Maidenhead United are delighted to welcome young defender Joel-Michael Odeniran to York Road.
Arriving from Folkestone Invicta, Joel’s two-year stay came to end following their promotion to the National League South. As part of that promotion-winning team, he made 45 appearances keeping an impressive 17 clean sheets – many of which alongside a familiar face in Kevin Lokko.
A defender with an eye for goal, Joel-Michael found the target five times last campaign. A certain poacher’s instinct specifically from set-pieces as the 20-year-old frequently pounced on loose balls in the area to get his name on the score sheet.
Following Joel’s signing, Ryan Peters said: “A phrase I always reiterate to my players is that ‘winners win’. A mindset and an air of arrogance that keeps teams pushing for more.
“Joel has just achieved promotion and alongside his aggressive nature in duals, will provide an additional level of ruthlessness in both boxes.”
Speaking for the first time as a Magpie, Joel said: “It feels good. It’s a massive club. The facilities are good and I’m just really happy to be here.”
Joel tasted trophies last campaign and is looking to make it back-to-back: “They’re talking about goals, and we’re looking to get promoted, and that matches my goals. Winning the league was nice so the goal is to keep doing it and let it be a consistent thing in my career.”
United past and present formed a formidable backline for Folkestone as Joel paired with the aforementioned Lokko, from whom he learned a lot: “Kevin’s one of the best captain’s I’ve had – great guy. He taught me a lot of things was my mentor at my last club so now it’s my turn to take his words into action in a different environment.”
A playstyle to drive us forward is what we can expect from our newest recruit, “Obviously, defending first but very attacking-minded. I’ll always run for the badge, no matter what. Last-ditch tackles, one-on-one defending, all of that’s part of my game so you can expect to see a lot of that,” Joel said.
Humble about his contributions in front of goal last season, Joel said: “The ball just happened to drop to my foot a lot of times, or off my head!
"But I do like to score a lot and a couple of crosses here and there for a couple of assists – so yeah that is a big part of my game."
Joel-Michael is avaialble to sponsor for the 2026/27 season. Please contact commercial@maidenheadunitedfc.org to find out more.
Welcome to Maidenhead United, Joel!
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