Former Lion and Prisons Buea FC Player Laid to Rest

Former coach and goalkeeper of the indomitable Lions, Jean Atangana Ottou, has been laid to rest.

The late Jean Atangana who died on the 19th of June, 2017, was buried on Saturday at Mbankomo, on the outskirts of Cameroon’s Capital Yaoundé. The former player of Prisons FC Buea was born in 1941.

The deceased was the first goalkeeper of La Republic du Cameroun and the reunified Cameroon after 1961. 

According to Football Archivist and Barrister, Ashu Ntangtang Tanjong, he was in goal for Diamant Yaoundé when they thrashed West Cameroon's P&T in the 1964 national cup finals played in the then Hipodrome Stadium in Yaoundé.

Atangana arrived in West Cameroon in the 1960s to take up duties at the administrative garage in Buea as a government employee. He would later join Prisons Buea which was founded by Richard Titang of the West Cameroon Prisons department and Justice SML Endeley of the West Cameroon high Court. 

After joining the Prisons outfit, Atangana brought in other players from East Cameroon; among the players he ferried from East Cameroon was the sensational Jean Manga Onguene.

During his three-year stay with Prisons Buea, Atangana Ottou led Prisons to the finals of the Cup of Cameroon against Mbappe Lepe's Oryx Douala. 

The former Coach and third class chief of Mbankomo also played for Canon, Caiman of Douala. Some of his team mates during his stint with the Cameroon team were Jean-Pierre Tokoto and Mbappe Leppe.

Goalkeeper Atangana was part of the 1970 African Cup of nations squad in Sudan. As a coach he assisted Peter Schnittger at the 1972 AFCON and the qualifiers to the 1982 World Cup in Spain.