Our deep-lying midfielder started out in the professional game and had decided to hang up his boots, until a chance meeting with Casuals coach Gabriel Odunaike encouraged him to head to Tolworth this season. Dominic Bliss caught up with him as 2024 draws to an end…
How did you end up at Corinthian-Casuals this season?
I had actually stopped playing for a few years, and then I saw Gabs [Odunaike] in Ikea. He told me he was down here as assistant and said I was too young to stop playing and whatnot.
I’ve known Gabs for a long time. We played together at Walton Casuals when I went there one pre-season, so that’s when I got to know him, but I’ve played against him loads of times as well.
I love that a chance meeting in Ikea has led to you returning to the pitch.
The funny thing is, I wasn’t even buying anything there – I was just getting my window changed!
Did you seal the deal over some Ikea meatballs?
It’s funny you should say that because that’s actually where we saw each other – I was getting some food! He just told me to come down to Corinthian-Casuals and I did.
How would you summarise the season so far?
It’s a newly assembled group, it’s the management’s first job, and only a few of the boys had played together before. As a collective, it’s a new group and we’ve been getting to understand each other and what the manager wants. We’ve had some bad luck, but the manager always comes into the changing room with a positive attitude. There are 11 games left, so we just have to try and stop conceding, and killing ourselves so early in games. If we do that we’ll give ourselves a chance of getting more positive results.
How have you found the club as a whole?
I love it. I love the fans, and that’s what makes results like Guildford and Jersey at home really difficult, because even if you do well for large parts of the game, you feel like you’ve let the fans down. Even shaking their hands at the end of the game is hard, because you really feel like you’ve let them down. But they’re always positive and singing – I love them.
It’s a credit to the club. I played against Corinthian-Casuals a few times in the past and I didn’t know too much about the club, I just knew that they had a link to the Brazilian club. But being here, you can see it’s a really special club and I really appreciate the fans, the whole squad does.
What’s it like having Brazilian team-mates?
It’s good! I’m terrible at languages but I’m always asking them for Portuguese words. I was in Portugal in the summer and the only words I came back with were ‘tudo ben’! So I always say that to them! But they’re cool guys, and they’re really talented as well. They love football too.
Tell us about your early football career.
I was at Brentford as a youth player, then I went to Chesterfield when I was released at 18, and I was there for two years. In that time, I went on loan to Sheffield FC, who are another historic football club. They’ve got a good fan base as well, and this club reminds me a bit of them actually. I went to Gateshead for a bit as well, and played in the Conference, which was good for me at a young age.
After coming south again, I ended up at Dulwich, Kingstonian and a few other clubs. Dulwich was the main club I played for down here.
How do you feel about the potential of this Casuals squad?
The young players in the team, like Shea, Kiyo and a few other boys, are really talented. There’s a lot of talent, a lot of good attributes, it’s just game know-how now and that comes with experience and continuously educating yourself. The best way to do that is to watch football and watch what players in your position do, then try to expand that to look at what the whole team is doing in different parts of the game. As a whole, our team is gaining experience with every game that will help us in the future. I think success will come.
How did you end up at Corinthian-Casuals this season?
I had actually stopped playing for a few years, and then I saw Gabs [Odunaike] in Ikea. He told me he was down here as assistant and said I was too young to stop playing and whatnot.
I’ve known Gabs for a long time. We played together at Walton Casuals when I went there one pre-season, so that’s when I got to know him, but I’ve played against him loads of times as well.
I love that a chance meeting in Ikea has led to you returning to the pitch.
The funny thing is, I wasn’t even buying anything there – I was just getting my window changed!
Did you seal the deal over some Ikea meatballs?
It’s funny you should say that because that’s actually where we saw each other – I was getting some food! He just told me to come down to Corinthian-Casuals and I did.
How would you summarise the season so far?
It’s a newly assembled group, it’s the management’s first job, and only a few of the boys had played together before. As a collective, it’s a new group and we’ve been getting to understand each other and what the manager wants. We’ve had some bad luck, but the manager always comes into the changing room with a positive attitude. There are 11 games left, so we just have to try and stop conceding, and killing ourselves so early in games. If we do that we’ll give ourselves a chance of getting more positive results.
