Benjamin Matthew Godfrey (born 15 January 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, rugby le ...
who plays as a
centre-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 club
Everton and the
England national team.
Early and personal life
Godfrey was born in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, North Yorkshire, and attended
Archbishop Holgate's School
Archbishop Holgate's School is a coeducational Church of England secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in York, North Yorkshire, England.
History
The school was founded as Archbishop Holgate's Grammar School in 1546 by R ...
.
His father Alex Godfrey is a former professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
footballer.
Godfrey is of Jamaican descent through his paternal grandfather.
Club career
Early career
Godfrey
captained the York & District under-13 team that beat Southampton at
Stadium MK
Stadium MK is a football ground in the Denbigh district of Bletchley in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed by Populous and opened in 2007, it is the home ground of EFL League One side Milton Keynes Dons and FA Women's National ...
in the final of the English Schools' FA Inter-Association Trophy in May 2011.
This was the first time a team from York had won an English Schools' FA competition.
He started his career with
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
's youth system, before moving to
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
in the summer of 2011.
After being released by the club, he had trials with
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 S ...
and
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
, before returning to York at under-15 level,
with whom he started his scholarship. Godfrey captained York's under-18 team in the
2014–15 season, while still a first-year scholar. His first involvement with the first team came as an unused
substitute in a
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 ...
match against
Newport County on 11 October 2014.
Godfrey made his debut aged 17 when starting York's 1–0 home win over
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 ...
on 18 August 2015.
[ He scored his first goal for York in the eighth minute of stoppage time in a 2–1 home loss to ]Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
on 14 November 2015 with a shot from 10 yards.
Norwich City
Godfrey signed for 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 Foo ...
club 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 ...
on 15 January 2016 on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee and would initially play in their academy team. He made his debut on 23 August as a substitute in the 65th minute of Norwich's EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
second round match against Coventry City
Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
and scored in the 87th minute of a 6–1 home win with a shot from outside the penalty area
The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it.
Wit ...
. Godfrey made his league debut in a 2–0 home win over Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
on 28 January 2017 as an 81st-minute substitute.[ He signed a new four-year contract with Norwich on 11 August 2017, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2021.
On 24 August 2017, Godfrey joined ]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 ...
club Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
on 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 d ...
until 1 January 2018. The deal was later extended to the end of the season.
For the 2018–19 season, Godfrey was back with Norwich. He played in their four EFL Cup games but his appearances in the league were limited to substitute appearances until December:[ With ]Grant Hanley
Grant Campbell Hanley (born 20 November 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Norwich City and the Scotland national team. He has previously played for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
Early year ...
and Timm Klose
Timm Klose (born 9 May 1988) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a centre back, most recently for Championship club Bristol City and the Switzerland national team.
Born in Frankfurt to a German father and Swiss mother, he was raised ...
both injured, Godfrey made his first league start for Norwich in the Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
match against 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 Pike's ...
, partnering Christoph Zimmermann at centre half in a 3–2 win. 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
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
, although a late comeback from Derby saw Norwich lose the game 4–3. 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.[ This was achieved in the penultimate game, a 2–1 win over ]Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
, with Godfrey in the team. In all, Godfrey played 31 league games during the season, starting 26 of them.[
Godfrey made his first Premier League appearance in the opening game of the 2019–20 season, a 4–1 defeat 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 popul ...
, playing alongside Hanley. 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
Alexander Banor Tettey (born 4 April 1986) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.
Having established himself at Rosenborg, he played for French club Rennes and English side Norwich City. Born in Ghan ...
, Klose and Zimmermann all injured. 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 AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
, Godfrey was sent off in the second half for a late challenge on Callum Wilson
Callum Eddie Graham Wilson (born 27 February 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Newcastle United and the England national team.
Early life
Wilson was born in Coventry, West Midlands. H ...
, having the unfortunate distinction of being the first Premier League player to be dismissed as a result of a referee consulting a VAR
Var or VAR may refer to:
Places
* Var (department), a department of France
* Var (river), France
* Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran
* Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...
monitor. 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.[
Godfrey would play in Norwich's first three games in the 2020–21 season, making his last appearance in a 1–0 defeat by Bournemouth.][
]
Everton
Godfrey signed for Premier League club Everton on 5 October 2020 on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported by ''The Athletic
''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...
'' to be an initial £20 million, potentially rising to £25 million in add-ons. He made his debut on 17 October in a Merseyside derby
The Merseyside derby is the football matches between Everton and Liverpool, the two primary clubs in Liverpool, England. Named after the county of Merseyside, in which Liverpool is located, it is the longest running top-flight derby in England ...
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
Séamus Coleman (; born 11 October 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a right-back and captains both Premier League club Everton and the Republic of Ireland national team.
Originally a Gaelic footballer, Coleman started hi ...
. Adam Jones of the ''Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...
'' said that Godfrey "was thrown into the deep end for his debut and stood up to the task very well".
At the end of his first season at the club, Godfrey was voted by Everton fans as the club's Young Player of the Season.
International career
Godfrey received his first call-up for the England national under-20 team ahead of their 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League
The 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League (sometimes referred to as the European Elite League) was an age-restricted association football tournament for national Under-20 teams. It was the second edition of the Under 20 Elite League
The Under 20 Elite ...
fixtures against Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
in March 2019. He made his debut when starting in the 3–1 defeat at home to Poland. He made two appearances for the under-20s.
Godfrey was included in the England national under-21 team
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 ...
for the first time for their 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 footballtournament that determined the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Hungary and Slovenia in the 2021 UEFA European Unde ...
matches against Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
and Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
in September 2019. He made his debut as an 81st-minute substitute during a 3–2 away win against Turkey on 6 September. He started the following match as captain, as England beat Kosovo 2–0 at home. Godfrey scored his first international goal on 8 September 2020 in a 2–1 away win against Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification with a sliding finish after a well-timed run.
On 25 May 2021, Godfrey 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 Cup w ...
's 33-man provisional 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 ...
squad for the delayed 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 Europe ...
. He was not named in the final 26-man squad, with Southgate stating that Godfrey was part of the provisional squad "in order to gain experience". However, he remained in the squad for England's pre-tournament friendlies against Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
at the Riverside Stadium
The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...
and made his debut on 2 June as a 61st-minute substitute as England beat Austria 1–0. He made his first start four days later, playing the entirety of a 1–0 win over Romania.
Style of play
Godfrey primarily plays as a centre-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 ...
, but also played in central midfield
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 ...
and at full-back in his early career.[
]
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Shrewsbury Town
*EFL 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 ...
runner-up: 2017–18
Norwich City
*EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
: 2018–19
Individual
*Everton Young Player of the Season: 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 ...
References
Infobox statistics
*England U20:
*England U21:
Specific
External links
Profile
at the Everton F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Ben
1998 births
Living people
Footballers from York
English footballers
England youth international footballers
England under-21 international footballers
England international footballers
Association football defenders
York City F.C. players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Norwich City F.C. players
Shrewsbury Town F.C. players
Everton F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
People educated at Archbishop Holgate's School
English people of Jamaican descent