Sulayman Marreh (born 15 January 1996) is a Gambian 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 lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Club career

Born in

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

, Marreh made his senior debuts with Abuko United FC. In 2011, he was spotted by Gambia U-17's staff ahead of

2011 African U-17 Championship The 2011 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Rwanda. The top four teams qualified for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Qualification Qualified ...

, and despite being left out of the final cut, he joined Samger FC. In March 2014 he moved to

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

in Spain, being assigned to the reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

, for a reported fee of one million dalasi. Marreh made his senior debut with the side on 15 March 2014, starting in a 0–0 draw against

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at '' Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 sp ...

; roughly a month later he netted his first goal abroad, scoring the first of a 6–1 home win over

Écija Balompié Écija Balompié, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Écija, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1939, it plays in . History In 2007–08 season, the club became champion of the Segunda División B, Group 4. The next se ...

. On 21 March, Marreh was called up to the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns' main squad ahead of the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

match against

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

; he remained on the bench in the 1–0 win at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes, however. He made his first-team debut on 17 October, starting in a 0–1 home loss against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

. On 10 July 2017, after having his federative rights assigned to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, Marreh was loaned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

club

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

for one year. The following January, his loan with Valladolid was cancelled and he joined

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

on a loan deal for the remainder of the campaign. In March 2019

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

club

Eupen Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...

announced they had taken up the option to sign Marreh on a contract until June 2021, having initially signed him on loan for the 2018–19 season. In February 2024, at the end of the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

, he signed with Serbian side Železničar Pančevo.

International career

After being left out of the under-17 squad, Marreh made his debut with the main squad on 9 February 2011, coming on as a substitute in a 1–3 loss against

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal. He played his first official match on 15 June of the following year, starting in a 1–4 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification loss against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. He played in the

2021 Africa cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's ass ...

, his national team's first continental tournament, where they made a sensational quarter-final.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Gambia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Marreh goal.''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marreh, Sulayman 1996 births Living people Footballers from Banjul Gambian men's footballers Club Recreativo Granada players Granada CF footballers Watford F.C. players Real Valladolid players UD Almería players K.A.S. Eupen players K.A.A. Gent players Hapoel Haifa F.C. players FK Železničar Pančevo players La Liga players Segunda División B players Belgian Pro League players Israeli Premier League players Serbian SuperLiga players Gambian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Gambian expatriate sportspeople in England Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players The Gambia men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders