Benjamin James Chilwell (born 21 December 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 le ...

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 club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and the England national team. Beginning his career at

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 ...

, Chilwell had a loan spell with

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

and joined Chelsea in 2020.

Early life

Chilwell was born in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, and was raised in

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

. He attended

Redborne Upper School and Community College Redborne Upper School & Community College is an Academy (English school), academy school and sixth-form located in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England. The school serves the population of Ampthill, Flitwick and surrounding villages. Redborne is a ...

in Ampthill.

Club career

Leicester City

Chilwell joined

's academy aged 12 in 2009 having played in

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ke ...

' centre of excellence. He won their Academy Player of the Year award at the end of the 2014–15 season. After featuring for the club in pre-season under new manager

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...

, Chilwell was given the number 30 shirt ahead of the 2015–16 season. He made his first-team debut on 27 October 2015 in the club's

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

. Chilwell played the entire match as Leicester lost 5–4 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time. On 19 November 2015, Chilwell joined

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 ...

club

on a youth

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 3 January 2016. He made his debut nine days later in a 2–0 home loss 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 ...

. On 28 July 2016, Chilwell signed a new contract with Leicester until June 2021. He made his

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 ...

debut on 26 December in a 2–0 home defeat to Everton. Chilwell received praise for his performance. He made 19 appearances across the 2016–17 season, including two in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, and scored his first career goal on 18 May 2017 in a 6–1 home loss to

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 ...

. Chilwell was sent off for the first time in his career on 13 January 2018 after receiving two yellow cards within five minutes of each other in a goalless draw away to

. He signed a new contract with Leicester on 20 October, tying him to the club until June 2024.

Chelsea

Chilwell signed for Leicester's Premier League rivals Chelsea on 26 August 2020 on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee reported by

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

to be £45 million. He made his debut on 23 September, providing the assist for

Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team. Regarded for his work-rate, strength, acrobatic strikes, shot power, consistent goal-s ...

's goal in a 6–0 home win against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

in the third round of the

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 ...

after he came off from the bench. On his first league start for the club on 3 October, Chilwell scored the opening goal and assisted Kurt Zouma for the second as Chelsea beat

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

4–0 at home. On 7 April 2021, Chilwell scored his first

goal in a 2–0 away win over

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

in the first-leg of the

quarter-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

tie. On 16 May, Chilwell scored against his former club

in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

in the 88th minute, only for it to be disallowed by

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 ...

, as Leicester went on to win 1–0 and their first ever FA Cup. On 29 May, Chilwell won his first-ever trophy after Chelsea defeated

Manchester City 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 tw ...

1–0 in the

2021 UEFA Champions League Final The 2021 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Cup to the ...

. On 2 October 2021, on his first Premier League start of the league campaign, Chilwell scored his first goal of the season in a 3–1 home win over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Chilwell would go on to score in Chelsea's next two league games as well, 1–0 win against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and a 7–0 victory over

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 ...

. Having scored in Chelsea's final match of the

2020–21 Premier League The 2020–21 Premier League was the 29th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992 and the 122nd season of top-flight English football overall. The season w ...

season, Chilwell became the first English player to score in four consecutive Premier League games for Chelsea since

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

in February 2013. On 23 November 2021, Chilwell sustained a ruptured cruciate ligament injury in a 4–0 home win during Chelsea's 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage match against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

. He was substituted in the second half after a coming together with

Adrien Rabiot Adrien Thibault Marie Rabiot (born 3 April 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Juventus and the France national team. Rabiot spent most of his career with Paris Saint-Germain, making his debut ...

. On 28 December 2021, it was revealed in a statement by Chelsea that Chilwell would have to receive a surgical repair, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

International career

Along with his Leicester teammate

Demarai Gray Demarai Remelle Gray (born 28 June 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Everton. Gray came through the youth system of Birmingham City, for whom he made his Football League debut as a 17-year-old in Oct ...

, Chilwell was called up from the under-21 team to the full

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 in September 2018 for a friendly match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He made his debut in this match on 11 September, as a 79th-minute substitute for Danny Rose in a 1–0 home win. Upon taking to the pitch in the match at the

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

he became the first England player to debut at his club ground since

Paul Scholes Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

in 1997. Chilwell made his first start on 12 October in a goalless draw with

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in the

2018–19 UEFA Nations League A The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A was the top division of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA ...

, in a match played behind closed doors. Chilwell was named in the 26-man England squad for

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 ...

. On 22 June 2021, Chilwell and fellow England player

Mason Mount Mason Tony Mount (born 10 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking or central midfielder for club Chelsea and the England national team. Mount began his senior club career with Chelsea, and joined Vite ...

were forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

player

Billy Gilmour Billy Clifford Gilmour (born 11 June 2001) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Scotland national team. Gilmour spent three months at a young age with C ...

, who tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

after England’s goalless draw with Scotland at the tournament. On 9 October 2021, Chilwell scored his first international goal in a 5–0 away win during England's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

Personal life

Chilwell's father is from New Zealand and emigrated to England in 1993, three years prior to Chilwell's birth. Chilwell's maternal grandfather Guy Shuttleworth was also a sportsman who played football for Corinthian-Casuals — winning an international cap for England Amateurs in 1949 — and represented

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

. He died at the age of 94 on 21 January 2021. Chilwell played cricket for his local club,

Flitwick Flitwick () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling ''Flytwyk'' appears in 1381. The nearby River Flit runs through Flitwick Moor, a natur ...

. Chilwell is the godfather to

and former

teammate

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 ...

's son, Leo.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''England score listed first, score column indicates score after each Chilwell goal''

Honours

Chelsea *

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 ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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 ...

runner-up:

England *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

third place: 2018–19 *

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 contes ...

runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual *UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season:

Under-21s Player of the Season: 2015–16 *Leicester City Academy Player of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

Profile
at the Chelsea F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilwell, Ben 1996 births Living people People from Milton Keynes Footballers from Buckinghamshire English footballers England youth international footballers England under-21 international footballers England international footballers Association football defenders Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players FA Cup Final players UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Euro 2020 players English people of New Zealand descent