Captain Joe Ellul has signed a new two-year deal in a major statement of intent by Sittingbourne.

Ellul, 35, has been a revelation since joining the Brickies from National League Maidstone in January.

The centre-half half was quickly handed the armband by boss Ryan Maxwell and played a major role in helping the team out of relegation trouble in Isthmian South East.

They went on to finish 11th, helped by a 12-match unbeaten run, and next season Maxwell intends to challenge for the title.

Holding on to Ellul shows they are serious.

“We wanted to get Joe tied down as he’s such an influential player,” said Maxwell, whose own contracts talks are progressing well.

“Joe was keen despite numerous - and I mean numerous - other offers.

“He was inundated but he wanted to stay here and to get him to sign a two-year contract is fantastic news for the club.

“It’s a sign of the club’s ambition and a statement of intent.

“He’d be a fantastic addition to any team in the National South or Isthmian Premier so I’m delighted to retain a player of his calibre.

“He’s been everything I thought he would be and more. He’s our captain, our leader and he’s grown into that environment.

“He’s proven over the last few years how good he is.

“He was the supporters’ player-of-the-year at Maidstone a year ago, when they won National South, so of course he was he was going to be good for us.

“Joe’s been a massive part of what we’ve done here, and any club would want to tie him down.

“It shows our ambition, it warns off other clubs and in terms of recruitment it helps because other players in non-league see he’s signed a two-year contract and they can see we’re going to be a real team next season.

“Fair play to the club and in particular Andrew Marjeram (vice-chairman).

“He’s the one who’s supporting these decisions, along with the background team.

“He’s very hands on in these circumstances and very influential as well.

“He’s fully behind us, he fully supports putting people on contract, provided me and my staff think it’s the right thing to do.

“It’s a real joy to have a chairman so supportive and trusting of your decisions because ultimately it’s their finance you’re playing with.

“It’s very humbling to have that trust placed in us.”

Maxwell is working his way round the rest of the squad before going on holiday as he tries to get ahead of the game for next season.

The Northern Irishman has made progress and hopes to get more deals tied up soon, as well as closing in on a new signing.

“I’m getting round them as we speak,” he said.

“We don’t need a major overhaul, as I mentioned before, we just need one or two.

“It’s looking good. The ones we want to retain have so far all wanted to stay. It’s just a case of sorting out the other side of the deal to get them to confirm everything.

“I’m hoping to get a new signing announced as well. That one’s bubbling away in the background. He’s a very good player.”

Meanwhile, Maxwell has held productive contract talks with Marjeram over his own future.

Initial discussions have gone well and there could be an announcement soon.

Maxwell said: “We’re at a stage now where there’s probably one or two little things to discuss but the first conversation went really well.

“I need to relay things to the rest of my management team.

“We’re not all available at the same time but hopefully we’ll get around to that before I go on holiday.”