This 19-year-old Singaporean made history playing for Borussia Dortmund. The programme On The Red Dot joined her at the club before she traded lower-league European football for a professional contract in Australia’s top women’s division.
Danelle Tan training at Borussia Dortmund, or BVB, ahead of her final home game of the season.
DORTMUND, Germany: She will always be Singapore’s first female footballer to play in a European league and then the first Asian female player in Borussia Dortmund.
Danelle Tan’s move last year to what is, arguably, Germany’s number two football club even had some scribes stating that she would be donning the same kit previously worn by players such as Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski.
But there was a massive difference: Danelle was not paid, let alone making a living playing football, as the women’s team have still to turn professional.
“We do get a bit of gas cards (to cover transport costs). But because I don’t use the car — I just walk to training — I don’t benefit from that,” she told CNA.
Danelle (left) at Borussia Dortmund men’s final home game in May, with 80,000 fans in attendance compared with the record of 4,731 fans for the women’s team.
All that is about to change, now that she is signing a professional contract with an A-League club in the top division of Australian women’s football. The official announcement will be made soon.
Before she left Dortmund, the 19-year-old welcomed CNA to join her for an inside look at her experience playing in the fifth tier of the German football league, in the On The Red Dot series I’m Singaporean.
THE JURGEN KLOPP CONNECTION
Dortmund women’s team were formed in 2021 and were climbing the leagues when Danelle joined as a midfielder. Only the top-flight Frauen Bundesliga is fully professional, plus some of the women’s teams in the second division, she pointed out.
Nonetheless, she got to train in state-of the-art facilities such as the Footbonaut, one of only four in the world.
Danelle walking into the Footbonaut.
The facility is used for skills development, first touch, passing and shooting, said technique and skill coach Marvin Mainoo-Boakye, who called it the “famous” Footbonaut. “Even the young players train here, from Under-9 to the pros.”
Dortmund were the first club to use it as part of players’ training regimen, pioneered by their then manager, Jurgen Klopp, who told CNN it was “quite a package” and the “perfect tool” to improve those skills.
Fast and precise — that is what Danelle must be in the Footbonaut to improve her technique.
This was where Danelle came every week to practise. “It really helps you because you have to always … look (for) the goal,” she said. “You have to be constantly aware of your surroundings, which really (translates) into the game.”
She trained with the team on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with their games at weekends. She also did her own training on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Even though I’m not a pro yet, I’m still training as hard as I can to become a pro. And I’m training like a pro,” she said.
Her position in the team was behind the strikers, “so she can connect (the) defence to the offence”, said Dortmund women’s head coach Thomas Sulewski.
WATCH: First Asian female footballer in Borussia Dortmund — How I train to become a pro (23:10)
He highlighted her ability to play with both feet, adding: “It’s not normal to play with both feet.
“If you … can play with both feet, you don’t have to position yourself so that you can play with your stronger foot. Instead, you can position yourself in the way that’s best for you.”
The struggle for Danelle, especially when she first came to Dortmund, was that her training sessions were conducted in German. So she went to German language classes four times a week, which were “really helpful”.
Being away from home, it also helped that she had two other international players — Marah Tayeh, a Palestinian Jordanian, and Marjana Naceva, a North Macedonian — with her in Dortmund, also known as BVB in Germany.
Danelle having a picnic with friends, Marjana Naceva (left) and Marah Tayeh.
They not only became friends, but also shared the same hope of playing professionally.
“I’d be taking the train, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Okay, I’m decked out in BVB (gear), it’s like nobody really cares about the women’s (team),’” said Tayeh. “I just want the same respect as the men (have).”
Outside of football training, Tayeh does work helping athletes in Europe get a scholarship to play college soccer in the United States, while Naceva drives and delivers packages for DHL.
“So many of the players in our team are (doing) a full-time job outside (or) studying full-time, whereas the men can just focus on playing football,” said Danelle. “That’s why we want to play professionally as well.”
A MOVE YEARS IN THE MAKING
Turning pro is a move several years in the making for Danelle.
In 2018, she did a training stint in Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, during which she watched her first women’s football match live. “It showed me that this could be a job,” she said.
She made her senior international debut for Singapore at age 14, scoring a last-minute goal in the 2019 Asean Football Federation Women’s Championship, which made her the country’s youngest goal scorer and the fifth-youngest globally.
As there was no women’s professional league in Singapore, she moved to London at the start of 2022. She did her A levels and spent a year and a half there, during which she played for the third-division London Bees.
Danelle playing for the London Bees. (Photo: Football Association of Singapore Facebook page, courtesy of Danelle Tan)
Even before her European forays, her mother, Dawn Tan, had to prepare to “release her” to pursue a passion “not typical of a girl”.
Danelle was six years old when she first started playing football. She had two brothers playing at JSSL football club for youth, and one Saturday, she asked her parents if she could join her siblings.
When she was in Primary Four, her mother remembered her saying she wanted to play professionally.
“The struggle (for me) was more that she’d have to leave, and she’s not going to be home,” said Dawn. “It was a journey. It took me a while to fully release her.”
For his part, Danelle’s father, Tan Meng Wei — who was the one who told CNA she would be accepting an offer to play in Australia — was prepared to fund her footballing venture in Dortmund.
Danelle with her parents, Tan Meng Wei and Dawn Tan, in Germany.
“The amount of money we were putting aside for her education can also be used to fund this,” said Meng Wei, the chief executive officer of pre-school operator Star Learners.
But the “biggest support” they can give her, he added, is their “whole emotional and mental support”.
Are they outliers among Singaporean parents, many of whom would not let their daughter skip university as On The Red Dot host Rosalyn Lee suggested?
He replied: “I can’t fathom why (they) haven’t come round to the fact that sport is very beneficial to education, to careers and things like that.”
Danelle’s parents travelled to Germany a handful of times to watch her play. This included her final home game of the season, when Dortmund beat VfL Bochum 5-0 to win every home game.
Danelle in action in Dortmund’s final home game.
She contributed 16 goals, including a hat-trick on her home debut, as her team clinched the fifth-division Landesliga title and the regional Kreispokal cup.
Last week, she scored her first international hat-trick, in Singapore’s 9-0 victory over Macau. And even as she ascends to a professional career, she wants to rise with the Lionesses too.
“I’m always very proud to be Singaporean,” she said. “Every time I put on the Singapore jersey, it’s a huge moment of pride for me.
“The goal (is) to climb the ranks (from 138th currently) and become a better national team.”
