Rollin Menayese
Rollin Menayese (born 4 December 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League club Aldershot Town. Having begun his career with Non-League side Weston-super-Mare, he has gone on to feature professionally for Bristol Rovers, Swindon Town, Mansfield Town, Grimsby Town, Hartlepool United and Walsall. Early lifeMenayese was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,[2] and attended St Joseph's Roman Catholic High School in Newport.[3] As a schoolboy, he played rugby league and helped his school to win a national final, scoring five tries and kicking five goals (totalling 30 points) in the match at the Twickenham Stoop.[4] CareerWeston-super-MareMenayese began his career in the youth academy at Cardiff City along with his twin brother Elvis.[3] Following his release by Cardiff, he signed for Weston-super-Mare in December 2016. He made 23 appearances for the Seagulls in the second half of the 2016–17 season.[5] Bristol RoversOn the 1 June 2017, Menayese joined Bristol Rovers, initially joining up with the u23 squad.[6] He made his first professional appearance for Rovers in the EFL Trophy, coming off the bench to replace an injured Jonathan Burn in a 5–1 victory over Wycombe Wanderers.[7] On 7 October 2017, with both Tom Lockyer and Ryan Sweeney on international duty Menayese made his first league start in a 6–0 away victory over Northampton town.[8] 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[9] and then came off the bench to replace Chris Lines in the 68th minute of a 3–1 away victory at Doncaster Rovers on 27 January 2018, 4 days before he joined Swindon on loan.[10] On 31 January 2018, Menayese joined League Two side Swindon Town on loan for the remainder of the campaign.[2] 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 in the 24th minute of the match.[11] On 1 February 2019, Menayese joined National League side Aldershot Town on loan until the end of the season.[12] At the end of the 2018–19 season, Bristol Rovers exercised a contract extension for him.[13] On 1 June 2020 after somewhat of a breakthrough season, Menayese signed a one-year contract extension.[14] Mansfield TownOn 28 July 2020, Menayese re-joined former manager Graham Coughlan at Mansfield Town, joining for an undisclosed fee.[15] Menayese made his debut for the club on 5 September 2020 in a 4–0 EFL Cup defeat to Preston North End[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] On 18 January 2021, Menayese joined League Two club Grimsby Town on loan for the rest of the 2020–21 season.[20] He started the next game, against fierce rivals, Scunthorpe United. He played the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 defeat.[21] He started every game for Grimsby, except a 2–2 draw against his parent club.[22] Grimsby finished bottom and were relegated to the National League.[23] WalsallOn 16 July 2021, Menayese joined Walsall on a season-long loan.[24] He made his debut for Walsall in a 0–0 draw against Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Cup.[25] He played the full 90 minutes, but did not take a penalty in the penalty shootout.[26] He made his league debut in a 1–1 draw against Scunthorpe.[27] 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.[28] Hartlepool United (loan)On 18 July 2022, Menayese joined fellow League Two club Hartlepool United on a season-long loan deal.[29] On 9 December 2022, he scored his first goal for Hartlepool in a 2–0 win at Crawley Town.[30] Menayese followed this up by scoring again, on Boxing Day, in a 2–1 win at Rochdale.[31] 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.[32] Aldershot Town (loan)On 25 January 2024, Menayese returned to National League club Aldershot Town on loan for the remainder of the season.[33] Return to WalsallOn 12 March 2024, Menayese was recalled from his loan spell.[34] He went straight into the starting-eleven for that evening's match, opening the scoring in an eventual 1–1 draw with Barrow.[35] He was released at the end of the season.[36] Aldershot TownOn 22 August 2024, Menayese returned to Aldershot Town on a permanent basis.[37] Career statistics
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