Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on coming through at Wolves, career challenges and the Premier League

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing only made one first-team appearance for Wolves. But he finished it by being named man of the match, a 100 per cent record which is now impossible to surpass.

Only thing was, in winning that man-of-the-match accolade, and heading up to the sponsors’ lounge to receive his prize, he was told that would not be possible.

Because he was only 17 years and 132 days old, and the award was a bottle of champagne!

This was August 2009, and Wolves were playing a Carling Cup tie against Swindon a few games into their Premier League return under Mick McCarthy.

Drafted into the starting line-up through injuries, Mendez-Laing admits there were plenty of nerves. But as they eased, he was able to set about playing his normal game. Bursting down the right wing, taking players on, and getting crosses into the box.

“I was used to training with the first team from time to time but I remember being told I was starting and being in shock,” Mendez-Laing recalls. “I was very nervous but can still vividly recall walking on the pitch and just feeling those nerves leave me.

“I managed to relax, and felt like I was back playing in the under-18s, taking defenders on and feeling comfortable and confident.

“Playing with freedom is something I have done throughout my career, and that’s what I tried to do, rather than the times I had trained with the first team and had held back a bit, just thinking about not losing the ball.

“The older pros who were around at the time really helped me – people like Carl Ikeme, someone I have always looked up to and is like a big brother to me.

“My parents and other family were there and then I was given the man-of-the-match award and had to go up and do an interview, although I couldn’t take the champagne because I wasn’t 18!

“It’s such a great memory, and as I’m talking to you now, I’ve got the shirt framed right in front of me… number 44.”

A few days before and after that Swindon fixture Wolves played in the Premier League, away at Manchester City and home to Hull.   

But Mendez-Laing never made it into a Premier League matchday squad, and was also disappointed not to make the travelling party for the next round of the Carling Cup away at Manchester United.

He did, however, make it to the Premier League eventually. It was nine years later, with Cardiff, that he made his top-flight bow against Bournemouth, and went on to deliver a positive impact with 20 appearances and four goals, some of them particularly notable.  

That proved another memorable step on a footballing journey still going strong, with 33-year-old Mendez Laing currently on the recovery trail after hamstring surgery in the hope of being back for the final weeks of a season in which current club MK Dons are aiming for promotion.

As mentioned, there have been plenty of obstacles and difficulties along the way, including being banned from football for the use of recreational drugs. And yet, with the sort of character, resilience and single-mindedness which becomes a prerequisite for any player to emerge and reach the level of Mendez-Laing, there is no hiding from mistakes. More a continuing desire and determination to bounce back.

That character and resilience was forged during Mendez-Laing’s formative years in the Second City, growing up with a footballing dream and playing both on Saturdays and Sundays for well-known Holy Name FC in Great Barr.

His parents steered him away from academy football initially, preferring him to play for enjoyment with his friends, until a trial for Birmingham, which fitted the bill as some of those friends were already there.

However, Mendez-Laing wasn’t successful, rejected for a so-called lack of physicality, but not long after he was scouted by Blues once again.

By this time, however, Wolves were also on his trail. Tony Lacey and Les Green, so successful in the recruitment of many young talents during this era, had been impressed. And also impressed Mendez-Laing’s parents to the effect that, while he was insistent on finishing off the season with Holy Name, he then joined the Academy programme based at Aldersley.

“I really enjoyed my time coming through at Wolves,” he reflects. “People like Tony and Les had such an effect on me, also Chris Evans, and the coach John Trollope, and Kevin Thelwell, who would always speak to me about how things were going and what I needed to do.

“I had a few issues at school after I joined Wolves, so I actually came in full-time a bit earlier than the scholarship, and did my schoolwork at the club alongside the football.