Kurdish-Swedish professional footballer joins French club
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish-Swedish professional soccer player Nor Mustafa has joined the French Le Havre football club, announced her former employer West Ham United Women on Friday.
“West Ham United Women can confirm that Swedish forward Nor Mustafa has joined French side Le Havre on a permanent deal,” the British football club said in a statement, thanking the 19-year-old forward “for her efforts in Claret & Blue and wish her well in her future career.”
Mustafa “made nine appearances in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League having signed from Eskilstuna United in the summer of 2020,” it added.
The Eskilstuna-born attacker joined West Ham United Women 14 months ago. She has been a substitute for all the club’s 22 matches in the last season’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
Born to a Kurdish family who migrated to Europe decades ago, Mustafa told the Guardian in July 2020 that she is proudly Swedish but will never “forget where my parents are from.”
Mustafa added that she often was the only girl playing soccer around her when she was young.
“I was the only girl there with the boys. So like, I was one of the boys,” she said. “To be honest, a lot of people didn’t want me to play. I had people telling me: ‘You’re a girl, you should be at home, don’t play.’ I had family members who didn’t want me to play. But I loved it. It was my passion. I was burning for football. If I went to the store to buy milk I would have a football at my feet.”
“West Ham United Women can confirm that Swedish forward Nor Mustafa has joined French side Le Havre on a permanent deal,” the British football club said in a statement, thanking the 19-year-old forward “for her efforts in Claret & Blue and wish her well in her future career.”
Mustafa “made nine appearances in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League having signed from Eskilstuna United in the summer of 2020,” it added.
The Eskilstuna-born attacker joined West Ham United Women 14 months ago. She has been a substitute for all the club’s 22 matches in the last season’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
Born to a Kurdish family who migrated to Europe decades ago, Mustafa told the Guardian in July 2020 that she is proudly Swedish but will never “forget where my parents are from.”
Mustafa added that she often was the only girl playing soccer around her when she was young.
“I was the only girl there with the boys. So like, I was one of the boys,” she said. “To be honest, a lot of people didn’t want me to play. I had people telling me: ‘You’re a girl, you should be at home, don’t play.’ I had family members who didn’t want me to play. But I loved it. It was my passion. I was burning for football. If I went to the store to buy milk I would have a football at my feet.”