Jerel Christopher Ifil (born 27 June 1982) is an English footballer who plays as a defender who plays for Swindon Supermarine. He is the elder brother of fellow footballer Philip Ifil.

Career

Born in Wembley,

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, Ifil started his career at

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

where he made his debut in the 2002–03 season. Initially, he went on loan to Huddersfield Town where he played four times. Ifil originally signed for Swindon Town on a three-month loan deal from Watford in January 2003, returning to the club in September later that year where he further impressed, prompting manager Andy King to request Ifil's loan to be extended but this was refused by Watford. However, Ifil returned on another three-month loan just over a week later in January 2004. After a drawn out transfer saga, the two clubs agreed a £70,000 bid for the player, Ifil signed a two-year deal at Swindon in July 2004. By the time of his departure from the club in 2009, he was Swindon's longest serving player. In August 2009 Ifil appeared as a trialist for

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in their 1–0 win over Hull City in a testimonial for Dean Windass. He subsequently signed a two-year deal with the club on 12 August 2009. He made his debut in a 3–1 loss to Celtic on the opening day of the 2009–10 SPL season. On 31 January 2011, Ifil was released by Aberdeen. On 24 February, Ifil signed for Bristol Rovers on non-contract terms until the end of the 2010–2011 season. He was one of seventeen players released by the team in May 2011. On 25 July 2011, he signed a two-year contract with Kettering Town. Having trialled with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

earlier in the summer, he signed for Sutton United at the start of September 2012 and then moved to Boreham Wood shortly afterwards. In November 2012 he joined Staines Town, playing for them until December 2014. In 2018, after four years out of the game, Ifil joined Swindon Supermarine.

Personal life

Jerel is the brother of fellow professional footballer, Philip Ifil. He is of Saint Lucian and Greek-Cypriot descent.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ifil, Jerel 1982 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Brent People from Wembley Men's association football defenders English men's footballers English people of Saint Lucian descent English people of Greek Cypriot descent Watford F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen