Saru Limbu (Nepali: सरु लिम्बु; born 6 March 1999) is a Nepali professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a midfielder for the

Indian Women's League The Indian Women's League, known as ''Hero Indian Women's League'' for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp is the women's top tier professional football league in Indian football. Founded in 2016, currently a total of 18 teams from across the ...

club

Kickstart FC Kickstart FC is an Indian professional football club from Karnataka. Their women's team participate in Indian Women's League. Men's side competes in the BDFA Super division. Kickstart FC was nominated for I-League 2nd Division in 2019 and 202 ...

and the Nepali Women's National Team.

Early life

Growing up in her home town in

Morang District Morang District ( ne, मोरङ जिल्ला ) is located in Province No. 1 in eastern Nepal. It is an Outer Terai district. It borders with Bihar, India to the South, Jhapa to the East, Dhankuta and Panchthar to the North, and Suns ...

, Limbu used to watch local football matches, and her friends and cousins influenced her to play football. Her talent was noticed by a teacher who contacted football coach Bikram Dhimal. After watching her play, Dhimal took her to

Urlabari Urlabari is a city and municipality in Morang District in the Koshi Zone of south-eastern Nepal. It is considered to be the second largest city in Morang District after Biratnagar. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 18,2 ...

where she joined the local New Star Club. Playing for New Star she attracted the attention of bigger clubs including

Nepal A.P.F. Club Nepal A.P.F. Club (), commonly known as APF Club, is a sports club based in Kathmandu, Bagmati Province, Nepal. The club is the sports-wing of the Armed Police Force (Nepal), Armed Police Force. History The APF Club was established on 24 Octob ...

Club career

In 2016, APF offered her a contract. Initially, Limbu's family did not want her to go, but, as it was a departmental team where she would have more than just a football job, her family agreed. When she joined APF, key players such as

Anu Lama Anu Lama (Nepali:अनु लामा) (born 3 October 1987) is a Nepalese women's Association football, footballer who currently is the Captain (association football), captain for the Nepal women's national football team and a Forward (associa ...

and

Sajana Rana Sajana Rana (born 13 June 1987) is a Nepalese women's footballer who currently is part of the Nepal women's national football team and plays as a futsal midfielder for New Radiant's women's team having previously played for the APF Club. Club ca ...

were injured, so Limbu got an immediate chance to play. After a dominant performance in the Chief of Army Staff Cup, she was called up to

Nepal women's national football team The Nepal women's national football team is controlled by the All Nepal Football Association and represents Nepal in women's international football competitions. The Women's Football Department is developed to control and manage the women's f ...

. After consistently performing well at club level and in closed camps, she was selected for Nepal's squad for the 2016 SAFF Women's Championship. In March 2021, Limbu was one of four Nepal national team players recruited to play in the 2021 edition of Pakistan's

National Women Football Championship The National Women Football Championship is the top cup competition for women's football clubs in Pakistan – designed as an equivalent to the National Challenge Cup for men. It was started in 2005 by the Pakistan Football Federation. Youn ...

, for

Masha United Masha United is a Pakistani professional association football, football club based in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. The men's team plays in the Pakistan Premier League, the top tier of Pakistani football league system, Pakistani football ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

.National Women’s Football Championship set to kick off amid Covid cloud
Umaid Wasim 9 March 2021 Dawn Retrieved 9 March 2021 The side finished top of its group, scoring 60 goals in four matches. These included a 19-0 win over Sialkot (Limbu scoring 10 goals), a 4-0 triumph over Higher Education Commission, a 35-0 victory over Karachi (Limbu again scoring 10), and a 2-2 draw with

Karachi United Karachi United Football Club is a Pakistani professional football club based in Clifton, Karachi. Karachi United competed in the Karachi Football League, one of the top leagues of Karachi. It currently competes in the Pakistan Premier League, th ...

. They reached the semi-finals before the tournament was cancelled. She returned to play in Nepal's domestic league for

International career

Limbu captained Nepal's under-18 women's team at the

SAFF U-18 Championship The SAFF U-18/U-19/U-20 Championship is a biennial football championship for male footballers under the age of 20 and is organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The championship was held for the first time in August 2015 in Nepal. ...

in Bhutan.

International goals

Honours

Kickstart *

runner-up: 2022–23 Individual

References

1999 births Living people People from Morang District Nepalese women's footballers Nepal women's international footballers Women's association football forwards South Asian Games silver medalists for Nepal South Asian Games medalists in football Indian Women's League players Kickstart FC players Nepalese expatriate sportspeople in India Nepalese expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in India {{Nepal-women-footy-bio-stub