Khadija Monifa Shaw nicknamed ‘Bunny’ is a celebrated Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a forward. She plays for English Women Super League club Manchester City and captains the Jamaica women’s national team, the Reggae Girls.
Shaw is a versatile player capable of playing on either flanks or through the central area. She is among the world’s best and most seasoned forwards in the women game. Khadija is her country’s all-time top scorer for both men and women as well as Manchester City women all-time top scorer. She is also holds a WSL joint record for most hat tricks.
In recognition to her exceptional achievements in Women football she was awarded the Order of Distinction in 2020 by her country. She is also a recipient of the Guardian Footballer of the Year 2018.
Age and Birthday
Bunny came to the world in Spanish Town, Jamaica on 31 January 1997. She is 27 years old as of 2024.
Height
The Jamaican star footballer is 182 cm (6 feet 0 inches) tall.
Preferred foot
Shaw is right footed but can excellently play with both feet.
Khadija Shaw Family And Education
Family
Khadija is the last born in a thirteen sibling family of George and Monica Shaw. Their father worked as a shoemaker while the mother was a chicken farmer. It is one of her brothers Kentardo who nicknamed her ‘Bunny’ due her love for carrots. Her elder brothers introduced her to football.
Education
Shaw got a scholarship to study at Eastern Florida State College. After two years, she relocated to University of Tennessee where she later graduated with a degree in communication.
Khadija Shaw Club Career
College football: 2015-2018
Khadija played for Eastern Florida State College for her first two years in junior college. She won the 2016 NSCAA first-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-America honours. She moved to University of Tennessee where she would transform from playing as a midfielder to a striker. At Tennessee Volunteers, Shaw was voted to the All-SEC first team in both 2017 and 2018 as well as the 2018 SEC Offensive Player of the Year.
Bordeaux: 2019-2021
The Jamaican sensation signed a two-year deal with French side Bordeaux on 7 June 2019. She made a professional debut and scored a brace in a Division 1 Feminine 4-1 home victory against FC Fieury 91. Shaw contributed a total of 15 goals (10 goals and 5 assists) in 15 league games in her debut season.
She bettered her goalscoring prowess in her second season scoring four goals on 10 October 2020 in a 6-1 win against FC Fieury 91. Shaw followed it up with two hat tricks. The first in a 5-1 win against Dijon FCO on 31 October and the other during a 7-1 thrashing of Stade de Reims on 23 January 2021. Due to her accomplishments she won the Division 1 Feminine Player of the Month in October 2020 and January 2021. Khadija completed the season as the league top scorer with 22 goals and 7 assists in 20 matches. She was named in the 2020-21 Trophees FFF D1 Feminine Team of the Year. Shaw was also nominated for both Trophees UNFP du football and Trophees FFF D1 Feminine best player of the season but lost both to Kadidiatou Diani.
Manchester City: 2021-present
2021-2022 season
On 17 June 2021, Shaw left Bordeaux to join English club Manchester City on a three-year contract. Though ranked second behind main striker Ellen White, she was always ready to deliver whenever duty called. Khadija scored her debut hat trick for the Citizens in 6-0 FA Cup win against Leicester City and later netted four in a WSL 7-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion. She ended her first season as the FA Women’s League Cup joint top-scorer and the club’s second highest goalscorer with 16 goals besides winning the FA Cup.
2022-23 season
It is in the 2022-23 season when Shaw established herself as Citizen’s first choice striker after Ellen White’s retirement. Her goalscoring consistency saw her become the club’s women highest-scorer in a single season after netting 26 times in 22 matches. This is after she surpassed Nikita Parris’s 2018-19 season record of 24 goals. Khadija attained another milestone when she won the 2022 CONCACAF Female Player of the Year to make history as the first Caribbean player to win the award.
She consummated the season as the club’s Player of the Season and having scored 31 goals in 30 matches across all competitions. She was also the WSL second top-scorer only two goals behind Rachel Daly the season’s Golden Boot winner. Her goal against Arsenal on 2 April 2023 won the Citizen’s Goal of the Season. Moreover Shaw featured in the PFA WSL team of the Year and was among the 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or Feminin.
Khadija signed a new contract extending her stay in the Manchester club until 2026.
2023-2024 season
Bunny carried on her prominent form into the new season scoring three hat tricks to became a WSL joint top hat trick scorer alongside Vivian Miedema with five hat tricks. She scored the sole goal in a 1-0 win against Chelsea to take Manchester City level at the top of the table with the League defending champions. On 2 March Shaw scored the opening goal in a 2-1 win over Everton, a win which saw City overtake Chelsea at the top oaf the WSL table. Three weeks later Khadija netted her 68th goal in 81 games for City in a 3-1 Manchester derby victory to became the club’s all time goalscorer. She was voted the FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year on 3 May 2024.
She completed the season as the WSL top scorer with 21 goals to take home the 2023-24 WSL Golden Boot. Manchester City narrowly lost the WSL title race to Chelsea by goal-difference after both teams consummated the season level with 55 points.
Khadija Shaw International Career
Since Shaw debuted for Jamaica at the U15 level at age 14, she has worn the national colours through all age-groups up to the senior level.
Her senior debut was in an Olympic qualifier against the Dominican Republic on 23 August 2015 and scored twice as Jamaica won 6-0. She would later be appointed the Reggae Girls captain. She played a vital role in helping Jamaica qualify for the 2019 Women’s World Cup and making history as the first Caribbean nation to play in the tournament. At the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Shaw lead the Reggae Girls progress up to the round of 16. This was another milestone in Jamaican football since no Jamaican national team both women’s and men’s had ever made it past the group stage in the World Cup.
Khadija Shaw Awards
Manchester City
- FA Women’s League Cup: 2021-22
- Women’s FA Cup runner-up: 2021-22
Jamaica
- CONCACAF Women Championship third place: 2018, 2022
Individual
- FA WSL Golden Boot: 2023-24
- FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year: 2023-24
- PFA Team of the Year: 2022-23 FA WSL
- Manchester City Player of the Season: 2022-23
- Manchester City Goal of the Season: 2022-23
- Trophees FFF D1 Feminine- Team of the Year: 2020-22
- Division 1 Feminine Top scorer: 2020-21
- CONCACAF Women’s Best XI: 2018
- CONCACAF Female Player of the Year: 2022, runner-up 2018