Particulars

Name: Lamin Conateh

D.O.B: 1st October 1981

Place of Birth: Bakau

Playing Position: Defender

Previous Club: Steve Biko, Walllidan, Bakau Utd

Present Club: Assiriska (Sweden)

Lamin Conateh was born on the 1st October, 1981, in Bakau - a town that  has never relented in producing sports personalities of timber and mettle.

Known by his sobriquet as Babaye, Conateh commenced football in the streets of Bakau. He later started off locally with Steve Biko, a community club based in Bakau. While at Biko, Conateh was hardly given a chance to prove himself, as he turned into a bench-warmer simply because he was consider as a juvenile.

The strained condition forced the defender to look for an alternative. And nothing could have proved the better decision than his ceremonious switch to Wallidan FC, the all-time kings in the GFA division one league.

No sooner had he joined the Blue Boys than he established himself as a regular in the Banjul club line-up, where he also found exposure.

With Wallidan, Babaye won himself as many league and FA Cup titles as possible, and his outstanding performance earned him a call-up to the senior national team in 1997, though he has to play second fiddle to players like Seyfo Soley and Kemo Ceesay until in 2004 when he established himself as a regular.

After a seven-year stint with Wallidan, Conateh called it quit and later joined Bakau United in 2007 season. He spent only one season with the    Bakau side before realising his dream of playing at the professional level.

It was a dream come true when Babaye signed a three-year contract in 2007, with the Swedish second division side Assiriska - the same club that house fellow Gambian Azziz Corr Nyan.

"I am very happy to become a professional, because it has always been my dream.

However, I would not have been where I am today without the support of my parents and Abdoulie Bojang (former Scorpions)," Babaye told Observer Sports.

"I will always remember Lie Bojang for his good advice during my playing career at the local level. He had always motivated and I will remember him for that."