A coach in Westphalia’s Bezirksliga Group 9 is making big noises after signing a former professional striker.

Firtinaspor Herne, 13th in the Bezirksliga, a position that would currently mean relegation to Kreisliga A, have strengthened their squad with a former professional.

Roussel Ngankam, who once played for Rot-Weiss Essen and can look back on a total of 22 third division matches and 85 appearances in the regional league, will start scoring goals for Firtinaspor from January 1, 2024.

The 30-year-old was recently without a club. Ayhan Kirlangic, the new coach of the club from Herne-Wanne, told “FuPa Westfalen”: “Since I’ve been here, I’ve been able to make a big difference at the club. I’m very happy to be a coach at Firtinaspor. I realize more and more what a great club it is. Of course, I’ve come here to maintain the district league. We’ve brought seven new players on board to do that. But one transfer stands out. The sporting director and I managed to pull off a real transfer coup. With Roussel, we’ve brought in an ex-U20 international for the second half of the season who has already gained some experience in the regional league. His CV shows what the boy can offer.”

Jessic Ngankam’s brother, who is currently under contract with Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt, also once dreamed of a professional career. He has also played at a higher level. Herne’s new striker hopeful has already been under contract with 1. FC Nürnberg II (45 games, six goals), FC Botosani (Romania, 26, 2), SG Sonnenhof-Großaspach (23, 1) and Rot-Weiss Essen (35, 9).

“The whole league can dress warmly. We will hardly lose any more games if we are spared the bad luck of injuries. I also predict that we’ll be the first team that league leaders FC Marl won’t win against. Where I am, success is always inevitable,” said Kirlangic.