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Benjamin David Sheaf (born 5 February 1998) is an English footballer who plays as a
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
for club Coventry City. He has represented England at youth level.


Club career


Arsenal

Sheaf started his youth career with the reserves of
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...
at the age of 13, before joining the Arsenal youth setup on 2 July 2014. He earned the praise of senior team manager
Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...
who said that Sheaf was "always ahead of the game". He scored his first goal for the Arsenal U19 in a 3–2 victory over Greek club
Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...
on 29 September 2015, where he found the net in the 41st minute from the penalty spot. In October 2015, Sheaf was invited to train with the first team, and days later he was an unused substitute in the club's 3–0 defeat against
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
. He stated that, although the result was not satisfactory, the experience of being involved in the first-team was good for him as he got to "see how things are done". He made his first-team debut for
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
on 19 October 2017, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for
Francis Coquelin Francis Joseph Coquelin (; born 13 May 1991) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Ligue 1 club FC Nantes, Nantes. He has also featured for Valencia CF, Valencia, Arsenal F.C., Arsenal, ...
in a 1–0 victory over
Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...
in the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
.


Loan to Stevenage

Sheaf joined League Two side
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 ...
on loan on 26 January 2018, joining the
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
club on a deal until the end of the 2017–18 season. He made his debut in a 2–0 loss against
Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
in League Two on 24 February. He made 10 appearances for the side by the end of the loan spell.


Loan to Doncaster Rovers

Sheaf joined League One side
Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...
on loan on 12 July 2019, joining the League One side for six months. He made his debut and was named in the starting line-up in a 1–1 draw against Gillingham on 3 August. His loan deal was extended until the end of the 2019–20 season on 7 January 2020. On 15 February 2020, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 defeat against Gillingham in the reverse fixture. At the end, Sheaf played 38 games in all competitions for the side.


Coventry City

On 4 September 2020, Sheaf joined newly-promoted
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
side Coventry City on a season-long loan deal with the option to make the deal permanent after. He made his first appearance for the club in a 2–1 defeat against
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
on 12 September. Sheaf signed for Coventry City on a three-year deal in July 2021.


International career

Sheaf debuted for England under-16 team in the
Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football (soccer), football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland national under-16 football team, Scotland, Republic of Ireland national under-16 football team, Republic of Ireland, Northern Irel ...
. As of July 2014, he has played twice for the under-16 national team. He was part of the England U18s which played a couple of friendlies against the Netherlands in September 2015. They won 2–0 in the first game which Sheaf scored a penalty and drew the second game 0–0.


Personal life

Sheaf comes from a sporting family. His mother was a top-level
volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
and
beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...
player, and his older brother Jake was also a professional beach volleyball player. Sheaf's father was a footballer at county level, whilst his younger brother
Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...
is a former Arsenal player and former player for Ross County.


Career statistics


References


External links

*
Arsenal F.C. profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheaf, Ben 1998 births Living people Footballers from Dartford English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Arsenal F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen