Coach Victoria Conteh, affectionately known as Coach Vic or “De Cox,” former Head Coach of the Sierra Leone Senior Women’s National Team, the Sierra Queens passed away in Freetown yesterday.
Coach Vic was a true pioneer and trailblazer in Sierra Leone football, breaking barriers as the first female coach in the country’s history to manage a top-tier male club. A proud CAF A License holder, the only Sierra Leonean woman to achieve this distinction, she served as a mentor, CAF instructor, and member of the SLFA Technical Committee. Her decades of dedication as a player, coach, and administrator left an indelible mark on the development of the women’s game and the sport as a whole.
Born in the early 1970s, Conteh represented Sierra Leone as an international player in the early 1990s, earning six caps for the country’s first-ever women’s national team. At club level, she turned out for Prisons, Lioness, Soccer Angels, and other top sides. She later transitioned seamlessly into coaching, leading the Sierra Leone U-20 women’s team, the Sierra Leone Police Women’s outfit, and briefly taking temporary charge of men’s second-tier side Delta Strikers. In December 2019, she made history when East End Tigers appointed her as head coach of their Premier League side, the first (and only) woman to hold such a position in Sierra Leone’s top-flight men’s game. She guided the club with distinction, including a notable 1-1 draw in her debut against FC Kallon, before the season was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. She also coached Police FC after their promotion to the Premier League.
Despite serious health challenges in recent years, Coach Vic remained passionate about the game. In March 2026, she told legendary BBC sports journalist Mohamed Fajah Barrie at an SLFA Academy match that she missed being on the touchline and hoped to return.
The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has expressed profound sorrow at her passing. In an official condolence message released on Monday, May 4, 2026, SLFA President Babadi Kamara, together with his Executive Committee and the entire football community, stated: “The President of the Sierra Leone Football Association, Babadi Kamara, together with his Executive Committee and the entire football community, expresses profound sorrow at the passing of Madam Victoria Conteh, former Head Coach of the Sierra Leone Senior Women’s National Team, Sierra Queens. Madam Conteh was a trailblazer in women’s football, remembered for her historic achievement as the only female Head Coach in the Sierra Leone Men’s Premier League, where she led East End Tigers with distinction. Her passion, resilience, and commitment to the development of the women’s game have left an indelible mark on Sierra Leone football. On behalf of the football family, we extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, former players, and all those she inspired through her remarkable journey. May her soul rest in perfect peace.”
Legendary BBC sports journalist Mohamed Fajah Barrie, who covered her groundbreaking career extensively, paid a heartfelt tribute: “I last met Victoria Conteh known as ‘De Cox’ in March this year during a Premier League football match at the SLFA Academy. Her last words to me were, ‘Mr. Fajah, I want to go back to the touchline as I miss being there.’ One of her legs had been badly infected by poison, leading to amputation in 2023.
Today, we received the heartbreaking news of her passing in Freetown. It is a sad day for Sierra Leone football. Victoria Conteh was the only Sierra Leonean woman to hold a CAF A license coaching badge. She made history in 2019 as the first and only woman to coach a Premier League side. Until her death, she was the first Sierra Leonean woman to serve as a CAF instructor and also served on the Technical Committee of the Sierra Leone FA.
Victoria was also a former Sierra Leone international, playing for her country’s first-ever national team in the early 1990s, where she earned six caps. At the club level, she played for Prisons, Lioness, and Soccer Angels. She will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, Victoria!”
Coach Vic’s courage, knowledge, discipline, leadership, and unwavering love for football inspired generations of players and coaches across Sierra Leone and beyond. She proved that qualification and passion, not gender, define success on the pitch. The touchline has lost one of its most passionate voices, but her legacy as a barrier-breaker and trailblazer will endure in every young girl who dreams of coaching or playing at the highest level.
The football community, her former players, colleagues, and all those she mentored, join in mourning this immense loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and loved ones at this difficult time.
Rest well, Coach Vic. Your legacy lives on.
May her soul rest in perfect peace. Ameen.