How have you found the club as a whole?
I love it. I love the fans, and that’s what makes results like Guildford and Jersey at home really difficult, because even if you do well for large parts of the game, you feel like you’ve let the fans down. Even shaking their hands at the end of the game is hard, because you really feel like you’ve let them down. But they’re always positive and singing – I love them.
It’s a credit to the club. I played against Corinthian-Casuals a few times in the past and I didn’t know too much about the club, I just knew that they had a link to the Brazilian club. But being here, you can see it’s a really special club and I really appreciate the fans, the whole squad does.
What’s it like having Brazilian team-mates?
It’s good! I’m terrible at languages but I’m always asking them for Portuguese words. I was in Portugal in the summer and the only words I came back with were ‘tudo ben’! So I always say that to them! But they’re cool guys, and they’re really talented as well. They love football too.
Tell us about your early football career.
I was at Brentford as a youth player, then I went to Chesterfield when I was released at 18, and I was there for two years. In that time, I went on loan to Sheffield FC, who are another historic football club. They’ve got a good fan base as well, and this club reminds me a bit of them actually. I went to Gateshead for a bit as well, and played in the Conference, which was good for me at a young age.
After coming south again, I ended up at Dulwich, Kingstonian and a few other clubs. Dulwich was the main club I played for down here.
How do you feel about the potential of this Casuals squad?
The young players in the team, like Shea, Kiyo and a few other boys, are really talented. There’s a lot of talent, a lot of good attributes, it’s just game know-how now and that comes with experience and continuously educating yourself. The best way to do that is to watch football and watch what players in your position do, then try to expand that to look at what the whole team is doing in different parts of the game. As a whole, our team is gaining experience with every game that will help us in the future. I think success will come.
What were your first steps in the game as a kid?
I just grew up playing on my estate in Clapham, and then I played around my area. Hamilton Antonio has just come back here, and we grew up playing together. I didn’t really play for a proper team until I got into secondary school, when I signed for Brentford in Year 9 or 10. That’s how my journey started.
As you’ve settled in here, we’ve seen you start to break lines and make a few bursts forward with the ball to open the game up. Has that been a conscious decision?
To be honest, I think it’s just something I’ll do when I feel I can do it. So it depends on the game state, and what the other team is giving me. If they’re sitting very deep, there’s not an opportunity for me to do that, but if it’s chaotic and I can get a one-two off with space to drive into, then I’ll take that.
You stood out in the home game against Jersey, and set up Reyon Dillon’s goal with a great through ball, before it all fell apart at the death…
I had a role in the last four goals of that game, two for us and two for them. I got two assists – one for Rey, one for Kiers – but that didn’t matter because of the two goals we conceded. Going to sleep that night, I was so angry.
That shows you care.
Yeah, because it’s just natural, isn’t it? Anything I do, even if I’m just playing Uno, I want to win. Sometimes it can boil over, but I just want to win in anything that I’m doing.
What do you do for a living?
My brother has got a metal company, and I work for him, trading metal. We trade and produce aluminium ingots. I’ve got a clothing brand as well, called RPR. So that’s basically my life outside of football.
Is it difficult to juggle full-time work, a side project and football as well?
In this work, there’s quite a lot of travel, when I have to go and visit clients. There was a period this season when I was away for about a month because I was in Asia, visiting clients. Outside of that, it isn’t really too hard to juggle it because my brother loves football and supported me throughout my life, so he was happy that I started playing again. I try and get him down, and to bring my twin nephews, so they can get a feel for it and enjoy the Corinthian-Casuals fans as well.
I saw you playing keepy-uppy on the streets of China on your Instagram!
That was fun, to be fair. Me and my business partner were in the Decathlon shop in our hotel and we just started playing two-touch in the shop. They said you can’t play in here, so we just bought the ball and found a bit of space on the street and started playing. That just made me want to get back and start playing, to be honest with you. That was the point I wanted to come home. I could see we were getting decent results on Instagram, and I missed the boys, missed the fans.
What’s your aim now for the rest of the season?
We’ve just got to try and win every game. That’s got to be the mindset. Be hard to beat, cut out the mistakes and try and get the ball into the box so Kiers can score!
