Michael Ian Mancienne (born 8 January 1988) 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 ...

who played as a defender. Born in England, he represented the Seychelles national team. Schooled primarily as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

, Mancienne can also play as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

as well as both fullback positions as he showed during appearances for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, and multiple loan spells at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. He is a former England under-21 player, having received his first call-up for the senior squad in November 2008, ahead of a friendly against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Club career

Chelsea

Born in

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Mancienne was spotted by

as a nine-year-old playing for Kingstonian, and debuted for the Chelsea Reserves while still at school. He signed a professional contract in January 2006, and was called onto the bench for the final match of the 2005–06 season but was unused. He was part of Chelsea's pre-season tour of the United States in Summer 2006 and started the season again with a place on the bench; in the 2006 Community Shield against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and the first two

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 Fo ...

games of the 2006–07 season against Manchester City and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. Despite this, it would be over two years before he would play a competitive game for the ''Blues'', a fact that led him to admit he may need to move on for the sake of his career. After gaining playing time with spells on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

sides

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and

, respectively (see below), he finally made his Chelsea debut on 14 February 2009, starting an

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 ...

tie at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. He made his European debut appearance 11 days later as a late substitute in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

knock-out tie against Juventus, which ended 1–0 to Chelsea. On 28 February he achieved his Premier League debut in a 2–1 victory over

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. At the end of the 2008–09 season, during which he made his only first team appearances to date for the club, he was voted their Young Player of the Year. He signed a new contract with Chelsea in August 2009 that would expire in June 2013.

Queens Park Rangers (loan)

Mancienne gained his first taste of league football in a loan spell at Queens Park Rangers in late 2006, when he joined them for the remainder of the 2006–07 campaign. He played most of his 28 games for the

side at right back, but also played a few times in his preferred centre-back position. His impressive displays made him popular with the QPR fans, who voted him runner-up in the Supporters' Young Player of the Year. After signing a new contract extension at his parent club, he agreed to remain on loan at QPR for the 2007–08 season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)

With no playing opportunities arriving at Stamford Bridge, Mancienne again went out on loan in October 2008 when he joined promotion-chasing Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan initially until 29 December 2008. His performances during this period caused Wolves to extend his loan by a further month, however, the paperwork on the extension was never completed, and he was recalled by his parent club. He rejoined Wolves on a season's loan for the 2009–10 season, by which time they had achieved promotion to the Premier League. He was employed at centre back and in a defensive midfield role during the campaign, helping the club to survive their first season back at the top level. He once again returned to Molineux for the following season, his third different spell with

the Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...

club during which he made his 50th appearance for them. He suffered a patella tendon injury in December that ruled him out for three months, before he returned to the side for the club's final six games, as they narrowly avoided the drop.

Hamburger SV

On 31 May 2011, Mancienne signed a four-year deal at

German Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

for a fee in the region of £1.752 million. He was reunited with former Chelsea sporting director

Frank Arnesen Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer and sporting director at Dutch football club Feyenoord. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director a ...

, officially moving on 1 July 2011, when the

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

opened. He made his debut for the club on 5 August 2011, in a 3–1 defeat at reigning champions

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

Nottingham Forest

On 16 July 2014, Mancienne joined

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on a three-year deal, reuniting with his

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team. This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...

manager Stuart Pearce. He made his debut against Blackpool on 9 August, starting at centre-half alongside

Danny Fox Daniel Fox (born 29 May 1986) is a former professional footballer who last played as a defender for East Bengal in the Indian Super League. He represented England at under-21 international level, has since been selected for Scotland national ...

. He played the entire ninety minutes of the 2–0 Forest win, earning the

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award in the process. Mancienne was then

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in his second game for the club, following two bookable offences in Forest's

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie away at

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 12 August. Following his suspension, he returned to the side and once again was nominated the fans' Man of the Match in a 1–0 away win at

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 ...

. On 28 April 2017, Mancienne signed a two-year extension to his contract with Nottingham Forest, now managed by Mark Warburton. The contract was signed the day before Mancienne made his 100th appearance in all competitions for the club, in a 2–0 defeat to QPR, and the player reportedly accepted a reduced salary in order to stay at the club. Having done so in a pre-season friendly match against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, Mancienne captained Forest for the first League match of the 2017–18 season, a 1–0 win over

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

New England Revolution

On 3 August 2018, Mancienne joined Major League Soccer side

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

. His reported salary of $1.28 million in 2018, and $881,676 in 2019, made him not only the highest-paid defender in the league at the time, but also the highest-paid defensive player in the team's history. Following their 2020 season, New England opted to decline their contract option on Mancienne.

Burton Albion

On 9 February 2021, Mancienne joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

on a contract until the end of the 2020–21 season. On 9 June 2022, Mancienne signed a one-year extension to his contract with Burton Albion. Having missed the opening day of the 2022–23 season, manager

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to t ...

confirmed that he would be out injured for three months with a knee injury. Mancienne called an end to his career after only playing for 1 minute in the entire 2022-23 season in the league.

International career

Mancienne is eligible to play for the Seychelles as his father, Michael Snr, originates from there and is a former Seychelles international midfielder. He rejected the chance to play for the Seychelles national team in 2006 in favour of his native

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. However, in November 2008, he stated that he would play for Seychelles if he did not get to play for England by the time he reaches 25. On 15 November 2008, Fabio Capello surprisingly named him in the England squad to play an international friendly match against

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. He did not appear in the game though. He was an England regular at under-21 level since making his debut against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

on 21 August 2007. He was part of the side that reached the 2009 European Championships. However, his tournament was a disappointment as he received a red card in their opening group game against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. He has previously also represented England at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. In 2022 he was called up to the Seychelles national team for the

2022 COSAFA Cup The 2022 COSAFA Cup was the 21st edition of the annual association football competition organized by COSAFA. It was held in South Africa for the 5th straight year, this time in Durban, from 5 to 17 July 2022. South Africa was the defending champ ...

. He made his debut against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

on 5 July. He scored his first International goal from a penalty against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

in 2023.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Seychelles's goal tally first.''

Career statistics

Club

Honours

England U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up: 2009 Chelsea *

: 2008–09 Individual * Chelsea Young Player of the Year: 2008–09

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mancienne, Michael 1988 births Living people Footballers from Feltham Seychellois men's footballers Seychelles men's international footballers English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers English people of Seychellois descent English expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders Chelsea F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Hamburger SV players Nottingham Forest F.C. players New England Revolution players Burton Albion F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Bundesliga players Black British sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in Germany English expatriate sportspeople in Germany Major League Soccer players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States