Ben Godfrey

Benjamin Matthew Godfrey (born 15 January 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Everton and the England national under-21 team.

Ben Godfrey
Godfrey with the parade that followed Norwich City's promotion in 2019
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Matthew Godfrey[1]
Date of birth (1998-01-15) 15 January 1998[2]
Place of birth York, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Everton
Number 22
Youth career
0000–2011 York City
2011–201? Middlesbrough
201?–2014 York City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 York City 12 (1)
2016–2020 Norwich City 66 (4)
2017–2018 → Shrewsbury Town (loan) 40 (1)
2020– Everton 14 (0)
National team‡
2019 England U20 2 (0)
2019– England U21 7 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:08, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:34, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Early and personal life

Godfrey was born in York, North Yorkshire,[4] and attended Archbishop Holgate's School.[5] His father Alex Godfrey is a former professional rugby league footballer.[6]

Club career

Early career
Godfrey warming up for York City in 2015

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.[5] This was the first time a team from York had won an English Schools' FA competition.[5] He started his career with York City's youth system, before moving to Middlesbrough in the summer of 2011.[6] After being released by the club, he had trials with Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday, before returning to York at under-15 level,[6] with whom he started his scholarship.[7] Godfrey captained York's under-18 team in the 2014–15 season,[8] while still a first-year scholar.[9] His first involvement with the first team came as an unused substitute in a League Two match against Newport County on 11 October 2014.[10] Godfrey made his debut aged 17 when starting York's 1–0 home win over Yeovil Town on 18 August 2015.[11] 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.[12]

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.[13] 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.[14] Godfrey made his league debut in a 2–0 home win over Birmingham City on 28 January 2017 as an 81st-minute substitute.[15] He signed a new four-year contract with Norwich on 11 August 2017, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2021.[16]

On 24 August 2017, Godfrey joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on loan until 1 January 2018.[17] The deal was later extended to the end of the season.[18]

For the 2018/19 season, Godfrey was back with Norwich. He played in their four Carabao Cup games but his appearances in the league were limited to substitute appearances until December:[19] With Grant Hanley and Timm Klose both injured, Godfrey made his first league start for Norwich in the Championship match against Bolton Wanderers, partnering Christoph Zimmermann at centre half in a 3–2 win.[20] He remained in the side even when Hanley was fit again and scored his first goal for Norwich at the end of the year to give them an early lead against Derby County, although a late comeback from Derby saw Norwich lose the game 4–3.[21] This was only a temporary setback for both Godfrey and Norwich however. Godfrey would score three more goals, all of which would earn Norwich points as they chased promotion back to the Premier League.[19] This was achieved in the penultimate game, a 2–1 win over Blackburn Rovers, with Godfrey in the team.[22] In all, Godfrey played 31 league games during the season, starting 26 of them.[19]

Godfrey made his first Premier League appearance in the opening game of the 2019/20 season, a 4–1 defeat against Liverpool, playing alongside Hanley.[23] There were again a number of injuries to centre halves throughout the season, to the point that Godfrey was the only fit regular centre back at one point, and even captained the side with Hanley, Alexander Tettey, Klose and Zimmermann all injured.[24] After a promising start winning two of their first five games, Norwich soon slid to the bottom of the table. When they did record a rare win against fellow strugglers Bournemouth, Godfrey was sent off in the second half for a late challenge on Callum Wilson, having the unfortunate distinction of being the first Premier League player to be dismissed as a result of a referee consulting a VAR monitor.[25] Godfrey again made 30 league appearances for Norwich but, in a season disrupted by a three-month suspension during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the club were relegated back to the Championship.[26]

Godfrey would play in Norwich's first three games in the 2020/21 season,[27] making his last appearance in a 1–0 defeat by Bournemouth.[28]

Everton

Godfrey signed for Premier League club Everton on 5 October 2020 on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee,[29] reported by The Athletic to be an initial £20 million, potentially rising to £25 million in add-ons.[30] He made his debut on 17 October in a Merseyside derby against Liverpool in a 2–2 draw at home in the Premier League, coming on as a 31st-minute substitute after an injury to Séamus Coleman.[31] Adam Jones of the Liverpool Echo said that Godfrey "was thrown into the deep end for his debut and stood up to the task very well".[32]

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.[33] He made his debut when starting in the 3–1 defeat at home to Poland.[34] He made two appearances for the under-20s.[35]

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.[36] He made his debut as an 81st-minute substitute during a 3–2 away win against Turkey on 6 September.[37] He started the following match as captain, as England beat Kosovo 2–0 at home.[38] Godfrey scored his first international goal on 8 September 2020 in a 2–1 away win against Austria in 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification with a sliding finish after a well-timed run.[39]

