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Ben Godfrey had a fabulous first season with Everton after joining from Norwich City on the final day of the extended summer 2020 transfer window.
Consistently excellent operating in every position across Everton's backline, he made 36 appearances and was crowned the Club's Young Player of the Season.
Godfrey received further recognition with a summons to manager Gareth Southgate's provisional England squad for the rearranged 2020 European Championship. He made his senior England debut off the bench in a 1-0 warm-up victory for the Three Lions over Austria at Riverside Stadium and acquired a second cap when starting and finishing a single-goal friendly success against Romania at the same venue four days later.
The second Everton campaign for Godfrey was delayed by a brush with COVID and his season was twice interrupted after the turn of the year, a hamstring injury originally side-lining Godfrey, who subsequently sustained a thigh problem.
He was a favourite of Frank Lampard nonetheless and started all eight matches for which he was fully fit following the manager's appointment, operating primarily in his favoured position in the middle of defence. The player finished the season with 27 appearances across the competitions, all from the start.
An unfortunate start to the 2022/23 campaign saw Godfrey suffer a fractured fibula during the opening game of the season. The injury meant he was out from early August to early November.
Overall, Godfrey made 15 appearances throughout the season, including 13 in the league, where he would occasionally return to a full-back role under Sean Dyche.
Godfrey gained nine international caps at Under-21 level and captained the younger team on his full debut in September 2019.
The centre-back conclusively grasped his Norwich opportunity when handed a starting spot midway through the club’s 2018/19 Championship promotion campaign.
Godfrey never relinquished his position, playing every minute of Norwich’s closing 26 matches – winning 15 and drawing nine – as the team from Carrow Road ran away with the title.
He played 30 Premier League matches on Norwich’s top-flight return in 2019/20, the player’s growing status illustrated when he was named skipper for two games early in the season.
Godfrey graduated through the youth programme at hometown club York City and made his senior debut aged 17 in a League Two game against Yeovil Town in August 2015.
He scored his first senior goal in a meeting with Plymouth Argyle three months later.
Equally comfortable as a deep-lying midfielder – where he played most of his 15 games for York – Godfrey was signed by then Premier League Norwich on his 18th birthday in January 2016.
He came off the bench for his Norwich debut in a League Cup tie with Coventry City early in 2016/17 and promptly blasted in a strike from 20 yards for his first goal for the club.
Godfrey advanced his development with a loan move to Shrewsbury Town for 2017/18.
Operating exclusively in midfield, he played 40 League One matches, scoring once, as Shrewsbury finished third to qualify for the play-offs.
Godfrey played both legs of Shrewsbury’s 2-0 aggregate semi-final win over Charlton Athletic and the final at Wembley where his side was defeated 2-1 by Rotherham United.
The play-off final represented Godfrey and Shrewsbury’s second visit to the national stadium inside two months.
Shrewsbury met Lincoln City in the EFL Trophy final in April 2018 but were beaten 1-0.
Godfrey returned to Norwich for 2018/19 to become a fixture for cup games before beginning his unbroken run in the side when he started a last-minute victory over Bolton Wanderers.
He played twice for England’s Under-20 team at the back end of the campaign.
Godfrey’s England Under-21 debut came as a substitute in a European Championship qualifying win in Turkey in September 2019.
Three days later he led the side to a 2-0 victory over Kosovo at Hull City’s KCOM Stadium.
Godfrey scored his first international goal when England Under-21s won 2-1 in Austria two months before he left Norwich for Everton.
Contracted until: June 2025.
