Ben Godfrey

Benjamin Matthew Godfrey (born 15 January 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder or centre back for Premier League club Norwich City and the England national under-21 team.

Ben Godfrey
Godfrey with the parade that followed Norwich City's promotion in 2019
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Matthew Godfrey[1]
Date of birth (1998-01-15) 15 January 1998[2]
Place of birth York, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Playing position(s) Central midfielder / centre back
Club information
Current team
 Norwich City
Number 4
Youth career
0000–2011 York City
2011– Middlesbrough
0000–2014 York City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 York City 12 (1)
2016– Norwich City 54 (4)
2017–2018 → Shrewsbury Town (loan) 40 (1)
National team‡
2019– England U20[4] 2 (0)
2019– England U21[5] 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:22, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:22, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Early and personal life

Godfrey was born in York, North Yorkshire[6] and attended Archbishop Holgate's School.[7] His father Alex Godfrey is a former professional rugby league footballer.[8]

Club career

Early career
Godfrey warming up for York City in 2015

Godfrey captained the York & District under-13 team that beat Southampton at Stadium MK in the final of the English Schools' FA Inter-Association Trophy in May 2011.[7] This was the first time a team from York had won an English Schools' FA competition.[7] He started his career with York City's youth system, before moving to Middlesbrough in the summer of 2011.[8] After being released by the club, he had trials with Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday, before returning to York at under-15 level,[8] with whom he started his scholarship.[6] Godfrey captained York's under-18 team in the 2014–15 season,[9] while still a first-year scholar.[10] His first involvement with the first team came as an unused substitute in a League Two match against Newport County on 11 October 2014.[11] Godfrey made his debut aged 17 when starting York's 1–0 home win over Yeovil Town on 18 August 2015.[12] He scored his first goal for York in the eighth minute of stoppage time in a 2–1 home loss to Plymouth Argyle on 14 November 2015 with a shot from 10 yards.[13]

Norwich City

Godfrey signed for Premier League club Norwich City on 15 January 2016 on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee and would initially play in their academy team.[14] He made his debut on 23 August as a substitute in the 65th minute of Norwich's EFL Cup second round match against Coventry City and scored in the 87th minute of a 6–1 home win with a shot from outside the penalty area.[15] Godfrey made his league debut in a 2–0 home win over Birmingham City on 28 January 2017 as an 81st-minute substitute.[16] He signed a new four-year contract with Norwich on 11 August 2017, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2021.[17]

On 24 August 2017, Godfrey joined League One club Shrewsbury Town on loan until 1 January 2018.[18] The deal was later extended to the end of the season.[19]

International career

Godfrey received his first call-up for the England national under-20 team ahead of their 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League fixtures against Poland and Portugal in March 2019.[20] He made his debut in the 3–1 defeat at home to Poland.[21]

Godfrey was included in the England national under-21 team for the first time for their 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Turkey and Kosovo in September 2019.[22] He made his debut as an 81st minute substitute during a 3–2 away win against Turkey on 6 September.[23] He started the following match as captain, as England beat Kosovo 2–0 at home.[24]

Style of play

Godfrey primarily plays as a centre back, but can also play as a central midfielder.[3]

Career statistics
As of match played 7 March 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
York City 2014–15[25] League Two 0000000000
2015–16[12] League Two 12110101[lower-alpha 1]0151
Total 121101010151
Norwich City 2015–16[12] Premier League 00———00
2016–17[16] Championship 201031—61
2017–18[26] Championship 00—00—00
2018–19[27] Championship 3141040—364
2019–20[28] Premier League 2101010—230
Total 5443081—655
Norwich City U23 2016–17[16] ———4[lower-alpha 2]040
Shrewsbury Town (loan) 2017–18[26] League One 40140—7[lower-alpha 3]0511
Career total 106680911201357
  1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in EFL Trophy
  3. Four appearances in EFL Trophy, three in League One play-offs

Honours

Shrewsbury Town

Norwich City

References
  1. "Retained and released lists submitted by Premier League clubs". Premier League. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  2. "Ben Godfrey". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. "Ben Godfrey". Norwich City F.C. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  4. "England's matches: The under 20's". England Football Online. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  5. "England's matches: The under 21's: 2010–20". England Football Online. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  6. "York City FC youth team profiles". York City F.C. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014.
  7. Flett, Dave (24 May 2011). "York and District U13s carve out niche in city's football folklore". The Press. York. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  8. Flett, Dave (19 November 2015). "West Brom, Hull City and Cardiff City running the rule over York City starlet Ben Godfrey". The Press. York. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  9. "York City academy pass with flying colours". The Press. York. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  10. Flett, Dave (21 March 2015). "York City boss Russ Wilcox believes calls for his sacking are unhelpful". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  11. "B. Godfrey: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  12. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  13. Flett, Dave (14 November 2015). "York City suffer fifth straight defeat against table-topping Plymouth". The Press. York. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  14. "Canaries sign York's Ben Godfrey". Norwich City F.C. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  15. "Norwich City 6–1 Coventry City". BBC Sport. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  16. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  17. "Alex Pritchard: Norwich City midfielder out for at least 12 weeks after ankle surgery". BBC Sport. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  18. "Ben Godfrey: Shrewsbury Town sign Norwich City midfielder on loan until January". BBC Sport. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  19. "Shrewsbury loan extended".
  20. "Paul Simpson has picked his England U20s squad for games with Poland and Portugal". The Football Association. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  21. "Paul Simpson's Young Lions suffer defeat against Poland at St. George's Park". The Football Association. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  22. "England U21s kick-off a new campaign and Aidy Boothroyd has picked his squad". The Football Association. 30 August 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  23. "Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson score as England U21s win opening Euro qualifier". The Football Association. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  24. "Phil Foden's double helps Young Lions to U21 Euro qualifying victory over Kosovo". The Football Association. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
    "Ben Godfrey assesses his journey from York City to Norwich City and England captaincy". The Football Association. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  25. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  26. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  27. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  28. "Games played by Ben Godfrey in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  29. Scott, Ged (8 April 2018). "Lincoln City 1–0 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  30. Anderson, John, ed. (2019). Football Yearbook 2019–2020. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-1-4722-6111-3.
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