Player Profile

Town fans are used to legions of unknown trialists in pre-season coming and going without making much of a splash at Town, and many would have expected former Reading defender Odimayo to go the same way, with his only prior first team experience being a short spell with Lee Power’s Waterford. Even when he did enough to win a contract, it was generally expected that he would be cover and well down the pecking order with Town already having plenty of defensive options including Zeki Fryers, Dion Conroy, Matheiu Baudry, Tom Broadbent and Taylor Curran.

Nine months later, Odimayo had played 34 games and was named the Swindon Advertiser Player of the Year. In part, Odimayo’s chances had come because the men in front of him couldn’t stay in form, in fitness and in most cases both, but he’d done himself great credit across the season between spells at right back and centre back, displaying a level of competence which far outshone much more experienced professionals.

Having been handed a debut alongside Fryers in the League Cup defeat to Charlton, he impressed enough to retain his place for the opening league win over Rochdale, but was then replaced by club captain Baudry. His next start came a month later on the right hand side of a three with Baudry and new signing Jonathan Grounds, the start of a seriously unstable season for Odimayo in which he played in five different defensive pairings, three different trios as well as spells at right back and right wing back. He made mistakes, as did all Town players, but was by some distance the most impressive of Town’s defenders particularly given his inexperience.

With his contract expired, it seemed that Odimayo would leave over the summer, and he certainly explored his options - going on trial at Portsmouth for a spell in July - it was therefore somewhat of a surprise when he returned to the County Ground to sign a year's extension in early August. Though he started the season on the right side of a back four, the arrival of Kaine Kesler-Hayden saw Town boss Ben Garner shift to a 3-5-2 formation, and Odimayo to the right side of the back three. He remained a dependable if unremarkable member of the first team right through until mid-February, when personnel changes prompted another change in formation, back to a 4-3-3 - and this time, Odimayo found opportunities in the first eleven more difficult to come by, he would make just six more starts before the end of the season. Though it was announced that the club had offered Odimayo a further extension to his stay at the County Ground, it went unsigned - and when his contract came to an end, it was announced that a compensation deal had been agreed with Northampton for his transfer.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Reading Reading	(youth) July 1st, 2018 (signed professional contract); released (rptd July 2nd, 2020)
Hungerford Town Hungerford Town	rptd September 20th, 2019 (loan); expired (October 2019)
Waterford Waterford	rptd February 14th, 2020 (loan)
Swindon Town Swindon	August 18th, 2020 (unattached); transferred out (June 30th, 2022)
Portsmouth Portsmouth	July 2021 (trial)
Northampton Town Northampton Town	rptd July 2nd, 2022 (transferred in, undisclosed fee undisclosed compensation agreed)