Gaël Bigirimana

Gaël Bigirimana
Personal information
Full nameGaël Bigirimana[1]
Date of birth22 October 1993
Place of birthBujumbura, Burundi
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Rangers
(on loan from Newcastle United)
Youth career
2005–2011Coventry City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2011–2012Coventry City26(0)
2012–Newcastle United13(1)
2015–→ Rangers (loan)0(0)
National team‡
2013England U202(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 March 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:44, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

Gaël Bigirimana (Kirundi pronunciation: [ɡaˈeːl βiɟiriˈmaːnaː]; born 22 October 1993) is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for Rangers on loan from Newcastle United.

Born in Burundi, Bigirimana moved to the United Kingdom with his family as a refugee in 2004 and chose to represent England at under-20 level in 2013.

Club career

Coventry City

Bigirimana was born in Bujumbura, Burundi but moved to the United Kingdom with his family as a refugee in 2004, having spent time living in Uganda.[3] He was taken on trial having asked at Coventry City's academy training facility.[3]

Graduating from the Sky Blues' youth set-up to sign his first professional deal for the club in the summer of 2011 and playing a role the Sky Blues' first team pre-season preparations for the 2011–12 campaign,[4] Bigirimana made his professional debut on 8 August 2011 in a 1–0 Championship defeat by Leicester City, playing the full 90 minutes.[5]

On 12 March 2012, Bigirimana won the Championship Apprentice of the Year Award for the 2011–12 season. He beat Crystal Palace's Jonathan Williams and Reading's Jordan Obita to the award.[6]

Newcastle United

On 6 July 2012, Bigirimana signed for Premier League club Newcastle United.[7] United's website confirmed Bigirimana had signed a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee, believed to be between £500,000 and £1,000,000. His competitive debut came on 23 August 2012, in Newcastle's 1–1 draw with Greek side Atromitos, in their UEFA Europa League Fourth Qualifying Round match,[8] before making his home Premier League debut on 2 September 2012 in a 1–1 draw with Aston Villa as a substitute for the injured Danny Simpson. He scored his first professional goal on 3 December to complete a 3–0 home win against Wigan Athletic after two earlier goals by Demba Ba.[9]

Rangers (loan)

On 2 February 2015, Bigirimana signed for Scottish Championship club Rangers on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season.[10]

International career

In April 2012, Bigirimana announced that he would like to play for Rwanda at international level.[11] He was later considered by Rwanda for the 2013 African Youth Championship qualification stage.[12] In October, Bigirimana stated that he had rejected an international call-up from Burundi due to political instability in the country.[13]

In May 2013, Bigirimana was called up to the provisional England squad for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[14] On 28 May 2013, he was named in the final squad by manager Peter Taylor.[15] He made his debut on 16 June, in a 3–0 win in a warm-up game against Uruguay.[16]

Personal life

Bigirimana was born in Bujumbura to a Burundian father and a Rwandan mother.[17] Before leaving Coventry City for Newcastle, he attended Mosaic Church in Hillfields, Coventry. Whilst at Mosaic Church, Bigirimana regularly helped coach the church football team and as a result Athletico Mosaic were promoted from the Coventry and District Church Division 2 to the Premier Division.

Career statistics

As of 28 August 2013.[18]
Club performance
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Coventry City 2011–12[19] Championship 26 0 1 0 1 0 — 28 0
Newcastle United 2012–13[20] Premier League 13 1 1 0 1 0 10[lower-alpha 1] 0 25 1
2013–14[21] Premier League 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 0
Total 13 1 1 0 2 0 10 0 26 1
Career Total 39 1 2 0 3 0 10 0 54 1
  1. ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Europa League

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 – List of Players" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). p. 8. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Coventry's boy from Burundi". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "Coventry City 0–1 Leicester City". Coventry City F.C. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "Coventry City v Leicester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Top award for Coventry City starlet Gael Bigirimana". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  7. ↑ O'Rourke, Pete (6 July 2012). "Newcastle bag Bigirimana". Sky Sports.
  8. ↑ "Atromitos 1 Newcastle United 1". Newcastle United FC. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Newcastle 3-0 Wigan" BBC Sport. 3 December 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012
  10. ↑ "Rangers sign five Newcastle players on loan on deadline day". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  11. ↑ Mugabe, Bonnie (2 April 2012). "Bigirimana keen on playing for Amavubi". New Times. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "Coventry City: Gael Bigirimana in Newcastle United talks". Coventry Telegraph. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  13. ↑ Bird, Simon. "Cream of the crop: How Bigirimana hit the big time thanks to a trip to buy milk". Daily Mirror.
  14. ↑ "U20 WORLD CUP SQUAD". The FA. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  15. ↑ "Final squad named" TheFA.com. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "Training win for Three Lions" TheFA.com. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  17. ↑ Nkuutu, Hamza (14 October 2012). "Bigirimana will pay off whoever trusts him". The New Times (Rwanda). Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  18. ↑ Gael Bigirimana career statistics at Soccerbase
  19. ↑ "Games played by Gael Bigirimana in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  20. ↑ "Games played by Gael Bigirimana in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "Games played by Gael Bigirimana in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 May 2014.