Abdul Conteh

Before there was Kei Kamara and more recently the Jones brothers (Malachi & Isaiah) from Sierra Leone in the MLS there was Abdul T Conteh. A mesmerizing tactician and nightmare for defenses ‘T Boy’ as Abdul was fondly known became a sensation and household name in the school league of the North for St. Francis Secondary School in Makeni. Rival schools in Boys School of Magburaka, Birch Memorial and Benevolent Secondary Schools respectively dreaded facing Abdul’s attacks.

His star was so bright in the game that he would soon leave the shores of Sierra Leone for the USA. Sure, enough it did not take long for him to make an impact as he would soon be on the pitch for the Georgetown Cobras in 1993. Then the Football crazy nation of Mexico heard about his talismanic talents, and they came calling and so from 1994 till the year 2000 Abdul plied his trade playing topflight football for Atletico Marte, Toluca, Monterrey, Montagua and Communicaciones.

Meanwhile the national team the Leone Stars also wanted him to come back home to contribute in taking the nation to the next level and so in 1993 he received a call up to take part in the qualifiers and eventually the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Tunisia. Abdul would go on to be capped about 17 times between 1993 and 1997 by the Leone Stars.

Meanwhile his club career took a different trajectory when the San Earthquakes sought after and secured his services in the young and fledgling Major League Soccer (MLS), and so for three seasons from year 2000 to 2003 Abdul played for the Quakes and subsequently his US hometown DC United. He would call it curtains on his illustrious career after one more season of play with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL Championship.

Abdul became instantly impactful in the MLS after signing with the San Jose Earthquakes for his humanitarian efforts at Rasing funds and securing relief supplies for victims of the Civil War in Sierra Leone as the nation was still caught in the throes of the war then. Abdul received the MLS's Inaugural Humanitarian Award in 2000 as its first ever recipient. he would later be joined by countryman Kei Kamara in 2015 as the second of only three foreign players to ever receive the Award to date. Abdul is now retired and runs the Conteh Soccer Academy in the Washington DC area.