Ben Easton Close (born 8 August 1996) 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

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

Career

Portsmouth

Born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Close signed a two-year scholarship deal after spending many years in

's youth categories. He was an unused substitute for a first team game on 3 May 2014 for a league game against Plymouth Argyle. On 9 May 2014, Close was offered a one-year professional contract with the club, alongside Bradley Tarbuck. On 12 September 2014, he made his professional debut, coming on as a 43rd minute substitute for Nigel Atangana in a 3–1 away win against

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

, for the campaign's

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. Close made his

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

debut on 16 September, again from the bench in a 3–0 home success against Dagenham & Redbridge. After playing only 4 games for ''Pompey'' in 2016–17, on 31 January 2017, he joined

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 ...

side

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

on loan until the end of the season. On 26 May 2017 Close signed a new one-year contract at Pompey, with the club holding an option for an additional year. On 17 December, after becoming a starter under new manager

Kenny Jackett Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is a former professional football player and manager, who is currently Director of Football at club Gillingham. A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midfield, Jackett was cappe ...

, he extended his contract until 2020. On 2 March 2019, Close scored his first professional brace in a 5–1 home victory over

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

Doncaster Rovers

Close signed for

on a three-year deal on 7 June 2021.

Career statistics

Honours

Portsmouth * EFL Trophy: 2018–19; runner-up: 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Close, Ben 1996 births Living people Footballers from Portsmouth English footballers Association football midfielders Portsmouth F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players