Verdi Godwin

Verdi Godwin BEM (11 February 1926 – 1 December 2013) was an English footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Mansfield Town, Middlesbrough, Grimsby Town, Brentford and Stoke City.

Verdi Godwin

Personal information
Full name	Verdi Godwin[1]
Date of birth	(1926-02-11)11 February 1926[1]
Place of birth	Blackburn, England[1]
Date of death	1 December 2013(2013-12-01) (aged 87)[2]
Place of death	Southport, England
Playing position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Middlesbrough
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1946–1948	Blackburn Rovers	27	(6)
1948–1949	Manchester City	8	(3)
1949–1950	Stoke City	22	(2)
1950–1951	Mansfield Town	31	(9)
1951–1952	Middlesbrough	0	(0)
1952	Grimsby Town	1	(0)
1953	Brentford	7	(1)
1954–1955	Southport	17	(2)
1955–1956	Barrow	15	(3)
1956–1957	Tranmere Rovers	14	(2)
1958–1959	Macclesfield Town	3	(0)
Total		146	(28)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Godwin was born in Blackburn and began his career with local club Blackburn Rovers.[1] He scored six league goals in two seasons at Ewood Park and joined Manchester City in June 1948.[3] He scored three goals in eight matches for City before joining Stoke City,[4] whose manager Bob McGrory saw Godwin as the answer to Stoke's goalscoring problem in 1949–50.[1] However, despite scoring on his debut, Godwin scored just once more in the next 20 league matches and by January he was transferred to Third Division Mansfield Town in part-exchange for Harry Oscroft.[1] Following is spell with the Stags, Godwin became a journeyman and spent short spells with Middlesbrough, Grimsby Town, Brentford, Southport, Barrow, Tranmere Rovers and finally Macclesfield.[1][5]

Personal life

After retiring from football, Godwin worked during the summer for 36 years as a lifeguard on Southport beach.[6] He was award the British Empire Medal in recognition for his service.[6]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Blackburn Rovers	1946–47[7]	First Division	15	1	0	0	15	1
	1947–48[7]		12	5	0	0	12	5
	Total		27	6	0	0	27	6
Manchester City	1948–49[4]	First Division	8	3	0	0	8	3
Stoke City	1949–50[7]	First Division	22	2	1	0	23	2
Mansfield Town	1949–50[7]	Third Division North	17	7	—		17	7
	1950–51[7]		14	2	0	0	14	2
	Total		31	9	0	0	31	9
Grimsby Town	1951–52[7]	Third Division North	1	0	0	0	1	0
Brentford	1951–52[8]	Second Division	1	0	—		1	0
	1952–53[8]		6	1	0	0	6	1
	1953–54[8]		0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		7	1	0	0	7	1
Southport	1954–55[9]	Third Division North	17	2	0	0	17	2
Barrow	1955–56[7]	Third Division North	15	3	1	1	16	4
Tranmere Rovers	1955–56[7]	Third Division North	14	2	—		14	2
Macclesfield	1958–59[5]	Cheshire County League	3	0	1	0	4	0
Career Total			145	28	3	1	148	29

References

1. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
2. "R.I.P Verdi Godwin (Southport)". OTSNews. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
3. "Verdi Godwin". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
4. "Verdi Godwin – MCFC Players – Manchester City, Man City History – Bluemoon-MCFC". bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
5. "Season Statistics – Cheshire League – 1958–59". www.silkmenarchives.org.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
6. Brentford Football Club Official Programme versus Brighton & Hove Albion. 10 February 2007. p. 39.
7. Verdi Godwin at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
8. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 381–382. ISBN 0951526200.
9. "Player Details". Port Online. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2019.

External links

• Verdi Godwin at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database