London City’s Freya Godfrey on her England call-up: ‘I didn’t answer – I thought it was spam’ | OneFootball

When Freya Godfrey’s phone started ringing she glanced across, saw the call was from a number she didn’t recognise and ignored it. “I am a very cautious person – if I don’t have your number saved then I don’t answer,” she says. “It’s just spam.”

The 20-year-old London City Lionesses midfielder was on the road heading to visit her brother, who she hadn’t seen for a while, at university.

A text swiftly came from the unknown number and Siri obliged Godfrey’s request to read it out: “Hi, it’s Sarina.” Godfrey describes the call as “a massive shock”, despite her impressive form, including two goals and a player-of-the-match performance in this month’s 4-2 win over Tottenham.

She immediately phoned the England head coach back and Wiegman congratulated her on her first senior call-up, for England’s final games of 2025, against China at Wembley on Saturday and Ghana in Southampton next Tuesday.

“I just kept saying thank you because I didn’t really know what else to say,” says Godfrey. “I was very, very happy, very excited.”

Godfrey’s journey from Arsenal’s academy and England Under-15s to her first senior international camp has not been the smoothest. The attacking midfielder, who can also play further forward, had loans with Ipswich, Charlton and London City before making her permanent move in the summer.

Leaving the club she joined at 12 wasn’t easy. “I had to put my career first,” she says. “I love Arsenal, I love the club, I love everything that they’ve done for me and the people that I worked with there. It was obviously tough to leave but London City was calling my name. I had such a good time there on loan in the second half of last season and I knew where the club was going and how exciting a project it was to be a part of.”

Injuries have also played a part in frustrating her progress. Most recently she was sidelined until 5 October this season. “Game time is massive for me,” she says. “I’ve struggled a lot with injuries these past seasons and so I haven’t really had that consistent environment or consistent game time to really start kicking on.” Godfrey believes that in the past seven and a half weeks she has been able to “start showing what I can do with those consistent minutes and growing confidence”.

The injuries taught her “personal strength and perseverance”, she says. “It gets frustrating, especially when it’s different issues all over my body. Some of them were very out of my control. I spent a lot of time in rehab with different people, different physios, different staff, different players around me, and I’m grateful to them for all the help they’ve given me and all the support they’ve given me. A lot of it is just about trying to stay positive and remember what’s coming when I get to the end of it.”

Getting back last month was a big moment, and she has learned to love football more. “I felt so positive and confident because I was just happy to be there,” she says.

Godfrey has learned a lot coming up through the England pathway, too. With the Under-19s she initially played an age group up and she felt during her time with that team that she was “coming into my own”. Then, she was made captain.

“I didn’t really realise how much of an impact it had on me at the time,” she says. “It felt natural at the time, but now looking back I actually really matured that season and I definitely needed that. Maybe the coaches were aware of that and they helped me with that … It definitely helped my development in terms of being ready to come into the Under-23s. I’m hoping that throughout my career I can continue having leadership roles, whether that actually is a leadership role or if that’s just me doing what I can on a personal level.”

Godfrey was coached in the Under-19s and Under-23s by Emma Coates. The environment she has been promoted from is designed to mirror that of the senior side as closely as possible. “It’s still a step up, but it’s very similar and it helps you adjust a lot quicker than you think you would,” Godfrey says.

The opportunity under Wiegman is “nerve-racking” but Godfrey is just “excited to make the most of every experience I can and just soak it all up”.

Header image: [Photograph: Yaroslav Dunka/SPP/Shutterstock]