Benjamin Joshua Chrisene (born 12 January 2004) 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, rugby ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

club Kilmarnock, on loan from

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 Aston Villa. He is a product of the

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

academy and made five first-team appearances during the 2019–20 season, at the age of fifteen. He subsequently was signed by Aston Villa in August 2020 and joined their

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

side, before making his senior debut in January 2021. Chrisene has represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at youth level, appearing at under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels.

Club career

Exeter City

Chrisene began his career with

at the age of 11, and was linked with a move to Liverpool in the summer of 2018. He made his debut for Exeter City on 13 August 2019, in the EFL Cup 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 ...

, at the age of 15 years, 7 months, and 1 day, becoming the club's youngest ever player, beating

Ethan Ampadu Ethan Kwame Colm Raymond Ampadu (born 14 September 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back or defensive midfielder for Serie A club Spezia, on loan from Chelsea, and the Wales national team. Ampadu previously played for E ...

's record. He made his league debut as a late substitute in a 2–0 home win against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

on 11 January 2020.

Aston Villa

On 19 August 2020, Chrisene joined

side Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee, initially joining their

. On 17 November 2020, Chrisene made his debut for Aston Villa in a 3–1 defeat to Carlisle United as part of an invited Under-21 squad in the EFL Trophy. Chrisene was named in the Aston Villa starting line-up for his senior debut on 8 January 2021 in an

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 competi ...

third round tie against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. A few days later he signed his first professional contract. On 24 May 2021, Chrisene was part of the Aston Villa squad that lifted the FA Youth Cup. Chrisene scored the opening goal as Villa beat Liverpool U18s 2–1 in the final. On 24 January 2022, Chrisene signed a new contract with Aston Villa, with manager Steven Gerrard saying he was "excited" to help him become a Premier League player. On 9 February, Chrisene featured in a Premier League squad for the first time, as an unused substitute in a 3–3 draw against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. On 25 August 2022, Chrisene signed for

club Kilmarnock on a season-long loan. Chrisene made his debut for Kilmarnock on 27 August 2022, playing 90 minutes in a 2–1 home victory over Motherwell.

International career

Chrisene has represented England at under-15, under-16, and under-17 youth levels. On 21 September 2022, Chrisene made his England U19 debut during a 2–0 2023 U19 EURO qualifying win over

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Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Career statistics

Honours

Aston Villa U18 * FA Youth Cup: 2020–21

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chrisene, Ben 2004 births Living people English footballers Association football fullbacks Exeter City F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players English Football League players England youth international footballers Kilmarnock F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players