Alayah Pilgrim ( ar, عالية بيلكريم; born 29 April 2003) is a Swiss professional
footballer who plays as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
for
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
and the
Switzerland women's national team.
Club career
Pilgrim is a youth product of her local club FC Muri. She wasn't allowed to play football as a youngster, and so secretly started playing with Muri until a coach intervened and convinced her family. She played with the boys until the maximum allowable age, as the club did not have a women's section. In 2017 she began her senior career with
Aarau
Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...
in the Ligue Nationale B at the age of 15. In 2020 at the age of 17, she moved to
Basel on a 2-year contract.
On 10 October 2022, Pilgrim moved to
Zürich, where she played in the
UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time. She helped Zürich win the
2022–23 Swiss Women's Super League
The 2022–23 Swiss Women's Super League (referred to as the Axa Women's Super League for sponsoring reasons) is the 53nd season of top-tier competitive women's football in Switzerland.
Format
In the regular season, the eight teams of the 2021â ...
, scoring in the final - a 3–0 win over
Servette FC Chênois Féminin
Servette FC Chênois Féminin is a women's football club from Geneva, Switzerland. Its first team plays in the top tier in Switzerland and in UEFA Champions League.
History
Servette FC Chênois was founded in 1974 as the women's section o ...
on 2 June 2023.
On 26 January 2024, AS Roma announced the signing of Pilgrim.
International career
Pilgrim was born in Switzerland to a Moroccan father and Swiss mother.
She was a youth international for Switzerland, having played up to the
Switzerland U19s. In August 2022, she was called up to the
Morocco women's national team for the first time.
She declined the invitation, as she received it last minute and didn't have time to decide.
A couple of months later in October 2022, she was called up to the
Switzerland women's national team for the first time, but did not make an appearance.
Just before the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the women's national association football teams organised ...
, she opted to formally represent Switzerland internationally. She debuted with them as a substitute in a
UEFA Women's Nations League loss to
Italy in September 2023.
Honours
;Zürich
*
Swiss Women's Super League
The Swiss Women's Super League is the highest-level league competition for women's football clubs in Switzerland. It was established in 1970 (formerly named Nationalliga A).
League winners qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League. The team ...
:
2022–23
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
;Roma
*
Serie A:
2023–24
*
Coppa Italia:
2023–24
Personal life
Pilgrim studied as a
health professional
A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (suc ...
and had an internship at the Muri Hospital in the summer of 2021.
Outside of football, she also works as an
influencer.
International goals
References
External links
*
Football.ch profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilgrim, Alayah
2003 births
Living people
People from Muri District
Swiss women's footballers
Switzerland women's international footballers
Switzerland women's youth international footballers
Swiss people of Moroccan descent
Women's association football forwards
FC Basel Frauen players
FC Zürich Frauen players
AS Roma (women) players
Swiss Women's Super League players