Ahmed Nuru Deen (born 30 June 1985) is a

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

an association football, footballer who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for FC Elmstead. He has played for the Sierra Leone national team. Deen made his senior debut for Sierra Leone on 24 March 2007 against

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

in a

2008 African Nations Cup The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confede ...

qualifier played in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...

Family background

Deen was born to

Oku Oku or OKU may refer to: *Oku, Cameroon, subdivision in the Northwest Region of Cameroon ** Lake Oku, a crater lake on the Bamenda Plateau in the Northwest Region of Cameroon ** Mount Oku, the largest volcano in the Oku Massif, in the Cameroon Volc ...

parents and grew up in Freetown, and later moved to England where he started his football career.

Club career

Ahmed Deen arrived at the Moss Rose in the summer of 2008 from fellow League one club

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. He was once on the books as a trainee at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He enjoyed spells with a variety of

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

teams, including

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

in the

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

. He was released by

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

at the end of the 2008–09 season, and signed with

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in August on a short-term deal. After some impressive performances he signed a two-year deal in September, linking up with his cousin

Albert Jarrett Albert Ojumiri Jarrett (born 23 October 1984) is a Sierra Leonean Association football, footballer who last played for Dulwich Hamlet and has represented the Sierra Leone national football team. Club career Jarrett was born in Freetown to Creo ...

. He scored his first goal, a

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...

, for Barnet in a 3–1 away win against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

on 4 September 2009. Deen was due to sign for

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

on loan in March 2010 but this deal was called off as the Bees already had

Daniel Leach Daniel Leach (born 5 January 1986) is an Australian former footballer who last played for Football League Two club Barnet as a defender. Career He attended St. Joseph's Nudgee College in Virginia, Queensland, and played state football for Que ...

and Joe Tabiri on loan at Dover, and a third would have breached league rules. Deen was released by Barnet at the end of the 2009–10 season. Deen joined Hayes & Yeading United in August 2010, teaming up once again with former Barnet goalkeeper

Lee Harrison Lee David Harrison (born 12 September 1971) is an English goalkeeping coach, currently working as Head of Goalkeeping at Wycombe Wanderers F.C. Harrison spent most of his career with Barnet, but he has played in over 400 League and Cup games in ...

, making his

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

debut in the home win over

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

. He was released by Hayes & Yeading United in February 2011. In the same month, he joined

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

. In October 2011, Deen signed for Southern League club Cambridge City. In December 2011, Deen signed for

club

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

. He re-joined

in August 2012, and was a regular choice at left-back as the Hamlet won the Isthmian League Division One South. Continued solid performances in the Hamlet's return season to the Premier Division earned him a place in the Non-League Paper Team of the Season for 2013–14. During the 2014–15 pre-season, it was announced that Deen would be leaving the Dulwich Hamlet playing staff, although he would be retaining links to the club through his work with the Dulwich Hamlet Football in the Community Programme. After a spell with VCD Athletic, he transferred to

Aveley Aveley is a town and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock in Essex, England, and forms one of the traditional Church of England parishes. Aveley is 16 miles (26.2 km) east of Charing Cross. In the 2021 United Kingdom ...

in December 2014. In 2016, he joined Kent Football United as a player-coach.

International career

Deen made his senior debut for

against

in a

qualifier played in

on 24 March 2007. He was a starter for the Leone Stars during the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and 2010 African Nations Cup matches against

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and the back to back games against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. As of 2010, he has been capped 10 times by Sierra Leone.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deen, Ahmed 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Freetown Oku people Sierra Leonean footballers Sierra Leone international footballers Association football fullbacks Leicester City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Aveley F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players