Tony William Godfrey (born 30 April 1939) is an English retired footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Southampton, Aldershot and Rochdale in the Football League.

Football career

Early career

Godfrey was born in Pangbourne, Berkshire and played football for North Hampshire Schools. After leaving school he was an apprentice

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsman and tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. ...

and played in goal for Basingstoke Town in the Hampshire League, becoming their youngest-ever player. After a brief period on the books of Norwich City, he was signed by Southampton of the Football League Third Division South in May 1956 for a fee of £500, on the recommendation of Basingstoke's coach,

Stan Clements Stanley Finlay Thomas Clements OBE (25 June 1923 – 8 November 2018) was an English footballer who played most of his professional career for Southampton. Playing career He was a mechanical engineer in Portsmouth's naval dockyards and join ...

, a former Southampton player.

Southampton

He started his career with the "Saints" in the youth team, which reached the semi-final of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 1957. He made his reserve-team debut in March 1958 and signed a professional contract shortly after his 19th birthday. He continued to play regularly in the reserves until his first-team debut on 6 December 1958, when he took the place of John Christie who was unavailable with an injured knee for the FA Cup

Second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

match at Queens Park Rangers. Godfrey acquitted himself well with a "confident, cool, alert and agile" performance making several fine saves and keeping a clean sheet as Southampton won the match 1–0. Godfrey retained his first-team place for the next five matches in the league, before Christie's return, although he was soon recalled, making 17 league appearances in his debutant season. With Christie leaving The Dell in the summer of 1959, Godfrey became first-choice 'keeper, playing the first 11 games of the 1959–60 season (including six victories), before an injury allowed Bob Charles to take his place. His career was then interrupted by his National Service which was spent in the Army, who he represented at football. Southampton gained promotion to the Second Division in 1960 with Ron Reynolds now in goal. In the 1960–61 season, Godfrey vied with Reynolds for the first-choice position in goal, making only eight appearances, but regained the No. 1 spot for 1961–62 after Reynolds broke his ankle in the opening match. By the start of the following season, however, Reynolds had fought his way back into the first-team and Godfrey only made six appearances. Reynolds was finally forced to retire after dislocating a shoulder in September 1963, thus allowing Godfrey to briefly become the unchallenged first-choice "custodian". In the summer of 1964, Southampton signed

John Hollowbread John Frederick Hollowbread (2 January 1934 – 7 December 2007) was an English football goalkeeper who played for Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton. Playing career He was born at Ponders End and represented Middlesex Schools and played for E ...

from Tottenham Hotspur and Godfrey was once again second-choice, until after a run of 18 matches with only two victories, Hollowbread was dropped and Godfrey recalled. Hollowbread regained the No. 1 position for the start of the 1965–66 season until he sustained a knee injury in September 1965, which ended his career. Godfrey was once again recalled but after 14 matches, lost his place to

Campbell Forsyth Robert Campbell Forsyth (5 May 193415 November 2020) was a Scottish footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Southampton. He also made four international appearances for Scotland, all in 1964. Football career Earl ...

, who had been signed from

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. Godfrey's final match for Southampton came on 4 December 1965 and shortly afterwards he was sold to Aldershot. In his seven years with Southampton, Godfrey made a total of 149 first-team appearances.

Aldershot and Rochdale

He joined Aldershot in December 1965 for "a four figure fee" but was unable to make his debut for them because he was suffering with hepatitis. His debut came on 19 March 1966, in a goalless draw with Notts County at Recreation Ground. He soon became the first-choice goalkeeper, being ever-present in the 1966–67 and 1967–68 seasons. He stayed with Aldershot for years before he was signed by his former Southampton teammate

Dick Conner Richard John Conner (13 August 1931 – May 1999) was an English football player and manager. He played as wing half for Newcastle United, South Shields, Grimsby Town, Southampton, Tranmere Rovers and Aldershot. He went on to manage Aldersh ...

at Rochdale in the summer of 1970. Godfrey spent two seasons with Rochdale, in the second of which he was the club's Player of the Season before returning to Aldershot in July 1972. He made 71 League appearances for the

Spotland Spotland ( ) is a district of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The Rochdale ward name is Spotland and Falinge. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 10,805. It lies on the River Spodden, and is the home of Spotland St ...

club. On his return to Aldershot, he was again ever-present in the 1972–73 season, when Aldershot were promoted from the Fourth Division for the first time. He was to remain at the Recreation Ground for another three seasons, until, with Glen Johnson now the first-choice 'keeper, he decided to retire in 1976.

Coaching career

Godfrey then returned to Basingstoke Town in a player-coach role, before spells as manager at Andover, Alton Town and Fleet, followed by a return to Basingstoke. In 1985, aged 45, Basingstoke were suffering an injury crisis, so Godfrey returned for one match, thus becoming their oldest-ever first-team player, having been their youngest player 30 years earlier.

Later career

Godfrey settled in a village south of Basingstoke where he resumed his career as a builder until his retirement.

References

External links

Southampton career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Tony 1939 births Living people People from Pangbourne English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Basingstoke Town F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Andover F.C. managers Alton F.C. managers Fleet Town F.C. managers Footballers from Berkshire