On Monday (January 12th), 1.FC Heidenheim signed Christian Conteh from Eintracht Braunschweig, the brother of FCH striker Sirlord Conteh. The 22nd pair of brothers at a Bundesliga club – a special story.
No question, 1.FC Heidenheim could soon shine not only in football, but also in athletics. With the two Conteh brothers, Christian and Sirlord, coach Frank Schmidt can rely on two of the strongest sprinters in the Bundesliga. “His extreme speed and dribbling fit our requirements profile perfectly,” said Holger Sanwald, the CEO of FCH, after signing Christian Conteh.
Christian Conteh top scorer in Braunschweig
The Heidenheimers brought the offensive player from second division club Eintracht Braunschweig and gave him a contract until 2029. For the Lower Saxony team, Christian Conteh not only impressed with his speed and agility, but also as a productive attacker in front of the opponent’s goal: with four goals and four assists, the 26-year-old was the top scorer in Braunschweig this season.
Lightning fast and agile – these attributes also apply exactly to Sirlord Conteh, who is three years older. The brother of new signing Christian Conteh has been playing at the Heidenheimer Schlossberg for a year and a half and also came to Brenzal from a second division team, SC Paderborn, in the summer of 2024. Thanks to his speed, “Sisi” is considered an excellent counterattack player and is therefore often used as a joker by Frank Schmidt.
Sirlord was the fastest player in the Bundesliga in 2024
Speaking of speed: With an incredible 36.82 kilometers per hour, Sirlord Conteh achieved a new sprint record in the Bundesliga on December 7, 2024. Jean-Matteo Bahoya has now replaced him as the speed leader in the Frankfurt jersey; he broke the 37 sound barrier at 37.16 km/h, but the Heidenheimer is still number two in Bundesliga history.
Hamburg and St. Pauli were the starting point of both professional careers
So now the two speedy brothers with Ghanaian roots are reunited in football at 1.FC Heidenheim. Incidentally, the Contehs are the 22nd pair of brothers to play (not necessarily together) for the same Bundesliga club.
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From the Förster siblings to the Contehs: pairs of brothers in professional football
About the Contehs’ careers: Both were born in Hamburg, both played for various smaller clubs in the Hamburg football district during their youth and junior years before ending up as young talents at FC St. Pauli. The two brothers played together for St. Pauli II in the Regionalliga Nord from 2018 to 2019.
From the 2nd league to the Bundesliga
However, the brothers then got their polish for the Bundesliga at other stations. Sirlord landed in the Bundesliga via third division team Magdeburg (2019 – 2022) and two seasons in the jersey of second division team Paderborn at FCH.
Brother Christian, in turn, moved to the traditional Dutch club Feyenoord Rotterdam after his time at Millerntor in 2020, from where he was loaned out to Sandhausen, Dordrecht and Dresden. He finally achieved his lasting breakthrough in German professional football in 2023/24 at VfL Osnabrück and since 2024 at Eintracht Braunschweig in the 2nd league.
Preferred position of the two Contehs: The right wing
Now the Contehs want to work together to ensure that 1.FC Heidenheim stays in the league and thus manages a fourth year of the Bundesliga. The two attackers prefer to play on the right wing, new signing Christian recently impressed in Braunschweig but also in the attacking midfield. After a long injury break due to knee surgery, Sirlord is now back in top shape and was last in a 2-2 draw against 1.FC Cologne back in the starting line-up.
Christian’s anticipation of the interaction
Brother Christian, Heidenheim’s new boy, now wants to make the jump to the FCH Bundesliga team as quickly as possible and is looking forward to playing with his big brother – perhaps on Tuesday evening at the basement duel in Mainz: “I am of course very familiar with the club through my brother. Being able to play together with him in the Bundesliga in the future will of course be something very special.”
And who knows, maybe one of the two strong sprinting Conteh brothers will break the speed record in the Bundesliga again soon. 37.16 kilometers per hour are required.
