Njogu Demba-Nyrén (born 26 June 1979) is a Gambian professional football coach and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who is a staff member at Swedish Division 3 club Eskilstuna City. He has represented

the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

at full international level. During his career, he has played in Sweden, Greece, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway, and England.

Club career

Demba-Nyrén arrived in Sweden as a nine-year-old and grew up playing for

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabit ...

-based clubs Slätta SK and Falu BS. He ventured into the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

with

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

in the early 2000s, spending two seasons before turning professional with Greek club

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club (), or with its full name Panipirotikós Athlitikós Síllogos Giánnina (, ''Panepirotic Athletic Club Giannina'') is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ioannina, the capita ...

. His career took a significant turn when his coach moved to

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

, bringing Demba-Nyrén along, where he impressively scored 12 goals in 22 matches. Subsequent seasons were marred by injuries and a dip in form. After an unsuccessful stint in Bulgaria with

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

, he joined Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos, yet failed to make a significant impact. During his tenure at Panathinaikos, Demba-Nyrén experienced success by clinching the

domestic double The Double, in association football, is the achievement of winning a country's top tier division and its primary domestic cup competition in the same season. The lists in this article examine this definition of a double, while derivative sectio ...

with the club. Additionally, he had a four-month loan spell at Kerkyra. Demba-Nyrén was brought to Denmark by

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

in 2005, quickly establishing himself as a standout player for the team. During his two-and-a-half seasons with Esbjerg, he scored 21 goals in 61 league appearances, earning a reputation as one of the club's finest players in its history. His impressive performance led to a transfer to Norwegian club Brann in the winter of 2007–08, for a reported fee of around DKK 9 million, with potential additional payments based on performance. He signed a four-year deal. In January 2009, he moved to OB from Brann as part of an exchange deal, with David Nielsen moving in the opposite direction. However, by February 2011, Demba-Nyrén was released from his contract with OB. On 4 March 2011, Demba-Nyrén signed for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

on a contract until the end of the season. He scored his first and only goal of the 2010–11 season in a 3–1 defeat against Dagenham & Redbridge. On 16 May 2011 the club announced Demba-Nyrén would not be having his contract renewed. In August 2013, Njogu made the decision to join Ettan club Dalkurd FF following his departure from

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

club

IK Brage Idrottsklubben Brage, also known as IK Brage or simply Brage, is a Swedish Association football, football club located in Borlänge. The club is affiliated with Dalarnas Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Domnarvsvallen. The club colou ...

. During 2014, Njogu played for Falu FK. On 4 June 2015, he signed a trial contract with Dalhem IF, a Division 3 club based in

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

. He showcased his talent by scoring five goals for the club in 2015, which included a memorable

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on 22 August 2015, leading to a 4–2 victory against

Älta IF Älta IF is a Swedish football club located in Älta. Background Älta IF currently plays in Division 4 Stockholm Södra which is the sixth tier of Swedish football Association football is the most popular sport in Sweden, with over 240, ...

Coaching career

In January 2016, Demba-Nyrén embarked on his coaching career, starting with

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...

club Bullermyrens IK in

Borlänge Borlänge () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 44,898 inhabitants as of 2020. It is the seat of the Borlänge Municipality which as of 2017 had a total population of 51,604 inhabitants. History Originally Bor ...

, assuming a dual role as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the team. He was dismissed in 2018. He then shortly returned to playing, by joining childhood club Falu BS in September 2018. In April 2021, he joined the staff of Eskilstuna City.

Honours

Panathinaikos *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2003–04 *

Greek football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2003–04

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Demba-Nyren, Njogu 1979 births Living people People from Bakau Naturalized citizens of Sweden Gambian men's footballers BK Häcken players PAS Giannina F.C. players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players PFC Levski Sofia players Panathinaikos F.C. players A.O. Kerkyra players Esbjerg fB players SK Brann players Odense Boldklub players Notts County F.C. players IK Brage players Dalkurd FF players Falu BS players Falu FK players Danish Superliga players Super League Greece players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Allsvenskan players Eliteserien players English Football League players Gambian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Norway The Gambia men's international footballers Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Men's association football forwards Gambian football managers Association football coaches