Kevin Godfrey (born 24 February 1960) is an English retired football winger who made over 540 career appearances, most notably in the Football League for

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 ...

and Brentford.

Playing career

Leyton Orient

A winger, Godfrey came through the youth ranks at

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

(then named "Orient") and signed a professional contract in March 1977. He made his debut during the 1977–78 season and finished the campaign with 16 appearances. Godfrey had to wait until the 1981–82 season to make a breakthrough and he made 50 appearances and scored seven goals during a disastrous season, which saw the Os relegated to the Third Division. Godfrey found his best form between 1983 and 1985, averaging over 40 appearances over the course of each three seasons and scoring 10 or more goals in each. Now playing in the Fourth Division after another relegation, Godfrey fell out of favour during the 1985–86 season and made just 16 appearances before joining Third Division high-flyers Plymouth Argyle 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 ...

in March 1986. His seven appearances brought about a positive reaction to the team's dip in form and he scored one goal during his spell, a late winner versus

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

. Godfrey regained his Orient starting place in 1986–87 and made another 70 appearances before departing at the end of the 1987–88 season.

Brentford

Godfrey joined Third Division club Brentford during the 1988 off-season, initially to get fit, but he became a regular member in the team after forwards Gary Blissett,

Richard Cadette Richard Raymond Cadette (born 21 March 1965) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Falkirk, Brentford and Southend United. After his retirement he moved into management with Tooting & Mitcham ...

and Neil Smillie suffered injuries. He again deputised for Blissett in the early part of the 1989–90 season, before moving back to the wing to cover for the injured

Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...

. Godfrey's best season with Brentford came in

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, when he made 46 appearances and scored six goals, including one against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

in the Bees' unsuccessful 1991 Third Division play-off campaign. He won the first silverware of his career in Brentford's historic 1991–92 season, in which they won the Third Division title. Godfrey made many of his 31 appearances 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 ...

, excelling. Aged 32 and playing in the second-tier for the first time since 1982, Godfrey made 21 appearances during the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season and scored a last-minute goal versus

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

in the preliminary round of the Anglo-Italian Cup. With the Bees relegated back to the third-tier at the first time of asking, Godfrey was released during the 1993 off-season. He made 190 appearances and scored 25 goals during his five years at Griffin Park.

Yeading

Godfrey ended his career with a spell at Isthmian League Premier Division club

Yeading Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War. Etymology Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning "the ...

during the 1993–94 season.

Personal life

After retiring from football, Godfrey became a taxi driver in West London and later worked for security delivery company.

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

: 1991–92

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Kevin 1960 births People from Kennington Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth English men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Leyton Orient F.C. players Yeading F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Men's association football wingers Living people Men's association football forwards Isthmian League players