Freya Godfrey (born 7 May 2005) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

club

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Hayes, Bromley, England. The team competes in the Women's Super League the first tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an indep ...

. She has represented England from under-14 youth level, has captained the England under-19 national team, and currently plays for the under-23s. Godfrey started her career at

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

club

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 ...

, from whom she has previously been on loan to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

, as well as current club London City Lionesses.

Early life

Born in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Godfrey joined the Essex FA's Regional Talent Club at young age before becoming part of Arsenal's academy setup at the age of 12. She impressed at youth level, scoring 13 times in 18 appearances in the WSL Academy League.

Club career

Godfrey played for

in the

FA Women's National League The FA Women's National League is a group of six football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Football Association, before ...

Southern Premier Division in the 2022–23 season, while remaining with the Gunners under dual-registration. As a central striker, she excelled with Ipswich, scoring 8 goals in all competitions, as well as the winner on the last day of the season against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

on the 7 May 2023. On 11 May 2023, Godfrey made her Arsenal and WSL debut as an 89th minute substitute, appearing in Arsenal's 4–0 win over

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

. In June 2023, Godfrey signed her first professional contract with Arsenal before joining Charlton Athletic on loan in July, saying she "can’t wait to get started,” In December 2023, after 10 appearances with Charlton, she was profiled as one of the next-generation stars of the

by ''Impetus Football''.

London City Lionesses

In August 2024, BBC journalist Emma Sanders wrote that Bristol City were interested in Godfrey joining on loan, but she remained at Arsenal for the first half of the 2024–25 season before going out on loan to London City Lionesses in January 2025 for the second half of the season. On 23rd July 2025, it was announced that Godfrey was making the move to London City Lionesses a permanent one, following former Arsenal teammate Teyah Goldie in making the move to South London in the 2025 summer transfer window.

International career

Godfrey has represented England from under-14 to under-19 level. In October 2021, she was named in the England U17 squad as the number 11, playing in 2022 U-17 Championship qualification matches against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In October 2022, with the under-19s for 2023 U-19 Championship qualification, Godfrey scored two goal against Slovenia in a 5–0 victory. In April 2023, she scored another two goals against Belarus in a 5–2 win, becoming the team's top goalscorer in qualification. In December 2023, she captained the under-19 team, scoring in all three Algarve Cup matches. On April 9, 2024, Godfrey again captained the U19 team, this time for successful 2024 U19 Championship qualification, as well as scoring the opening two goals in the 4–1 victory over

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In October 2024, Godfrey was called up to the England under-23 squad following the injury to Missy Goodwin. On October 29, as 67th minute substitute, she made her debut for the under-23s against Portugal in a 1–0 win.

References

External links

Profile
at Charlton Athletic * {{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Freya Living people 2005 births Footballers from Essex Arsenal W.F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. (women) players Charlton Athletic W.F.C. players London City Lionesses players English women's footballers Women's Super League players Women's Super League 2 players Women's association football forwards Women's association football midfielders England women's youth international footballers 21st-century English sportswomen