Ben Godfrey
Benjamin Matthew Godfrey (born 15 January 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder or centre back for Championship club Norwich City and the England national under-21 team.
![]() Godfrey with the parade that followed Norwich City's promotion in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Benjamin Matthew Godfrey[1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 15 January 1998||
Place of birth | York, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3] | ||
Playing position(s) | Central midfielder / centre back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Norwich City | ||
Number | 4 | ||
Youth career | |||
–2011 | York City | ||
2011– | Middlesbrough | ||
–2014 | York City | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2014–2016 | York City | 12 | (1) |
2016– | Norwich City | 63 | (4) |
2017–2018 | → Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 40 | (1) |
National team‡ | |||
2019– | England U20[4] | 2 | (0) |
2019– | England U21[5] | 3 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:05, 26 July 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:22, 3 April 2020 (UTC) |
Early and personal life
Godfrey was born in York, North Yorkshire[6] and attended Archbishop Holgate's School.[7] His father Alex Godfrey is a former professional rugby league footballer.[8]
Club career
Early career
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Godfrey captained the York & District under-13 team that beat Southampton at Stadium MK in the final of the English Schools' FA Inter-Association Trophy in May 2011.[7] This was the first time a team from York had won an English Schools' FA competition.[7] He started his career with York City's youth system, before moving to Middlesbrough in the summer of 2011.[8] After being released by the club, he had trials with Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday, before returning to York at under-15 level,[8] with whom he started his scholarship.[6] Godfrey captained York's under-18 team in the 2014–15 season,[9] while still a first-year scholar.[10] His first involvement with the first team came as an unused substitute in a League Two match against Newport County on 11 October 2014.[11] Godfrey made his debut aged 17 when starting York's 1–0 home win over Yeovil Town on 18 August 2015.[12] He scored his first goal for York in the eighth minute of stoppage time in a 2–1 home loss to Plymouth Argyle on 14 November 2015 with a shot from 10 yards.[13]
Norwich City
Godfrey signed for Premier League club Norwich City on 15 January 2016 on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee and would initially play in their academy team.[14] He made his debut on 23 August as a substitute in the 65th minute of Norwich's EFL Cup second round match against Coventry City and scored in the 87th minute of a 6–1 home win with a shot from outside the penalty area.[15] Godfrey made his league debut in a 2–0 home win over Birmingham City on 28 January 2017 as an 81st-minute substitute.[16] He signed a new four-year contract with Norwich on 11 August 2017, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2021.[17]
On 24 August 2017, Godfrey joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on loan until 1 January 2018.[18] The deal was later extended to the end of the season.[19]
International career
Godfrey received his first call-up for the England national under-20 team ahead of their 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League fixtures against Poland and Portugal in March 2019.[20] He made his debut in the 3–1 defeat at home to Poland.[21]
Godfrey was included in the England national under-21 team for the first time for their 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Turkey and Kosovo in September 2019.[22] He made his debut as an 81st minute substitute during a 3–2 away win against Turkey on 6 September.[23] He started the following match as captain, as England beat Kosovo 2–0 at home.[24]
Style of play
Godfrey primarily plays as a centre back, but can also play as a central midfielder.[3]
Career statistics
- As of match played 26 July 2020
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
York City | 2014–15[25] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2015–16[12] | League Two | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 15 | 1 | |
Total | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
Norwich City | 2015–16[12] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
2016–17[16] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 | 1 | ||
2017–18[26] | Championship | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
2018–19[27] | Championship | 31 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 36 | 4 | ||
2019–20[28] | Premier League | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 33 | 0 | ||
Total | 63 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | — | 75 | 5 | |||
Norwich City U23 | 2016–17[16] | — | — | — | 4[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||
Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 2017–18[26] | League One | 40 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 7[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 51 | 1 | |
Career total | 115 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 145 | 7 |
- Appearance in Football League Trophy
- Appearances in EFL Trophy
- Four appearances in EFL Trophy, three in League One play-offs
Honours
Shrewsbury Town
- EFL Trophy runner-up: 2017–18[29]
Norwich City
References
- "Retained and released lists submitted by Premier League clubs". Premier League. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- "Ben Godfrey". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- "Ben Godfrey". Norwich City F.C. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
- "England's matches: The under 20's". England Football Online. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- "England's matches: The under 21's: 2010–20". England Football Online. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- "York City FC youth team profiles". York City F.C. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014.
- Flett, Dave (24 May 2011). "York and District U13s carve out niche in city's football folklore". The Press. York. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- Flett, Dave (19 November 2015). "West Brom, Hull City and Cardiff City running the rule over York City starlet Ben Godfrey". The Press. York. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- "York City academy pass with flying colours". The Press. York. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- Flett, Dave (21 March 2015). "York City boss Russ Wilcox believes calls for his sacking are unhelpful". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- "B. Godfrey: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- Flett, Dave (14 November 2015). "York City suffer fifth straight defeat against table-topping Plymouth". The Press. York. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- "Canaries sign York's Ben Godfrey". Norwich City F.C. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
- "Norwich City 6–1 Coventry City". BBC Sport. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- "Alex Pritchard: Norwich City midfielder out for at least 12 weeks after ankle surgery". BBC Sport. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- "Ben Godfrey: Shrewsbury Town sign Norwich City midfielder on loan until January". BBC Sport. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- "Shrewsbury loan extended".
- "Paul Simpson has picked his England U20s squad for games with Poland and Portugal". The Football Association. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- "Paul Simpson's Young Lions suffer defeat against Poland at St. George's Park". The Football Association. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
- "England U21s kick-off a new campaign and Aidy Boothroyd has picked his squad". The Football Association. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- "Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson score as England U21s win opening Euro qualifier". The Football Association. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- "Phil Foden's double helps Young Lions to U21 Euro qualifying victory over Kosovo". The Football Association. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
"Ben Godfrey assesses his journey from York City to Norwich City and England captaincy". The Football Association. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020. - "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
- "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
- Scott, Ged (8 April 2018). "Lincoln City 1–0 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- Anderson, John, ed. (2019). Football Yearbook 2019–2020. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-1-4722-6111-3.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ben Godfrey. |
- Profile at the Norwich City F.C. website
- Ben Godfrey at Soccerbase