Number 04 · The professional game
Doreen Nabwire
MID · Retired · Kenya · 2009–2013
The first Kenyan woman to play professionally in Europe
58
Total score of 80
16
League strength (25)
17
Prestige (20)
10
Titles won (20)
15
Impact (15)
Mathare to Bremen
Out of Mathare in Nairobi, she signed for Werder Bremen in 2009 — the first Kenyan woman ever to play professional football in Europe.
The Netherlands and back to Germany
FC Zwolle followed in 2010 and 2011, then a return to Germany with FC Köln in 2013. A serious knee injury ended the playing career early.
Building the job that did not exist
She joined the Football Kenya Federation in 2016 and created the women's football development officer role, serving as team manager of the Harambee Starlets for their first Africa Women Cup of Nations qualification that year, then as Director of Women's Football.
FIFA
She graduated from the FIFA-UEFA Women in Football Leadership Programme in 2019, joined FIFA's technical advisory group on women's football in 2021, and is now FIFA's Women's Football Lead for Africa, based in Rabat.
Honours and milestones
- First Kenyan woman professional in Europe
- FIFA Women's Football Lead for Africa
- FIFA-UEFA Women in Football Leadership Programme, 2019
Career record
Werder Bremen, FC Zwolle, FC Köln
Did you know
She was the first, and then she built the office
Werder Bremen in 2009 made her the first Kenyan woman to play professional football in Europe. A knee injury took the rest of the playing career, so she went into the game's administration instead — and had to invent the role she took, because the Football Kenya Federation had no women's football development officer before she arrived. She managed the Starlets to their first Nations Cup, and now runs FIFA's women's football development for the whole of Africa.
2009
The first Kenyan woman professional in Europe
3
European clubs before injury ended it
Africa
The continent she now leads for FIFA