Aziz Deen-Conteh

Abdul Aziz Deen-Conteh (born 14 January 1993) is a Sierra Leonean former professional footballer who played as a left-back.

Aziz Deen-Conteh
Personal information
Full name Abdul Aziz Deen-Conteh[1]
Date of birth (1993-01-14) 14 January 1993[2]
Place of birth Bumpe, Sierra Leone[2]
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)[2]
Position(s) Left back
Youth career
2006–2013 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Ergotelis 7 (0)
2014–2016 Port Vale 0 (0)
2015 → Boston United (loan) 5 (0)
2016 Zaria Bălți 6 (0)
2016 Zugdidi 4 (0)
2017–2018 Dover Athletic 4 (0)
2018 Dulwich Hamlet 0 (0)
Total 26 (0)
National team
2008 England U16 2 (0)
2010–2011 England U19 5 (0)
2016 Sierra Leone 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He represented England at youth level whilst on the books at Chelsea. He spent the 2013–14 season with Greek club Ergotelis, making seven appearances in the Greek Superleague. He joined Port Vale in November 2014, and was loaned out to Boston United in August 2015, but left Vale in January 2016 without making a first team appearance. He moved on to Moldovan side Zaria Bălți – winning the Moldovan Cup in 2016 – and Georgian side Zugdidi, before he returned to England in August 2017 to sign with Dover Athletic.

Club career

Chelsea

Deen-Conteh was born in Sierra Leone but grew up in Deptford, England, joining Chelsea at the age of 13.[3] He played both legs of the club's FA Youth Cup final victory over Aston Villa in 2010.[4] He was given a two-year professional contract by manager Carlo Ancelotti.[5] He was a member of their Champions League squad for the 2012–13 season, though he did not make an appearance for them.[6] After being released by the club in June 2013,[7] he went on trial with Millwall the following month.[8] He came close to joining Notts County, but negotiations broke down at the last minute.[5]

Ergotelis

He signed for Greek club Ergotelis on a two-year contract in August 2013.[9] He found the left-back spot occupied by the club captain and made only seven first team appearances at the Pankritio Stadium in the second half of the 2013–14 season.[5] He left the club after the Greek financial crisis left the club unable to pay player's wages.[5]

Port Vale

He began training with English League One side Port Vale in November 2014,[10] and signed for the club on a deal running until summer 2017 after impressing during his trial spell.[11]

He joined National League North club Boston United on a one-month loan on 11 August 2015.[12] Again he found himself behind a club captain in the pecking order, with Carl Dickinson rarely missing a game at left-back.[5] He was released by Port Vale in January 2016, having not made a first team appearance at Vale Park.[13] He went on to say "I didn't really get along with the gaffer", and said Rob Page "wasn't thinking about the players, he wasn't thinking about the club, he was thinking about himself".[5]

Later career

Deen-Conteh joined Moldovan National Division club Zaria Bălți soon after leaving Port Vale.[14] He played eight games for the club, including a substitute appearance in the 2016 final of the Moldovan Cup at Zimbru Stadium as Zaria beat Milsami Orhei 1–0 after extra-time.[15][16] After the leaving the club he considered signing with league rivals FC Milsami, but instead moved to Georgian side Zugdidi later in 2016.[15][5] He left Zugdidi in October 2016 after the club struggled to pay his wages.[5]

On 24 August 2017, Deen-Conteh returned to England to sign with National League side Dover Athletic.[17] He made his debut for the "Whites" when he came off the bench in a 1–0 defeat at Macclesfield Town on 25 August.[18] He went on to make a further three substitute appearances before he was released from the Crabble Athletic Ground upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the 2017–18 season.[19] He spent time on the bench at Dulwich Hamlet in September 2018, without being signed to a contract.[20]

International career

Deen-Conteh represented England at youth international level, appearing for the under-16 and under-19 teams.[21] In March 2013 he committed his international football to Sierra Leone, the country of his birth, after being called up by their senior national team; however, he was unable to play due to an expired passport.[22] He was called up again in May 2013, alongside fellow Chelsea player Samuel Bangura.[23] He was not given clearance to play for the senior team however and expressed doubts over whether he would accept any further call-ups as he criticised the Sierra Leone Football Association for their organisational skills.[24] However, Deen-Conteh ended up getting called up and capped officially by Sierra Leone, and made his debut against Malawi.[25]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ergotelis 2013–14[26] Superleague Greece 7000—0070
Port Vale 2014–15[27] League One 0000000000
2015–16[28] League One 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Boston United (loan) 2015–16[15] National League North 5000—0050
Zaria Bălți 2015–16[15] Moldovan National Division 6020—0080
Zugdidi 2016[15] Umaglesi Liga 4010—0050
Dover Athletic 2017–18[15] National League 4010—0050
Dulwich Hamlet 2018–19[15] National League South 0000—0000
Career total 260400000300

International
Sierra Leone national team[25]
YearAppsGoals
201620
Total20

Honours
Chelsea
Zaria Bălți

References
  1. "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). premierleague.com. Premier League. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2015/2016". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  3. "Profile". Chelsea F.C. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013.
  4. "Chelsea's FA Youth Cup winners – Where are they now?". talkSPORT. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  5. Unwin, Will (2 February 2017). "Ex-Chelsea defender Aziz Deen-Conteh: I need to start again at the bottom". ITV News. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  6. Aziz Deen-Conteh – UEFA competition record
  7. Alie Bitar (8 June 2013). "Aziz Deen Conteh in Chelsea's list of released players". Sierra Express Media. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  8. "Millwall trials for Arsenal, Chelsea and Southampton youngsters". Daily Express. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  9. Morris, Sahr. "Sierra Leone defender Deen Conteh signs for Ergotelis FC". goal.com. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  10. Baggaley, Mike (11 November 2014). "Ex-Chelsea defender Aziz Deen-Conteh plays for Vale". The Sentinel. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  11. "Port Vale sign former Chelsea defender". BBC Sport. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  12. Baggaley, Mike (11 August 2015). "Aziz Deen-Conteh joins Boston". The Sentinel. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  13. Baggaley, Mike (29 January 2016). "Aziz Deen-Conteh leaves the Valiants". The Sentinel. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  14. "Profile". fczaria.md(in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 March 2016.
  15. Aziz Deen-Conteh at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  16. Молдовы, Кубок (25 May 2016). "Финал Кубка Молдовы. "Милсами" - "Заря" 0:1 (0:0, 0:0) - в дополнительное время. Протокол матча". moldova.sports.md (in Russian). Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  17. "FA Youth Cup Winner Joins Whties - Dover Athletic". www.doverathletic.com. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  18. "Macclesfield Town 1-0 Dover Athhletic". BBC Sport. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  19. Harvey, Richard (10 May 2018). "Retained and Released List Announced". doverathletic.com. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  20. Cawley, Richard (7 September 2018). "Dulwich Hamlet manager Rose ready to make changes after unacceptable performance". London News Online. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  21. "Profile". The Football Association. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  22. Mohamed Fajah Barrie (25 March 2013). "Chelsea youngster commits to Sierra Leone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  23. Mohamed Fajah Barrie (16 May 2013). "Sierra Leone coach McKinstry calls up Chelsea youngsters". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  24. Richards, Joshua (3 December 2014). "Aziz Deen-Conteh reaping rewards of Ashley Cole's advice". The Football League Paper. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  25. "Aziz Deen-Conteh". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  26. "Games played by Aziz Deen-Conteh in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  27. "Games played by Aziz Deen-Conteh in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  28. "Games played by Aziz Deen-Conteh in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
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