Along with Baihakki Khaizan, Hassan Sunny and Khairul Amri, Shahril was in the pioneer batch of the National Football Academy in 2000.

He played his final game for Home United on 21 September 2010, scoring two crucial goals against title rivals Tampines Rovers.

[4] In 2010, Shahril signed a 1-year contract with Indonesian side, Persib Bandung, along with his fellow Singapore national football team player, Baihakki Khaizan.

[5] In February 2011, Shahril signed a one-year deal worth $400,000 with Liga Primer Indonesia side, Medan Chiefs.

He was converted back to a centre midfielder/play-maker role and led his new club to a 5th placing position, finishing the season with 7 goals and 8 assists for his new team.

[7][8][9] He scored a further two goals in the Warriors' tenth league game of the season, sealing a 2–0 win over Geylang International to end a wretched two months spell for his club, where they only won once and was dumped out of the Singapore Cup.

Singapore's most natural creative midfielder to emerge in recent years, Shahril quickly established himself as the heartbeat of the Lions engine room since he made his international debut aged just 19 against Maldives on 4 March 2003.

[13] With winger Ridhuan Muhammad, defender Baihakki Khaizan and keeper Hassan Sunny, he was part of the "NFA Gang of Four", the quartet which had played together since their early teenage years and earned senior international honours in 2003.

He has been employed in various positions across the midfield by coach Radojko Avramović, but Shahril staked a strong claim for an influential central role with a series of convincing performances there in the second half of 2004.

In August 2010 Shahril was revealed as the new captain of the national team, and led the Lions for the AFF Suzuki Cup in December.