Enter Lewis Mayo, a 24-year-old Scottish thorn in the side of any foolhardy forward daring to challenge him. Towering at 6ft 3in (1.91m) and weighing a formidable 12st 12lb (82kg), this imposing central defender spends his days, rather fittingly, donning the number 5 jersey for Kilmarnock. Born on 19 March 2000, the lad clearly thought kicking balls around was more appealing than a life of anonymity.
Let us wander back to 2016 when our friend Mayo first dived into the deep end of the football pool. The youngster hopped into the Scottish Premiership as a trainee with Rangers. I suppose we all start somewhere, don't we?
Fast forward to January 2020, and our resident wanderer found himself on loan to Partick Thistle. Clearly, the lad had a thirst for adventure... or simply a desire to play football on different grounds.
His wandering instincts failed to subside, and Mayo found himself skipping over to Dunfermline Athletic on loan in September 2020. And just a year later, in the summer of 2021, he was back to Partick Thistle—again, on loan. Maybe he missed them, or perhaps he misplaced his favourite shin guards there.
By July 2022, Mayo yet again found himself shipped off on loan, this time to Kilmarnock. It must have been quite an exhausting round trip, don't you think? He made a robust 34 appearances in his debut season, followed by another impressive 36 in the next season, with the added icing of scoring a goal.
In a surprising twist of fate, Mayo's commanding performances encouraged the Kilmarnock management to sign him from Rangers permanently in July 2023. They remained mysteriously mum about the amount they forked out. As the saying goes, "What happens in football stays in football."
Proving he was no one-hit wonder, he maintained a steady performance at Kilmarnock, currently gracing the pitch for 22 matches this season. Mayo's exploits also extended to League Cup 2024 - 2025 with a single appearance, Europa League Qualifiers 2024 - 2025 with two starts, and Conference League Qualifiers 2024 - 2025 with four starts. Quite an occupied lad, our Mayo.
So there you have it. Lewis Mayo, the peripatetic defender who found an unlikely home in Kilmarnock. Let's hope this lad keeps on kicking in the right direction, shall we?
