Jeffrey Monakana (born 5 November 1993) is an English former

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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career

Monakana progressed through the youth system at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, then finally in 2008, At the age of 14, Monakana was handed a four-year contract. Monakana signed a one-year deal with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

on 31 May 2012, effective from 1 July 2012. The 18-year-old winger became the ninth summer signing for Preston manager

Graham Westley Graham Neil Westley (born 4 March 1968) is an English professional football manager and former professional footballer. Westley's playing career, spent mostly as a striker in non-League football, was curtailed due to injury whilst playing for ...

. Monakana performed well in pre-season, notably his contributions against

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. He made his full debut in a home League Cup tie against Huddersfield Town, on 13 August 2012, Playing for 70 minutes, and had an excellent game, setting Jack King up for the first goal in a 2–0 win. His first senior goal came in a second round League Cup tie against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. He went on to score six goals and 10 assist in his first year at professional football. In the game against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

opposing manager Uwe Rosler stating that Monakana was a handful with his pace and skill. On 12 September 2013, Monakana joined fellow League One side

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

on a month's loan. He scored on his debut for the club in a 2–2 draw with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

on 14 September. On 15 October 2013, after starting every match since joining Monakana's loan was extended at the club until the beginning of December 2013. On 14 January 2014, Monakana transferred to

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

for an undisclosed fee, signing an 18-month contract with the club's development squad. On 27 March 2014, Monakana joined League One side

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

on a month's loan. In July 2014, Monakana joined

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on loan for six months. In February 2015, Monakana joined

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

on loan for a month. In March 2015, Monakana was loaned out again, joining

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

this time on loan until the end of the season. On 4 August 2015, Monakana joined League Two side

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

on a one-month loan. On 16 January 2016, Monakana signed a contract for six-months with Romanian club

FC Voluntari Fotbal Club Voluntari (), commonly known as FC Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian professional football club based in Voluntari, Ilfov County, that competes in the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian league system. Founded in 2 ...

. On 22 December 2016, it was announced that Monakana had signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

. He made his first appearance for Sutton as a substitute on 1 January 2017 in a 2–0 home victory over

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

, before making his full debut on 10 January in a 1–0 away defeat against Braintree Town. In August 2017 he signed a loan deal with

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

. The deal was made permanent on 17 November 2017. In March 2018, he signed for

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

. He moved to

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. The ...

, also of National League South, in June 2019. On 4 September 2020, Monakana joined Icelandic

Úrvalsdeild The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in I ...

side

Fjölnir Fjölnir ( ) is a List of legendary kings of Sweden, legendary king in Norse mythology said to have been the son of Freyr (Frey) and his consort Gerðr (Gertha). The name appears in a variety of forms, including Fiolnir, Fjölner, Fjolner, and F ...

until the end of the season. In February 2021, he returned to Iceland to join 1. deild karla side Magni Grenivík. In March 2024, following his inability to fully recover from his injury, Monakana announced his retirement from football.

Personal life

Monakana is of DR Congolese descent.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monakana, Jeffrey 1993 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield People from Edmonton, London English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Arsenal F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players FC Voluntari players Sutton United F.C. players Margate F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Ungmennafélagið Fjölnir players English Football League players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players Liga I players Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players Expatriate men's footballers in Romania English expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Black British sportsmen English people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent 21st-century English sportsmen