Ben Killip (born 24 November 1995) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Career

Early career

Whilst playing for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, Killip spent two loan spells at Lowestoft Town. He signed for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

in July 2017. He was released by Grimsby at the end of the 2017–18 season. Killip signed for

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

on 31 July 2018.

Hartlepool United

He moved to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

in May 2019. In the 2019–20 season, Killip struggled for form after making several mistakes and lost the number one spot to

Mitchell Beeney Mitchell Ryan Beeney (born 3 October 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Sittingbourne. Club career Chelsea In 2007, Beeney joined Chelsea's academy from Gillingham, along with his brother Jordan. ...

, however he soon regained his place in the team. The next season, Killip had a much more successful campaign managing to keep 13

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in 29 matches. On 5 April 2021, in a 2–2 draw with

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

, Killip injured his elbow and was ruled out for the rest of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. Killip did, however, make the substitutes bench for the play-offs as the club won promotion to League Two in June 2021. He signed a new contract for Hartlepool at the end of the 2020–21 season. In August 2021, Killip kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in Hartlepool's first game back in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

as Hartlepool beat

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

1–0. Killip's performance in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

semi-final against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

earned him player of the round. Hartlepool eventually lost 5–4 on penalties with Killip saving one penalty in the shootout. On 11 May 2022, Killip's contract option was exercised, keeping him at the club until the end of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. Killip received some criticism for his form during the middle of the 2022–23 season, most notably after an error in a 1–0 defeat to

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

when he was getting ready to kick the ball downfield without noticing that Danny Rose was behind him, allowing Rose to steal the ball and score into an empty net in the 80th minute. Killip made his first appearance since January for the final game of the season against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

, where he made several saves including a stoppage time penalty save in a 1–1 draw. The game would be Killip's 150th appearance and his last for Hartlepool as it was announced on 15 May 2023 that he would be leaving the club after he rejected a new contract.

Barnsley

On 5 July 2023, Killip signed for

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

club

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

on an initial one-year deal with the option for a further year.

Portsmouth

In February 2025 he signed for

on a deal until the end of the season. He was offered a new contract in May 2025, and on 11 June 2025, the club announced he had signed a new two-year contract.

International career

In September 2018, Killip received his first call up for the England C team for their game against Estonia u23s.

Career statistics

Honours

Hartlepool United *

play-offs:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killip, Ben 1995 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Hounslow People from Isleworth English men's footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Chelsea F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players King's Lynn Town F.C. players Lowestoft Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen Portsmouth F.C. players