Football: Cosafa Cup ‒ Interview with Seychelles defender Michael Mancienne |06 July 2022

Michael Mancienne

‘I feel very grateful and honoured to be included in the squad’

England-based Michael Mancienne made his debut for Seychelles yesterday in the Cosafa Cup, losing the group A match 0-1 against Botswana at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban.

Son of former Seychellois footballer Mike Mancienne who was voted the country’s first Sportsman of the Year in 1984, Michael Mancienne currently plays for Burton Albion in the English League One.

The 34-year-old brings to the Seychelles team a lot of experience after playing for several European teams since making his English Premier League debut at 21 years old. In fact, Mancienne joined the Chelsea academy when he was 8 years old. He came through the youth ranks at Chelsea but played only a handful of games for the Blues. He got his first taste of regular first-team football at Queens Park Rangers (QPR) but it was during another loan spell with Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) where the defender came to prominence, making 46 Premier League appearances in two stints at Molineux. In the summer of 2011 he left Chelsea for German club Hamburg in the Bundesliga. After three years in Germany, Mancienne returned to England with Nottingham Forest in the second tier. He spent four years with Forest before trying his luck in the United States with New England Revolution before returning to England in 2021 to play for Burton Albion.

Michael won the FA Cup with Chelsea in 2009 and was named as the clubs’ young player of the year in 2008-09. He has previously also represented England at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels.

He made 30 appearances for England at U21 level, making him the seventh-most capped player in the team's history, and after his sole senior call-up, was part of the side who reached the final at the 2009 European Championship, coming on at half-time in the 4-1 defeat at the hands of Germany. That match, ultimately, proved to be the peak of his international career.

Sports NATION spoke to Mancienne before yesterday’s match.

Sports NATION: Please tell us how do you feel to be included in the squad?

Michael Mancienne: I feel very grateful and honoured to be included in the squad. I'm following in my father's footprints and I feel very blessed.

Sports NATION: Why did you wait that long to play for Seychelles?
Michael Mancienne: To be honest it's difficult if your national team is not competing in big tournaments to go to your manager during the season to say “I have a game in the Seychelles when the team might be either fighting for promotion or relegation, and he would see it as you’re going on holidays when the team needs you. So it was just very difficult I think.”

Sports NATION: Your dad played for Seychelles and how does it feel to follow in his footsteps?
Michael Mancienne: As I said it's a massive honour and privilege to follow in my dad's footsteps. I'll do the best I can to try and help the team succeed.

Sports NATION: What contributions do you think you can bring to the team?
Michael Mancienne: My experience playing over the years at a high level and playing in matches where there has been a lot of pressure. And my knowledge of playing against tough opponents are things that I can definitely contribute.

Sports NATION: What is your impression of the players, team, coaching staff and all?
Michael Mancienne: The staff and players are all lovely people. They are ambitious and want to do well which I like a lot. The group is a young team which means they are hungry to do well and prove themselves which is very good because it will push the team in the right direction.

Sports NATION: The last time an England-based player, Kevin Betsy, was part of the squad, Seychelles won the Indian Ocean Island Games gold medal on home soil in 2011. Should we expect you to be part of the team at next year’s Games and repeat the feat?
Michael Mancienne: It will be nice to be called for that but that's not in my hands. That's in the coach’s and manager’s hands. But I would love to be involved and try and repeat the feat.

Gerard Govinden