Arnaud Mendy (born 10 February 1990) is a former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who played as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
.
He started his career in France with
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
, he went on to play professionally for
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
,
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
,
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
,
Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020.
Initially kno ...
,
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
and Lincoln City. He later moved into non-league football for
Whitehawk
Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originally ...
,
Hemel Hempstead Town
Hemel Hempstead Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Affiliated to the Hertfordshire County Football Association, they are currently members of the National League South and pl ...
and
Welling United
Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football.
History
Welling United Foot ...
. He also had a spell in the
Maltese Premier League
The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...
with
Naxxar Lions
Naxxar Lions Football Club is a football club from the town of Naxxar in northern Malta
Their historical and arch-rivals are Mosta FC. A match between Naxxar Lions and Mosta FC, is known as the derby of the north, but because there are other ...
Évreux
Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy.
Geography
The city is on the Iton river.
Climate
History
In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...
,
Eure
Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507. He made his debut for
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
during the 2007–08 season, making 12 appearances at the age of 17 and scoring three goals, as Rouen missed out on promotion to the
Championnat National
The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...
by three points.
Derby County
Mendy joined English side
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
from
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
as an academy player in the close season of 2008, and played for the academy and reserve sides in his first season. He made his first team debut in a pre-season friendly against
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
on 1 August 2009, coming on as a substitute four minutes from time and scoring a last minute equaliser for Derby in a 2–2 draw. His competitive debut was in a 3–0 victory over
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
on 3 October 2009. Two weeks later, Mendy joined
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
on an initial one-month loan. He made his debut on 17 October 2009 against
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
. This game was to be Mendy's only as a Grimsby player, as manager Mike Newell was sacked the next day, and the following week caretaker manager
Neil Woods
Neil Stephen Woods (born 30 July 1966) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is academy manager at Grimsby Town.
As a player, he was a striker from 1983 to 2000 for Doncaster Rovers, Rangers, Ipswich Town, Bra ...
left him out of the eighteen man squad to face
AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
. On 29 October, Mendy and fellow loanee
Josh Magennis
Joshua Brendan David Magennis (born 15 August 1990) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays as a striker for Wigan Athletic. Having spent the majority of his youth career as a goalkeeper, he switched to striker in 2008 before turning professio ...
had their loan contracts terminated ahead of schedule. He was due to join
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season on 26 March 2010, but the deal was not completed in time. Mendy stayed at Derby and featured regularly for the club's reserve side, which won the Central League Championship during the 2009–10 season.
Mendy was given the squad number 24 ahead of the 2010–11 season, but moved to
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
on a month's loan on 31 August 2010. He made his debut in a
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
match against
Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...
before making his first league start in a 1–0 win over
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
, where he scored the winning goal, converting from close range for the first goal of his career in England and earning Rovers their first win of the season.
He returned to Derby at the end of his three-month loan spell and featured in reserve fixtures for the remainder of his time at the club. Having failed to break into Derby's first team, the club announced in May 2011 that Mendy would not be retained past completion of his contract in June 2011.
Macclesfield Town
On 11 July 2011, Mendy joined
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
outfit
Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020.
Initially kno ...
on a one-year contract. On 7 January 2012, Mendy scored a spectacular, back-to-goal volley in a game at home
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
side
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
in
The FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
Third Round to make the scoreline 2–1 to Macclesfield. The game eventually finished 2–2, which forced a replay at the
Reebok Stadium
The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England.
Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...
. Mendy then became a regular in the Macclesfield starting eleven. However, the club was relegated to the
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
in April 2012. Mendy stayed with Macclesfield as they began their first season of non-league football in 15 years.
Luton Town
Mendy joined Macclesfield's divisional rivals
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
on loan on 19 October, with the transfer made permanent in January 2013. He made 28 appearances for Luton in all competitions, but was transfer listed by new manager
John Still
John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...
in March 2013 following an unspecified breach of club discipline. Still confirmed that Mendy would not play for the club again. Mendy went on trial in July 2013 with
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
side
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, but was not offered a contract. Despite Still's earlier proclamation, Mendy started for Luton on 30 November 2013 in a 0–0
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
draw with
Staines Town
Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex.
History
Early days
Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...
. He was released from his contract on 27 December 2013.
Lincoln City
On 10 February 2014, following a successful trial period, he signed a contract with
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
National League South
The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
side
Whitehawk
Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originally ...
, to play once more with ex-Macclesfield manager Steve King. Mendy was sent off in the 25th minute of his debut at Hayes & Yeading and left for
Hemel Hempstead Town
Hemel Hempstead Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Affiliated to the Hertfordshire County Football Association, they are currently members of the National League South and pl ...
at the end the season.
On 11 September 2017 he joined
Naxxar Lions
Naxxar Lions Football Club is a football club from the town of Naxxar in northern Malta
Their historical and arch-rivals are Mosta FC. A match between Naxxar Lions and Mosta FC, is known as the derby of the north, but because there are other ...
in the
Maltese Premier League
The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta (colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...
. Mendy was released in January 2018 and re-joined his former manager Steve King at
Whitehawk
Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originally ...