Benjamin Jack Garratt (born 25 April 1994) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professional football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who is currently a free agent. He began his career at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, making his senior debut in April 2013, shortly after finishing a loan spell at Stafford Rangers. He also won caps for England at youth level and was a squad member at two tournaments for the under-17's in 2011. He established himself as Crewe's first-choice goalkeeper over the next two seasons and then went on to be named as the club's Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016. He left the club in May 2019 after 246 appearances, signing for Burton in October 2019.

Playing career

Crewe Alexandra

Born in

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and electoral ward in the north of Shropshire, England, close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is on the River Tern, and was formerly known as "Drayton in Hales" (c. 1868) and earlier simply as "D ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, Garratt graduated through the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

to sign a -year professional contract in January 2013; manager

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...

noted that "we haven't had a goalkeeper to get excited about for a while". He joined Northern Premier League Premier Division side Stafford Rangers on loan the following month and made eight appearances at

Marston Road Marston Road is a road in the east of Oxford, England. It links London Place, the junction of St Clements, the foot of Headington Hill ( Headington Road), and Morrell Avenue by South Park to the south with the suburb of New Marston to the n ...

. He made his senior debut for Crewe on 27 April 2013, in a

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 ...

tie against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, two days after his 19th birthday, in a starting 11 comprised completely of Academy graduates; he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History Cre ...

. He faced competition from Steve Phillips and Alan Martin during the 2013–14 season and featured 27 times before he signed a new two-year deal with Crewe in May 2014; he was also named as 'Breakthrough Player of the Year' at the club's annual awards. At the start of the 2014–15 season he saw off competition from

Scott Shearer Scott Shearer (born 15 February 1981) is a Scottish former footballer who works for Oxford United as a goalkeeping coach. Career Albion Rovers Born in Glasgow, Shearer began his career in Scotland with Albion Rovers. The staff at the club move ...

to establish himself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper. He was nominated for December's League One Player of the Month award after having kept a clean sheet against league leaders

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and "producing stunning saves against both

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

and Preston". However he broke his leg during a defeat at Barnsley on 21 February. Despite missing the final three months of the campaign with his injury, he was named as the club's Player of the Year and was also voted as Players' Player of the Year. He was an ever-present in the 2015–16 relegation campaign and won his second consecutive Player of the Year award. In March 2017, Garratt signed a new two-year deal to stay with the "Railwaymen" until the summer of 2019. He was an ever-present again in the 2016–17

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 ...

season. He featured 40 times in the 2017–18 season and on 5 May once again appeared in a Crewe starting 11 who were all Crewe Academy graduates – he was also one of two players (with George Ray) to feature in both starting elevens. He was also named as the club's Community Player of the Year in March 2018. He was benched in favour of

Dave Richards Sir David Gerald Richards (born 3 October 1943) was the chairman of the FA Premier League, member of the Football Association's (FA) Board, chairman of the FA's international committee, president of the European Professional Football Leagues o ...

at the start of the 2018–19 season, before winning his place back and making 42 appearances in all competitions. However he was released by Crewe in May 2019. Manager

David Artell David John Artell (born 22 November 1980) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of club Crewe Alexandra. He began his career as a centre back with Rotherham United, as the "Millers" won successive p ...

had offered him a new contract but withdrew the offer after Garratt missed the offer's deadline.

Burton Albion

After training with

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 ...

and playing in pre-season for

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, Garratt trained with

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. Th ...

and then

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

at the start of the 2019–20 season. He then signed for

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

in October 2019, making his Burton debut in an EFL Trophy tie against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

on 12 November 2019. He was released by the club at the end of the 2022-23 season.

International career

Garratt won caps for England at under-17, under-18 and under-19 level, and was selected by head coach John Peacock for the 2011 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship, 1991. It was held in Mexico with games ...

squads.

Style of play

Garratt has been described as a very consistent

. His major strengths are shot-stopping, agility, decision making and distribution.

Career statistics

Honours

;Individual *

Crewe Alexandra F.C. Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Player of the Year: 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garratt, Ben 1994 births Living people People from Market Drayton English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Northern Premier League players English Football League players Burton Albion F.C. players Footballers from Shropshire