York City handed financial lifleline by Everton signing of defender Ben Godfrey

Four years after he left, it makes the 22-year-old their record incoming transfer fee as well as Norwich City’s.

The York-born centre-back moved from Norwich to Everton yesterday for a fee of £25m, rising to £30m.

The Minstermen, who negotiated a sell-on clause entitling them to 10 per cent of Norwich’s profit on Godfrey when he moved to Carrow Road for £150,000 in January, 2016.

For York, a full-time club in the part-time sixth tier, the money will make a huge difference in the season they hope to finally move to a new stadium at Monk’s Cross, and in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic which threatens the existence of clubs at non-league level and above.

“I’ve sent him a text wishing him all the best for his future,” commented York chairman Jason McGill, who negotiated the 2016 deal. “With his determination and strength of character he’s really done it on his own merit.

“The monies we’ll receive will dramatically help the football club. It will become the largest transfer-related fee York City Football Club has received.

“The figure’s undisclosed so we’re trying to get the exact deal down in writing from Norwich but it is significant and we had a very good sell-on clause of 10 per cent which I negotiated in 2016.

“We’ve already had monies from the deal with Ben because built into the contract between York and Norwich there have been some milestones reached and the football club get a fee each time. It’s things like if he plays for England Under-21s, makes so many appearances in the Championship and the Premier League (all things he did at Norwich), it has built up since 2016.

“For the football club, it’s been a really good deal.”

York’s previous record transfer fee received was the £950,000 Sheffield Wednesday paid for Richard Cresswell in 1999.

“You only have to look at the football club’s accounts to see that we do lose significant monies year on year and especially at this time under the covid-19 pandemic, which has had a dramatic effect on all football clubs especially through the lack of gate receipts, .

“It’s come at a really good time for York City because it will give us financial stability going forward,” said McGill, whose side missed out on promotion to the Conference last season when they were demoted from first to second on points-per-game in the abandoned campaign, and lost in the play-offs.

“It’s a really good start to the week.”

Clubs in the divisions below York are allowed limited numbers of spectators at matches but those at “elite” level still have to play behind closed doors because of covid-19 restrictions. The Minstermen argued the definition of “elite” should be extended to the sixth tier in the summer so play-offs could be permitted.

The National League season – which encompasses clubs in the Conference Premier, North and South – started at the weekend in anticipation that was when fans would be allowed to return, but the Government back-tracked at short notice.

Given they were paying their players as soon as they started pre-season (part-time contracts typically begin with the first competitive game), the Minstermen were keen to play and a Government rescue package facilitated that.

Godfrey started in York’s youth system and captained York and District Under-13s to the English Schools’ FA Inter-Association Trophy in 2011, the first time a team from the city had won an English Schools’ FA competition.

That saw him join Middlesbrough but he was released by the Teessiders and, after trials at Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday, returned to his local club as an Under-15.

He made his first-team debut as a 17-year-old in August, 2015 and made 15 appearances, scoring once, until catching the eye of the Canaries.

Godfrey impressed in last season’s Premier League despite Norwich’s relegation.

Last term also saw Godfrey become captain of England’s Under-21 side and he believes working with Carlo Ancelotti – who has managed Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich amongst others – can help him to represent his country at senior level. “The manager’s past speaks for itself,” said Godfrey.

“He has worked with some top-class centre-backs. I will be able to learn so much from him and he is going to help me get to that next level, which is where I want to be.”

The Toffees have made a successful habit of raiding the lower-leagues for Yorkshire-born talent in recent years, although they went direct to buy John Stones and Mason Holgate from Barnsley and Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Sheffield United.

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Thank you, James Mitchinson. Editor.