Aaron Christopher Ramsdale (born 14 May 1998) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

and the England national team. Ramsdale began his senior club career playing for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and signed for

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a r ...

in 2017. Following successive loans to Chesterfield and

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional football club, based in Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is Plough Lane. The ...

, Ramsdale played a season with Bournemouth and re-joined Sheffield United in a transfer worth an initial £18 million. In 2021, Ramsdale signed for Arsenal in a club record transfer worth up to £30 million, becoming their most expensive goalkeeper. Ramsdale has represented England at all levels from under-18 to the senior team, and won the

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, and was in the squad that finished as runners-up at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

Early life

Ramsdale was born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, Staffordshire and was raised in the nearby village of Chesterton. Ramsdale began his career at

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

-based club Marsh Town. Goalkeeping coach

Fred Barber Frederick Barber (born 26 August 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper and made nearly 400 Football League appearances. His most successful stints came early in his career with Darlington and Walsall, playing in over ...

took him up to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

for a trial and they ended up signing him. In 2014, Ramsdale was identified by '' The Sentinel'' as a future prospect after helping his school, Sir Thomas Boughey High School, to reach the English Schools' FA Cup semi-final.

Club career

Sheffield United

In 2013, Ramsdale joined

after time spent in the Bolton Wanderers youth team. After graduating from Sheffield United's youth academy, Ramsdale signed a scholarship with the club in May 2014. In December 2015, he briefly joined

Northern Counties East Football League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the football pyramid respectively. History T ...

Premier Division club

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

, playing one match while their regular goalkeeper was suspended.
After returning to the Blades, Ramsdale appeared twice as an unused substitute during the 2015–16 season against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

and

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The te ...

. In May 2016, he signed his first professional contract with the club. Ramsdale made his professional debut starting in a 6–0 home victory over

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in the process. He also made another appearance in the FA Cup against Bolton Wanderers but lost 3–2. Aaron Ramsdale February 2020

AFC Bournemouth

On 31 January 2017, Ramsdale was signed by

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £800,000. He was on the bench for the final game of the 2016–17 season against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Ramsdale made both his Premier League debut and his full debut for Bournemouth on the opening day of the 2019–20 season, in a 1–1 draw against former team Sheffield United. Ramsdale established himself as Bournemouth's first choice keeper in the first few months of the 2019–20 season, starting every Premier League game for the club until 12 January, when he missed the match against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

due to injury. He returned to the team in the next Premier League game, a 1–0 loss to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. He signed a new, long-term contract with the club in October 2019. That same month, Ramsdale's form saw him win the club's Player of the Month award for October, keeping clean sheets in the games against Norwich City and Watford. His form continued in the next few months, as he again picked up the club's Player of the Month award in January for another string of excellent performances, including a Man of the Match winning display against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. On 10 August, Ramsdale was named Player of the Year by the club's supporters.

Loans to Chesterfield and Wimbledon

In the January 2018 transfer window, Ramsdale was loaned out to Chesterfield for the rest of the 2017–18 season. Ramsdale made his Chesterfield debut against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

on 6 January 2018, but scored an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

after he "allowed a seemingly harmless

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

strike from the right to squirm into the net", in a 4–0 loss. A week later, against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 win. In the 2017–18 season, Ramsdale made 19 appearances in total for the club in League Two, but was ultimately unable to help prevent the club from suffering relegation to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. On 4 January 2019, Ramsdale joined

on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season. The next day, Ramsdale made his debut for the Dons in a 3–2

third round victory over

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed i ...

at the

Highbury Stadium Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as "Highbury" due to its location and was given the affectionate nickname ...

in Fleetwood. His league debut came a week later in a 1–1 draw with

at the

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to footb ...

. He helped the club defeat

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

in the FA Cup. In the 2018–19 season, Ramsdale made 20 appearances in total for the club in

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

, and in doing so he won the club's Young Player of the Season Award for his performances in goal, as Wimbledon achieved survival in League One despite being 10 points from safety in February.

Return to Sheffield United

On 19 August 2020, Ramsdale rejoined Sheffield United, for a reported fee of £18.5 million on a four-year deal. In May 2021, he was named Sheffield United's

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

and Young Player of the Year after being ever present between the sticks all season.

Arsenal

On 20 August 2021, Ramsdale signed for Premier League club

on a long-term contract. He made his debut away to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

in the

2021–22 EFL Cup The 2021–22 EFL Cup is the 62nd season of the EFL Cup (known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons). The competition is open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. The winner of the competition qua ...

five days later, and kept a clean sheet as Arsenal won 6–0. He made his

debut on 11 September and kept another clean sheet as Arsenal defeated Norwich City 1–0 at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

. After a run of clean sheets in the league, he conceded his first goal in a 3–1 home win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

in the

North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is co ...

on 26 September. In a 2–0 away win against

on 30 October, he was highly praised for one of his saves and overall performance by pundits including former

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

goalkeeper

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, who described his save from a

James Maddison James Daniel Maddison (born 23 November 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Leicester City and the England national team. Maddison began his career with Coventry City before joining Norw ...

free-kick as the "best save I've seen for years". In November 2021, following a string of impressive performances, Ramsdale was one of eight players to be nominated for the Premier League's Player of the Month Award for October, though it was eventually awarded to

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly ( ar, محمد صلاح حامد محروس غالي, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Liverpool and captains the Egyp ...

