Chatting to Freya Godfrey

It's the 23rd January, 2025.

Freya Godfrey, shy and introverted, walked in with the kind of polite smile you give when you're 19 and stepping into a new environment for the first time.

"I looked rough...!" she laughs now, only ten months on, looking at photos from that day. "Do you remember? It was freezing!"

"I remember being so cold, it started raining on the astro as well, didn't it?"

She's come out of her shell a little bit now...

"Just a bit!"

Relatively introverted and observant, she was mainly just taking everything in on her first day. It was clear very early on that she had respect for everyone, warmth and humility.

They're the kind of qualities that make staff like her immediately, long before they see her touch a football. That helps when you're 19 and stepping into a new football club.

"I'm used to being in new environments, but it never gets easier shall I say. I felt settled straight away, I knew Cerys (Brown), Teyah (Goldie), Gesa (Marashi) who helped me settle in."

Her first training session at the club didn't exactly ease her into things.

"My first training session was me and Saki (Kumagai), a two-to-one with Joce on the 4G. We had to hit these tiny mini-goals, and Saki was just like, 'Boom, boom, boom, boom' and I remember thinking, this woman is insane."

Was it intimidating?

"Incredibly."

Coming from Arsenal, where she'd been surrounded by world-class teammates, she still found Saki's technical ability eye-opening.

"At Arsenal, we'd never really done two-to-ones like that... even in 'keep it up' games, the way Saki controlled the ball was just another level."

But Freya has her own footballing roots - ones that shaped her game long before Arsenal, long before London City.

"I played for West Ham when I was younger, and my coach was very big on futsal. We would just go up and down the futsal court, practicing skills. Cruyff turns, he used to say an Iniesta step, roulettes, stepovers, over and over again."

"I credit a lot of what I'm good at to him. It was influential in my journey and I'm really thankful to him."

"I also used to watch Neymar a lot."

She beams, "My coach used to call me 'Freymar' because I was obsessed with Neymar! I used to get that on the back of my shirt too!"

We saw glimpses of Freya's fearless, inventive and expressive style of play against Blackburn and Sheffield United at home last season, but everything clicked into place away at St Mary's.

"What a day, what a night! This was the game where I thought, yeah, I'm getting in my flow state... I couldn't remember the last time I was this happy on a football pitch.

"I assisted Izzy (Goodwin) twice, and then on international duty after, and I thought, I could get used to this."

From that night onwards, her confidence snowballed on and off the pitch, and the quiet loan signing quickly became a dressing-room and fans favourite.

"What a day, just what a day. I was just so happy.

"The nature of the game aswell. I enjoyed Southampton because of how in control we were, and I felt so free. In contrast, the Birmingham game, squeaky bum time! Pure stress.

"We started so well, then the last half an hour of the game, wow. It was one of those games where your legs don't work."

"I always knew we were going to win it, obviously it was tense, but we were never losing that game."

Not long after, she then had a big decision to make.

"It's what I wanted (to join London City), but it wasn't an easy decision. My best friends are at Arsenal. I still meet up with them all the time, obviously now Katie (Reid) and Michelle (Agyemang) are hurt.

"I'm going to go and see Katie soon. They're my best friends; I've known them since I was 12. Leaving Arsenal was hard, it was an honour to play for them, but leaving my people was the most difficult.

"It was always going to be London City. I explored options but I said to my agent, 'I don't want anything else. I just want to go back there.'

"He respected that and we got things moving."

---

If futsal shaped Freya's football, her family have shaped everything else. Throughout the interview, she consistently referred to the people she holds closest.

"My dad would always be working when I was younger, my mum would take me to my trainings an hour away, and my brother would have to come too and sit in the car... They've sacrificed a lot."

"When I went on loan to Charlton, my dad would drive past his work to drop me. Taking me everyday, taking time out of their own work, they never hesitated."

She speaks about them with complete admiration.

"All my friends love my parents, every time they're at a game all my friends go and say hello.

