Tabitha Chawinga (born 22 May 1996) is a Malawian 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

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 Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

, on loan from Chinese side Wuhan Jianghan University FC, and the Malawi women's national team.

Early life

Born on May 19, 1996, in Rumphi District in northern Malawi, Chawinga is the third of five children born to her parents. She began playing football at age five and played with boys until age 13 when she began playing for girls' club, DD Sunshine in the capital city, Lilongwe. Already at this age she was forced to undress because "Her opponents did not believe she was female because of her physical appearance and how well she played" she told in an interview. Also her sister

Temwa Chawinga Temwa Chawinga (born 20 September 1998) is a Malawian footballer who plays as a forward for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League and the Malawi women's national team. Early life Chawinga was born on 20 September 1998 ...

is a professional player in China.

Playing career

Krokom/Dvärsätts IF, 2014

At age 18, Chawinga played for Swedish third-division club , where she earned the league's golden boot after scoring 39 goals in 18 games. She was the first women's footballer from Malawi to play for a European club.

Kvarnsvedens IK, 2015–2017

Chawinga joined

Kvarnsvedens IK Kvarnsvedens IK is a Swedish football club located in Borlänge in Dalarna County. Background Football was first played in 1907 under the name Kvarnsvedens GOIF and this continued until 1935 when operations were shut down for financial reasons ...

in Sweden's

Elitettan Elitettan ( en, The Elite First) is the second highest division of Swedish women's football. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are ...

in 2015. In her debut for the club, she scored a brace in a 4-0 win over

Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...

. The club finished in first place during the regular season with a record. Chawinga was the league's top scorer with 43 goals – 14 more than the next highest scorer. The club's first place finish secured them promotion to the

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

for the 2016 season. During the 2016 season, Chawinga was the third highest scorer in the league with 15 goals. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, she finished as the league's top scorer with 26 goals,2017 Damallsvenskan goal scorers
/ref> despite her club's relegation from the Swedish top flight at the end of the season.

Jiangsu Suning, 2018–2021

After successful spells in Sweden, Chawinga gained the interest from various top clubs abroad and eventually signed for Chinese side

Jiangsu Suning Jiangsu Football Club (), later known as Jiangsu Sainty F.C. (2000–2016) and Jiangsu Suning F.C. (2016–2021), was a professional football club that participated in the Chinese Super League since 2009 until its dissolution in 2021. The tea ...

, reportedly for a record-breaking transfer fee in Swedish women's football. On 6 May 2018, she scored the winning goal in her full-length debut away to Shanghai.

Wuhan Jiangda 2021–present

After the main sponsor of Jiangsu Suning stopped supporting Chawinga moved to Wuhan Jiangda where here sister Temwa is playing.

Personal life

Chawinga's sister Temwa is also a Malawian international footballer.

Honours

; Kvarnsvedens IK *

winner: 2015 Jiangsu Suning *

Chinese Women's Super League The Chinese Women's Super League (CWSL) is the top level women's association football, football league in China. It was called the Chinese Women's National Football League from 2011 to 2014. History The league started in 1997 as the Chinese Wome ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Chinese Women's FA Cup: 2019 * Chinese Women's FA Tournament: 2019 * Chinese Women's Super cup : 2019 * AFC Women's Club Championship 2019 : Runners Up Wuhan Jianghan University *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

; Individual * Elitettan top scorer: 2015 *

top scorer: 2017 *

Best attacking player: 2017 * IFFHS CAF Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020 *

Top scorer: 2018, 2019, 2021 *

Player of the Year: 2018, 2019

References

External links

Profile at Chinese Football Association data bank

Profile at Swedish Football Association
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chawinga, Tabitha 1996 births Living people Malawian women's footballers Women's association football forwards Damallsvenskan players Kvarnsvedens IK players Inter Milan (women) players Malawi women's international footballers Malawian expatriate footballers Malawian expatriates in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Malawian expatriates in China Expatriate women's footballers in China