Nigel Dabinyaba (born 26 October 1992), sometimes spelt Nigel Dabingyaba, is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

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 lea ...

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) ** Smal ...

for

Lae City FC Lae City FC, formerly known as Lae City Dwellers FC or Toti City FC, is a professional soccer club founded in 2014 and based in Lae, Papua New Guinea. The side currently plays in the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, the highest level of so ...

in the

Papua New Guinea National Soccer League The Papua New Guinea Premier Soccer League is the men's top division of professional association football, soccer in Papua New Guinea. It is a nationwide league formed in 2006 by Papua New Guinea Football Association. It replaced the Papua New ...

, as well as the Papua New Guinea national team. Besides Papua New Guinea, he has played in New Zealand and Malaysia. He has won seven National Soccer League titles, including three with

Hekari United Hekari United, formerly known as POM Souths, Souths United, PRK Souths United and Hekari Souths United, is a professional soccer club formed in 2006, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The club holds the record for most titles in the Papua ...

and four with

. Internationally, he has earned 18 caps and scored 8 goals since his debut in 2014.

Early life

Dabinyaba was born in

Lae Lae (, , later ) is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River on the northern coast of Huon Gulf. It is at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is ...

, and attended Bugandi High School.

Club career

Domestic beginnings

Aged 18, Dabinyaba played for Gigira Laitepo Morobe in the 2009–10 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League. He had been rejected by Besta PNG United ahead of the season, but was described as 'one of the most consistent players in the team' by manager Stanley Khanna. The side reached the Grand Final of the competition, before being beaten 5–0 by

. Dabinyaba was recruited by Besta PNG United, the PNGFA-sanctioned development team, ahead of the 2010–11 season, with the side finishing fourth in the regular season table. Dabinyaba was then selected to represent the

Football Association in the 2011 Besta Cup, which the side went on to win.

Hekari United

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Dabinyaba was recruited by champions

. As well as competing domestically, Dabinyaba also played in the

2011–12 OFC Champions League The 2011–12 OFC Champions League, also known as the 2012 O-League, was the 11th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 6th season under ...

, where the club finished second in Group B, narrowly missing out on a final berth behind eventual champions

Auckland City Auckland City () was a territorial authority area with city status covering the central isthmus of the urban area of Auckland, New Zealand. It was governed by the Auckland City Council from 1989 to 2010, and as a territory within the wider Au ...

. However, he was able to pick up his first domestic national trophy after helping Hekari to the NSL title. Dabinyaba once again represented Lae in the 2012 Besta Cup, scoring two goals in the final against Bougainville in a 7–0 thrashing. On 27 April 2013, Dabinyaba scored his first goal in continental competition, helping the side to a 2–1 victory over Solomon Warriors in the final group match of the

2012–13 OFC Champions League The 2012–13 OFC Champions League was the 12th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club association football, football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 7th season under the current ...

, to end what was otherwise a disappointing campaign. However, Dabinyaba did help Hekari to the 2013 National Soccer League title, scoring a goal in the 3–0 victory over

FC Port Moresby FC Port Moresby is a semi-professional soccer club based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Founded in 2012, the club competed three times in the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League until the league split in 2016. Their best result came in ...

in the Grand Final. Dabinyaba was retained ahead of the 2014 season, and once again scored in the

2013–14 OFC Champions League The 2013–14 OFC Champions League was the 13th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 8th season under the current OFC Champions League n ...

campaign, opening the scoring against

AS Magenta AS Magenta is a New Caledonian Association football, football team playing at the top level. It is based in Nouméa. Their home stadium is Stade Numa-Daly Magenta. History Originally called the Nickel Nouméa Sports Association (Nouméa ASLN), th ...

in the club's second fixture. The side finished bottom of the group, but won another domestic title, with Dabinyaba scoring the opening goal in the 3–0 victory over Lae FC, before the match was abandoned on 70 minutes.

Lae City

Ahead of the 2015 season, Dabinyaba, alongside teammate and fellow Lae local

Raymond Gunemba Raymond Gunemba (born 4 June 1986) is a Papua New Guinean professional association footballer, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Lae City Dwellers and the Papua New Guinea national football team. Internation ...

, moved to new side Lae City Dwellers, a team more local to him, but Lae lost 3–0 to his former club in their first meeting on 31 January 2015, and again in the reverse fixture in Port Moresby, despite a Dabinyaba goal. However, the club reached the Grand Final where they faced

Madang FC Madang Football Club, formerly known as Madang Flying Fox, Madang Niupetro Fox or simply Madang Fox, was a Papua New Guinea soccer club, based in Madang. The club was one of the founding members of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League in 20 ...

, winning 5–1, with Dabinyaba scoring the club's second goal. Dabinyaba was offered a move to New Zealand side

Kapiti Coast Kapiti or Kāpiti may refer to: * Kapiti (New Zealand electorate), a former Parliamentary electorate *Kāpiti Coast District, a local government district *Kapiti Island * Kapiti Coast Airport * Kāpiti College *Kāpiti Expressway * Kapiti Fine Food ...

after the 2015 season, but was unable to make the move due to visa problems. The 2015–16 season saw Lae City make their continental debut in the

2016 OFC Champions League The 2016 OFC Champions League was the 15th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 10th season under the current OFC Champions League name ...

, and Dabinyaba scored his second continental goal in a 5–4 defeat to Solomon Warriors on 17 April 2016. Domestically, Dabinyaba scored four goals in the club's opening fixture against Goroka Gosiha, Despite coming second behind Hekari United in the race for the Minor Premiership, Lae City defeated Hekari 2–0 in the Grand Final, allowing Dabinyaba to pick up his fifth straight domestic league winner's medal.