Style of play

Godfrey primarily plays as a centre-back, but also played in central midfield and at full-back in his early career.[29]

Career statistics
As of match played 6 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
York City 2014–15[40] League Two 0000000000
2015–16[11] League Two 12110101[lower-alpha 1]0151
Total 121101010151
Norwich City 2015–16[11] Premier League 00———00
2016–17[15] Championship 201031—61
2017–18[41] Championship 00—00—00
2018–19[19] Championship 3141040—364
2019–20[26] Premier League 3002010—330
2020–21[27] Championship 30—00—30
Total 6644081—785
Norwich City U23 2016–17[15] ———4[lower-alpha 2]040
Shrewsbury Town (loan) 2017–18[41] League One 40140—7[lower-alpha 3]0511
Everton 2020–21[27] Premier League 1402010—170
Career total 13261101011201657
  1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in EFL Trophy
  3. Four appearances in EFL Trophy, three in League One play-offs

Honours

Shrewsbury Town

Norwich City

References

Infobox statistics

  • England U20: "Match results under 20: 1981–2019". England Football Online. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  • England U21: "Match results under 21: 2010–20". England Football Online. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
    "Match results under 21: 2020–30". England Football Online. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.

Specific

  1. "Retained and released lists submitted by Premier League clubs". Premier League. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  2. "Ben Godfrey: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  3. "Ben Godfrey: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  4. "Ben Godfrey". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  5. Flett, Dave (24 May 2011). "York and District U13s carve out niche in city's football folklore". The Press. York. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  6. 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.
  7. "York City FC youth team profiles". York City F.C. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014.
  8. "York City academy pass with flying colours". The Press. York. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  9. Flett, Dave (21 March 2015). "York City boss Russ Wilcox believes calls for his sacking are unhelpful". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  10. "B. Godfrey: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  11. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  12. Flett, Dave (14 November 2015). "York City suffer fifth straight defeat against table-topping Plymouth". The Press. York. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  13. "Canaries sign York's Ben Godfrey". Norwich City F.C. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  14. "Norwich City 6–1 Coventry City". BBC Sport. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  15. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  16. "Alex Pritchard: Norwich City midfielder out for at least 12 weeks after ankle surgery". BBC Sport. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  17. "Ben Godfrey: Shrewsbury Town sign Norwich City midfielder on loan until January". BBC Sport. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  18. "Ben Godfrey's Shrewsbury loan extended". Norwich City F.C. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  19. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  20. "Norwich City 3–2 Bolton Wanderers". BBC Sport. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  21. "Norwich City 3–4 Derby County". BBC Sport. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  22. "Norwich 2–1 Blackburn - Match Report & Highlights". Sky Sports. 27 April 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  23. "Liverpool 4–1 Norwich - Match Report & Highlights". Sky Sports. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  24. "Ben Godfrey: A captain's performance to forget". Vavel. 6 October 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  25. "Norwich City 1–0 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  26. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  27. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  28. "Championship: AFC Bournemouth 1–0 Norwich City". BBC Sport. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  29. "Everton seal Godfrey signing". Everton F.C. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  30. "Everton complete Ben Godfrey transfer from Norwich". The Athletic. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  31. McNulty, Phil (17 October 2020). "Everton 2–2 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
    Addison, Matt (17 October 2020). "Everton signing Ben Godfrey handed debut against Liverpool after Seamus Coleman injury blow". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  32. Jones, Adam (17 October 2020). "Everton player ratings vs Liverpool as Jordan Pickford stands out in dramatic derby". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  33. Veevers, Nicholas (14 March 2019). "Paul Simpson has picked his England U20s squad for games with Poland and Portugal". The Football Association. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  34. Veevers, Nicholas (21 March 2019). "Paul Simpson's Young Lions suffer defeat against Poland at St. George's Park". The Football Association. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  35. "Match results under 20: 1981–2019". England Football Online. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  36. Veevers, Nicholas (30 August 2019). "England U21s kick-off a new campaign and Aidy Boothroyd has picked his squad". The Football Association. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  37. "Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson score as England U21s win opening Euro qualifier". The Football Association. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  38. Veevers, Nicholas (9 September 2019). "Phil Foden's double helps Young Lions to U21 Euro qualifying victory over Kosovo". The Football Association. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
    Veevers, Nicholas (15 November 2019). "Ben Godfrey assesses his journey from York City to Norwich City and England captaincy". The Football Association. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  39. "Eddie Nketiah and Ben Godfrey steer England MU21s to crucial victory". The Football Association. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  40. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  41. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  42. Scott, Ged (8 April 2018). "Lincoln City 1–0 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  43. Anderson, John, ed. (2019). Football Yearbook 2019–2020. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-1-4722-6111-3.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.