Shaka Hislop
Reading 1992-1995
162 Appearances
The 6’ 5” man mountain joined in the summer of 1992 and made the keepers jersey his own for the next 3 seasons. On the pitch possibly the most laid back footballer I’ve ever seen, his constant chewing and relaxed body language always had a calming influence over our defence.
The best description I ever heard was from a Royals fan trying to remember a time that he’d had a bad game. He simply couldn’t and when you look at the way he looked after the younger players in the squad he surely played in integral part in the development of any youngster that played in front of him.
The Trinidad and Tobago international could, and should have, played for England and even sat on the bench but never made a first team appearance. He did play for the U21’s as an overage player though so when David James et al were making some shocking appearances for England we could have had Shaka between the sticks.
I’ll always have two fond memories of Shaka, the first one being an away fixture against Sheffield United in March 1995. Not just because I’d travelled up to see us only have one decent shot on target, which we scored, but Shaka’s performance made it worthwhile. With a combination of acrobatics and what I can only describe as fearful shooting we left with a 1-1 draw. If you ever want to describe how to mentally destroy a frontline try to get the video of this match.
Secondly, a few years ago at Parky’s testimonial when he went up front for the last few minutes and nearly scored. Being scared of humiliation, having dreamt it or having watched the match with the rose tinted spectacles I often carry to games I’ve just rung a mate who was there with me. Luckily he’s agreed that Shaka looked very tasty up front and maybe in his prime could of done a job for us as the target man we so often needed. We can but dream?!
I rued the day he left but in fairness not only did we pocket £1.5m but no one can forget the Toon army friendly deal. Also with him in the side we did win the league in 1993/94 and then the great promotion robbery in the 1994/95 season. Not forgetting being honoured in joint third place with Steve Death in the player of the millennium poll. On top of his performances Shaka was always the model pro at Reading, that’s why he’s my Royals legend and anyone that ever watched him must surely agree.