Rollin Menayese (born 4 December 1997) is a Welsh 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 plays as a defender for

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

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on loan from

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

. Having begun his career with Non-League side

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

, he has gone on to feature professionally for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Menayese was born in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, and attended

St Joseph's Roman Catholic High School ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

in Newport.

Career

Weston-super-Mare

Menayese began his career in the youth academy at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

along with his twin brother Elvis. Following his release by Cardiff, he signed for

in December 2016. He made 23 appearances for the Seagulls in the second half of the 2016–17 season.

Bristol Rovers

On the 1 June 2017, Menayese joined

, initially joining up with the u23 squad. He made his first professional appearance for Rovers in the

EFL 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 Le ...

, coming off the bench to replace an injured Jonathan Burn in a 5–1 victory over

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. On 7 October 2017, with both

Tom Lockyer Thomas Alun Lockyer (born 3 December 1994) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Luton Town and the Wales national team. Club career Bristol Rovers Lockyer was born and raised in Cardiff. He joined Cardiff ...

and

Ryan Sweeney Ryan Joseph Sweeney (born February 20, 1985) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. Early life Sweeney was b ...

on international duty Menayese made his first league start in a 6–0 away victory over

Northampton town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. He made his second appearance for the club when Lockyer and Sweeney were again on International Duty in a late 1–0 away defeat to

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

and then came off the bench to replace

Chris Lines Christopher John Lines (born 30 November 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Bath City. Lines turned professional at Bristol Rovers, and made his first team debut in January 2006. He played in the 20 ...

in the 68th minute of a 3–1 away victory at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on 27 January 2018, 4 days before he joined Swindon on loan. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Bristol Rovers exercised a contract extension for him. On 1 June 2020 after somewhat of a breakthrough season, Menayese signed a one-year contract extension. On 31 January 2018, Menayese joined

side

on loan for the remainder of the campaign. He made his debut for the club on 3 February 2018, coming off the bench in a dramatic 2–2 draw with Lincoln City. He came on to replace striker

Luke Norris Luke Michael Norris (born 3 June 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Stevenage. Having played in the youth academies at Luton Town, Hitchin Town and Brentford, Norris made his debut in the Brentford fir ...

in the 24th minute of the match. On 1 February 2019, Menayese joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Mansfield Town

On 28 July 2020, Menayese re-joined former manager

Graham Coughlan Graham Coughlan (born 18 November 1974) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He is currently manager of EFL League Two club Newport County. Coughlan began his career in his native Ireland wi ...

, joining for an undisclosed fee. Menayese made his debut for the club on 5 September 2020 in a 4–0

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

defeat to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and made his league debut the following week on the opening day of the season, playing the duration of a 0–0 draw with

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 adop ...

. On 26 September 2020, Menayese scored his first goal for the club and the first of his career, opening the scoring in a 2–1 home defeat to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. He played fourteen games in total for Mansfield, including 10 league games. He scored twice, once in the aforementioned Exeter City game, and once in a 3–1 home defeat to Lincoln City. On 18 January 2021, Menayese joined League Two club

on loan for the rest of the 2020–21 season. He started the next game, against fierce rivals,

. He played the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 defeat. He started every game for Grimsby, except a 2–2 draw against his parent club. Grimsby finished bottom and were relegated to the National League.

Walsall

On 16 July 2021, Menayese joined

on a season-long loan. He made his debut for Walsall in a 0–0 draw against

in the EFL Cup. He played the full 90 minutes, but did not take a penalty in the penalty shootout. He made his league debut in a 1–1 draw against Scunthorpe. He played a further 23 games (25 in total) while on loan at Walsall. On 4 January 2022, following a successful loan spell, Walsall made the loan a permanent transfer. Menayese signed a contract until 2024.

Hartlepool United (loan)

On 18 July 2022, Menayese joined fellow League Two club

on a season-long loan deal. He scored for Hartlepool in a 2–0 win at

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

. Menayese scored again in a 2–1 win at

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 ...

. In January 2023, Menayese was ruled out for the rest of the season due to an ankle injury following a strong challenge in a defeat to

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menayese, Rollin Living people 1997 births Welsh footballers Wales youth international footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Wales Cardiff City F.C. players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Association football defenders