. He was also named Arsenal's Player of the Month for October 2021, with 60% of the votes from the club's

supporters In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the c ...

. He won the award again in November with 42% of the votes. Following the departure of

Bernd Leno Bernd Leno (born 4 March 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Fulham and the Germany national team. Club career VfB Stuttgart Having progressed through the youth set up at VfB Stuttgart, in May 2011, L ...

at the beginning of the 2022–23 season, Ramsdale took the number one shirt at Arsenal. On 15 January 2023, Ramsdale was subject of an incident when a Tottenham fan tried to kick him in the back following Arsenal's 2–0 win against Tottenham in North London derby. Afterward, FA confirmed that they are work together with the police, the relevant authorities and the clubs to ensure the appropriate action is taken. Two days later, a 35-year-old man from Hackney was charged of assault and throwing a missile on to pitch. A month later, he was given a four-year football banning order and was handed a 12-month community order. On 13 March, Ramsdale won the ''Goalkeeper of the Year'' award at the 2023 London Football Awards. He won the Premier League Save of the Month award for the first time in March 2023 for his save from Dango Ouattara against his former club Bournemouth. On 9 April, he made two late saves in stoppage time against Liverpool to maintain a 2–2 draw at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...

, Arsenal's first point at Liverpool since a 3–3 draw in January 2016.

International career

Youth

Ramsdale has represented England at

Under 18 ''Under Eighteen'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Marian Marsh, Anita Page, Regis Toomey, and Warren William. It is based on the short story "Sky Life" by Frank Mitchell Dazey and Agnes C ...

, Under 19, Under 20 and Under 21 level. He was first called up by England U18 in March 2016 and made his debut for the team in a 4–1 win over Republic of Ireland U18 on 27 March 2016. He went on to make two appearances for the England U18 team. In August 2016, Ramsdale was called up by England U19, where he made his debut on 4 September 2016, in a 1–0 loss against Belgium U19. Ramsdale started all five games for the England under-19 team that won the

2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2017) was the 16th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (66th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footbal ...

and kept three clean sheets in five matches during the tournament. After winning the UEFA European U19-Championship, Ramsdale was called up by England U20 in August 2017, where he made his debut on 4 September 2017, in a 0–0 draw against Switzerland U20. On 18 May 2018, Ramsdale received a call up to

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team. This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...

s for the first time by Manager

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

, for the

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

. Ramsdale received his first cap for the England U21 team on 1 June 2018, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–0 win against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. Ramsdale was first choice goalkeeper during qualifiers for the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football c ...

and also started all three games for England as they were eliminated at the group stage of that tournament.

Senior team

On 25 May 2021, Ramsdale was called up as part of

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cu ...

's 33-man provisional senior squad for the delayed

. He was not named in the final 26-man squad, with goalkeepers

Dean Henderson Dean Bradley Henderson (born 12 March 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Nottingham Forest, on loan from Manchester United, and the England national team. Henderson signed his first professional co ...

Sam Johnstone Samuel Luke Johnstone (born 25 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as goalkeeper for club Crystal Palace and the England national team. A product of the Manchester United academy, Johnstone spent time on loan with Oldh ...

and

Jordan Pickford Jordan Lee Pickford (' Logan; born 7 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Everton and the England national team. Pickford has previously played for Sunderland's academy, reserve, and senior te ...

being selected ahead of him, but was called up to the squad one game into the tournament after Henderson withdrew with an injury. Ramsdale made his debut for the senior squad starting in a 10–0 away victory against

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

during the 2022 World Cup qualifiers on 15 November 2021. In November 2022, Ramsdale was named in Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wor ...

held in Qatar.

Personal life

Ramsdale is a

fan, and cited an admiration for their former keeper Ben Foster when he played against him in 2019. In August 2022, Ramsdale announced his engagement to his girlfriend, Georgina Irwin. In June 2023, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child together and married.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

England U19 *

England U21 *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

England *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Individual *

Supporters' Player of the Year: 2019–20 * Sheffield United Player of the Year:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* Sheffield United Young Player of the Year: 2020–21 *London Football Awards Goalkeeper of the Year: 2023 * Premier League Save of the Month: March 2023

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsdale, Aaron 1998 births Living people Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Chesterfield F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Arsenal F.C. players Northern Counties East Football League players English Football League players Premier League players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers England men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players English victims of crime