat to Penafiel.[19]

International career

Suliman has represented England at U16, U17, U18, U19 and U20 levels[20] and was the first British Asian to captain an England side at any level.[21] Suliman captained England Under-16s at the 2014 Montaigu Tournament with the side finishing third overall.[22] Suliman has also captained England at under-17 level against the Faroe Islands.[23]

Suliman was promoted to the England Under-19 side in August 2016 and played the full match in a 1–1 friendly against the Netherlands Under-19 side. A penalty shoot-out was held following the match with Suliman scoring the winning penalty.[24] Tom Davies of Everton started the game as captain but passed the armband to Suliman after he was substituted in the 61st minute.[24]

Suliman started every game at centre back in England Under-19's victorious 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship campaign in July 2017.[25] He scored the opening goal in the final, a header following a rebound off the opposition goalkeeper, in England's 2–1 win over Portugal in Georgia's Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium.

Easah is eligible to play for Pakistan because of his Pakistani background. On 18 May 2023, it was confirmed that Easah would reprsent Pakistan at the 2023 SAFF Championship after FIFA approved the request from Pakistan Football Federation.[26]

Personal life

Suliman has discussed his British Pakistani heritage and being a Muslim professional footballer in interviews.[27] He has spoken of his family's friendship with England cricketer Moeen Ali and how he encouraged him to keep going to secure a professional contract.[27]

Career statistics
As of matches played 2 April 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Other[lower-alpha 3] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa 2016–17 Championship 000000––00
2017–18 000010––10
2019–20 Premier League 000000–2[lower-alpha 4]020
Total 000010–2030
Cheltenham Town (loan) 2016–17 League Two 901020–00120
Grimsby Town (loan) 2017–18 League Two 200000–0020
FC Emmen (loan) 2018–19 Eredivisie 3010–––40
Vitória de Guimarães 2019–20 Primeira Liga 600000––60
2020–21 1200000––120
2021–22 000000––00
2022–23 000000––00
Total 1800000––180
Nacional (loan) 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2 1301000––140
Vilafranquense (loan) 2022–23 Liga Portugal 2 800010––90
Career total 5103040–20620
  1. Includes FA Cup, Taça de Portugal
  2. Includes EFL Cup, Taça da Liga
  3. Includes EFL Trophy
  4. Appearances in the EFL Trophy

Honours

England U19

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Aston Villa" (PDF). English Football League. p. 2. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. "Easah Suliman: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  3. Club, Aston Villa Football. "Aston Villa Football Club | The official club website". Aston Villa Football Club. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  4. "Aston Villa 4–1 Wigan Athletic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  5. "Loan News: Suliman joins Cheltenham Town". Aston Villa F.C. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  6. "Cheltenham Town 1-1 Leyton Orient". BBC Sport.
  7. "Cheltenham Town 1–0 Charlton Athletic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  8. Findlater, James (31 January 2018). "Aston Villa defender Easah Suliman becomes second transfer deadline day signing for Grimsby Town". Grimsby Telegraph. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  9. "Grimsby Town 1-1 Port Vale". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  10. "Welkom Easah Suliman!" (in Dutch). FC Emmen. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  11. Mir, Amir (28 December 2018). "STON VILLA DEFENDER EASAH SULIMAN TO RETURN FROM LOAN". HITC. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  12. "Easah Suliman: Aston Villa defender signs for Vitoria Guimaraes". BBC Sport. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  13. Rushton, James (5 June 2020). "Aston Villa academy star makes history upon league restart". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  14. "Englishman Easah Suliman impresses on full debut for Vitória SC". Próxima Jornada. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  15. "Defesa central inglês Easah Suliman é reforço do Nacional". Sapo Desporto. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  16. "Nacional-Vilafranquense, 4-0: goleada madeirense com Bruno Gomes em destaque - 2ª Liga - Jornal Record". Record. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  17. "Nacional v Varzim Starting XIs, 28/08/2021, Segunda Liga". Goal.com. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  18. "Suliman reforça Vilafranquense por empréstimo do V. Guimarães". www.record.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  19. "UD Vilafranquense vs Penafiel live score, H2H and lineups | Sofascore". www.sofascore.com. 8 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  20. "Profile". The Football Association. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  21. "Aston Villa's Easah Suliman hopes to set standard for England's Asian footballers, Ed Aarons". The Guardian. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  22. "England U16s hot from the spot to see off France in Montaigu". The FA. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  23. "'Moeen Ali told me to show we can achieve our dreams'". Thefa.com.
  24. "England U19s held to draw by Dutch but seal shoot-out win". The FA. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  25. "Under-19 2017: Portugal-England". UEFA. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  26. "Former England U20 player set to represent Pakistan football team". www.geosuper.tv.
  27. "Moeen Ali told me to show we can achieve our dreams". The FA. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  28. "European Under-19 Championship: England beat Portugal in final". BBC Sport. 15 July 2017.
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