Joel Senior (footballer, born 1999)

Joel Senior

Personal information
Full name	Joel Toby Senior [1]
Date of birth	(1999-06-24) 24 June 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth	Didsbury, England
Position(s)	Right back
Team information
Current team	Bristol Rovers
Number	2
Youth career
2004–2014	Oldham Athletic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2015	Hough End
2015–2017	Maine Road
2017–2019	F.C. United of Manchester	58	(0)
2019	Curzon Ashton	10	(0)
2019–2020	Burnley	0	(0)
2020–2022	Altrincham	61	(0)
2022–2023	Carlisle United	17	(1)
2023–2024	Morecambe	43	(1)
2024–	Bristol Rovers	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:05, 4 December 2024 (UTC)

Joel Toby Senior (born 24 June 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right back for EFL League One club Bristol Rovers. ^[2]

Early and personal life

Senior was born in Didsbury. ^[3] His brothers are also footballers, who played in non-league for Maine Road. ^[3]

Career

Senior spent nearly a decade with Oldham Athletic, but was released at the age of 15 for being too small. ^[3] He later described it was the worst day of his life. ^[3] He began playing non-league football around Greater Manchester, initially with Sunday league team Hough End. ^[3] At the age of 16 he was playing for Maine Road and working two days a week in an engineering and design company. ^[3] He then made 68 appearances in all competitions for F.C. United of Manchester, ^[4] including 58 league appearances, ^[5] before moving to Curzon Ashton in February 2019, ^[6] for whom he made ten league appearances in National League North. ^[5]

In May 2019 he signed a 12-month contract with Premier League club Burnley, with the option of a further year, with the intention that he would initially play with their under-23 team. ^{[3] [7] [8]}

He was released by Burnley at the end of the 2019–20 season. ^[9] He later signed for Altrincham. ^[10] He signed for Carlisle United in January 2022. ^[11]

On 30 May 2023, after Carlisle won promotion to League One, Carlisle manager Paul Simpson announced that Senior would be released once his contract expired. ^[12]

In June 2023, it was announced that he would sign for League Two side Morecambe on a one-year deal from 1 July 2023. ^[13] Following a successful first season, Senior was named as Morecambe's Player of the Year, also winning Players' Player of the Season. ^[14] Despite having been offered a new contract, he opted to depart the club at the end of the 2023–24 season. ^[15]

Bristol Rovers

On 29 June 2024, Senior agreed to join League One side Bristol Rovers on a two-year deal with the option for a further season. ^{[16] [17]} In his fourth appearance for the club, a 2–0 defeat to Stockport County, Senior suffered a torn hamstring, likely to rule him out of action for a period of around two months according to manager Matt Taylor. ^[18]

Career statistics

As of end of 2023–24 season

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Curzon Ashton	2018–19 [19]	National League North	10	0	—		—		0	0	10	0
Altrincham	2020–21 [19]	National League	40	0	0	0	—		1 [a]	0	41	0
	2021–2 [19]	National League	21	0	3	0	—		1 [a]	0	25	0
	Total		61	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	66	0
Carlisle United	2021–22 [20]	League Two	4	0	0	0	0	0	1 [b]	0	5	0
	2022–23 [21]	League One	13	1	0	0	0	0	3 [c]	0	16	1
	Total		17	1	0	0	0	0	4	0	21	1
Morecambe	2023–24 [22]	League Two	43	1	3	0	1	0	3 [b]	0	50	1
Career total			131	2	6	0	1	0	9	0	147	2

1. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
2. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
3. Appearance(s) in EFL League Two play-offs

Honours

Carlisle United

• EFL League Two play-offs: 2023 ^[23]

Individual

• Morecambe Supporters' Player of the Season: 2023–24 ^[14]
• Morecambe Players' Player of the Season: 2023–24 ^[14]

References

1. "EFL squad list 2021/22 & U21 registered contracted players" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
2. Joel Senior at Soccerbase
3. Tyrone Marshall (22 May 2019). "The incredible story of Manchester footballer Joel Senior's rise from non-league to Premier League". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
4. "Profile". FC United.ru. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
5. Joel Senior at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
6. "Joel Senior makes Curzon Ashton switch". The Non-League Football Paper. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
7. "Senior Service For New Boy Joel". Burnley F.C. 16 May 2019. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
8. Adam Lord (16 May 2019). "Burnley sign Curzon Ashton right back Joel Senior". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
9. "Clubs publish 2019/20 released lists". www.premierleague.com.
10. "Joel Senior | Altrincham Football Club". www.altrinchamfc.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
11. "Carlisle sign Altrincham defender Senior". BBC Sport.
12. "Manager: Some tough decisions to make". Carlisle United Football Club. 30 May 2023.
13. "Morecambe sign defender Senior after Carlisle exit" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
14. "End of Season Awards 2023/24". Morecambe FC. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
15. "Shrimps confirm retained list". www.morecambefc.com. 20 May 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
16. "Joel Senior completes Bristol Rovers transfer". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 29 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
17. "Joel Senior: Bristol Rovers sign right-back from Morecambe". BBC Sport. 29 June 2024.
18. Hargraves, Daniel (29 August 2024). "Bristol Rovers injury news ahead of Cambridge United as Gas handed significant double blow". Bristol Post. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
19. Joel Senior at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
20. "Games played by Joel Senior in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
21. "Games played by Joel Senior in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
22. "Games played by Joel Senior in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
23. "Carlisle United 1–1 Stockport County (5–4 pens)". BBC Sport. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.