Overseas contracts

Following his performance at the

2016 OFC Nations Cup The 2016 OFC Nations Cup was the tenth edition of the OFC Nations Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Oceania organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The tournament was played between 28 May and 11 Jun ...

, Dabinyaba was signed by Western Pride of the NPL Queensland in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on a short-term deal. At the time of his debut, Dabinyaba was the only current full international to play in the league and only the second capped international to play for the club. He made his debut for the club on 6 August 2016, scoring in a victory against

Moreton Bay United FC Moreton City Excelsior FC (formerly Moreton Bay United FC) is an Australian soccer club located in the northern Brisbane suburb of Albany Creek and representing the City of Moreton Bay of Queensland. The club was formed in 2012 and currently com ...

. The season ended shortly afterwards, and Dabinyaba returned home. In September 2016, it was announced that Dabinyaba would be moving to New Zealand to join

Canterbury United Canterbury United Dragons was a semi-professional Association football, football club from Christchurch, New Zealand. The team plays most of its matches at English Park in Christchurch, though they occasionally play in Nelson, New Zealand, Nels ...

of the Stirling Sports Premiership. After a long pursuit of the player, he was officially announced in November. He made two league appearances for the club during his short stay. In December 2016 it was announced that Dabinyaba was trialing with

Penang FA Penang Football Club (simply known as Penang FC) is a Malaysian professional football club based in George Town, Penang, that competes in Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. Unofficially founded in 1920, officially as ...

of the

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League () was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. It replaced the Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier League was contested by 12 clubs. The season usually ra ...

. His signing was announced along with the signings of three other players the following month. Dabinyaba was handed the club's number 10 shirt. Dabinyaba remained with the club for a single season, making 18 appearances and scoring 3 goals.

Return to Lae City

Dabinyaba returned to Toti City Dwellers for the 2018 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, helping the club to a fourth title and his sixth. He also scored three times in the club's

2018 OFC Champions League The 2018 OFC Champions League was the 17th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club association football, football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and the 12th season under the current OFC ...

campaign – twice in the 7–2 victory over Tupapa, and once in a 4–1 defeat to Nalkutan, before the club was resoundingly beaten 11–0 by eventual winners

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was an association football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most successful football c ...

in the quarter-finals. In May 2018, it was announced that Dabinyaba would join

Hamilton Wanderers AFC Hamilton Wanderers Association Football Club is a semi-professional Association football club from Hamilton, New Zealand, that currently competes in the Northern League. National League Hamilton Wanderers joined the New Zealand Football Champi ...

, a top-flight club in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. However, he returned to Lae ahead of the new season in Papua New Guinea. Dabinyaba scored four goals for Lae in their

2019 OFC Champions League The 2019 OFC Champions League was the 18th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 13th season under the current OFC Champions League name ...

campaign, including one in the 1–1 draw with eventual champions Hienghene Sport. The club reached the quarter-finals before losing to Auckland City. Domestically, Dabinyaba scored several goals throughout the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

to help the club to top spot in the Northern Conference, before scoring two in the semi-final against Morobe United and converting his

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in the Grand Final

shoot-out A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

to earn a seventh domestic title for himself. In October 2019, Dabinyaba joined Solomon Islands club Malaita Kingz on a short-term basis for the second half of the domestic season. He rejoined Lae City following the start of the

2019–20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League The 2019–20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, for sponsorship reasons also known as the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited National Soccer League, was the 14th edition of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, the top-tier soccer league ...

International career

U20s

Dabinyaba made three appearances for the U20s national team at the

2011 OFC U-20 Championship The 2011 OFC U-20 Championship, was the 18th OFC Under 20 Qualifying Tournament, the biennial football championship of Oceania ( OFC). It was held in Auckland, New Zealand from 21 to 29 April 2011. The winner qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-20 Wo ...

. He played in all three of the nation's group games, scoring twice: once in the 5–1 defeat of

American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...

, and once in the 5–2 defeat to

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

U23s

In March 2012, Dabinyaba was part of the national U23s side during

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Dabinyaba played in all four of the nation's games, scoring in the 3–0 victory against

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

Senior squad

Dabinyaba was called up to the senior international squad in September 2014 for a friendly against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, but he would not make his competitive debut until the

, with the 1–1 against

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

being his third international cap overall. He scored his first two senior international goals during the 8–0 victory over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, eventually scoring three across the whole tournament. Papua New Guinea went on to be the runners-up after losing on penalties in the final to

. In November 2016, Dabinyaba scored his fourth and fifth international goals in friendlies against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, the latter game allowing him to pick up his tenth senior cap. Dabinyaba was part of the nation's unsuccessful 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, playing in three of the four fixtures and scoring once, having been suspended for the first game against the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. Dabinyaba played all five of Papua New Guinea's matches at the

2019 Pacific Games The 16th Pacific Games (), also known as Apia 2019, were held from 7 to 20 July 2019. The Games were held in Apia, Samoa, returning there for the first time since 2007. It was the third time overall that the Pacific Games were held in Samoa. The ...

, scoring twice, against

and

. Papua New Guinea went on to finish fourth.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Papua New Guinea's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dabinyaba goal.''

Honours

Hekari United *

: 2011–12,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Lae City *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, 2015–16,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Papua New Guinea *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

2022; runner-up:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dabingyaba, Nigel 1992 births Living people Papua New Guinea men's international soccer players Papua New Guinean expatriate men's soccer players Papua New Guinean men's soccer players Morobe United F.C. players Hekari United F.C. players Penang F.C. players Hamilton Wanderers AFC players National Premier Leagues players Malaysia Super League players New Zealand Football Championship players Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Papua New Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Australia Papua New Guinean expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Papua New Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Men's association football forwards 2016 OFC Nations Cup players Sportspeople from Morobe Province