"They treat everyone the way they'd want to be treated. They're big on manners, and any compliments I get about my personality, I owe to them.

"I owe them a lot... I hope one day I can repay them."

We then got her to FaceTime her dad. The conversation with her dad was short and amusing, but just as Freya predicted it to go.

Freya: I'm in an interview right now, and they want to know your thoughts on my England call-up...

Dad: Oh behave!

Freya: I'm serious! Look, I've got a microphone on.

Dad: I don't know what to say, I don't have any words, it's just incredible... you can't put that on me just like that!

Admin: How proud are you?

Dad: Unbelievably, immensely.

---

Reflecting on the start of this season, Freya smiled, "I never imagined that things would move this quickly, especially being out for the start of the season, but it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks."

What was the Spurs game like for you?

She laughs, "My dad actually came up to me the night before the game against Spurs, I was making my dinner, and he said, 'First goal tomorrow, brace against Spurs.'"

"He literally said to me, 'brace against Spurs'!"

After learning that two of her closest friends, Katie and Michelle, had suffered ACL injuries, and with Spurs in the league up next, Freya had an extra motivation: "I wanted to score for them."

Freya went on to score two goals, register one assist and pick up POTM honours against Tottenham Hotspur.

"I said to my dad after the game, 'You called it!'"

Her celebration?

"I did an 'M' and a 'K' in sign language, for Mich and Katie."

Not for the cameras. For her people.

A few weeks later came that phone call.

"It was an unknown number, and I don't pick up unknown numbers... so I let it ring out!"

Then a text: 'Hello, this is Sarina, please call me back.'

Retelling it, you can tell it still hasn't quite sunk in yet for her.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.'"

"I just kept saying thank you... I didn't know what to say. I was literally in shock."

She was on her way to see her brother at university.

"As soon as the call ended, I rung my parents. My mum just kept swearing, and when I tell you, my mum never swears."

She re-enacts it, laughing.

"I said, 'Go and get dad. Don't say anything. Put the phone on speaker.'

"My parents were saying, 'Shut. Up.'

"My parents are so sassy!"

She then arrived at her brother's university and shared the news with him, before they went for dinner to catch up.

When she got home, her older brother had bought her a card and left it on her bed for her to come back to.

"They continuously push me."

Her maturity for a 20-year-old in her first senior national team camp is striking.

For all the noise around England call-ups, it's easy to forget the parents in the car, the late-night drives, the hours in traffic, the long detours, her brothers waiting patiently.

Freya doesn't forget any of them. Now in her first senior England camp, she isn't just representing herself - she's representing everyone who got her there.

---

"100% I'll be introverted (when she arrives at St George's Park)... but I'll try my best not to be."

Her teammates surprised her at the training ground the next day. She smiles infectiously when asked about it.

"Teyah texted me and said come to the canteen. I was just chilling in the physio room, strolling around, saying morning to the staff, and I walked in and everyone started clapping!

WATCH HERE

"I was so embarrassed, it was so lovely but I was so overwhelmed. It was so sweet, that is what it's like here. The players and the staff, everyone."

Her dreams are big - but grounded.

"I'm still young, I still have two years of U23's left. I have nothing to lose. I'm not putting any pressure on myself; this is a long process.

"I'm not thinking too far ahead, just looking forward to the camp and trying to put my best self out there.

Have you got the 2027 World Cup on your mind?

She puffs out her cheeks and looks around the room, but her answer is chilled.

She grins, "Playing at a World Cup... wow, that would be insane. A dream."

 She suggests, "Freymar in Brazil?"

"Imagine if I turned up with Freymar on my shirt, I'd get two-footed left, right and centre!"

When you take everything into account, the long drives to training, the futsal court, the learning and the laughter... an England call-up doesn't feel like a miracle. It feels like the next chapter in a story.

Freymar's taking the same joy from the futsal court, that same fearlessness, that same spark... to the England national team.

A senior Lioness at 20, and somehow, she's only just getting started.

From all of us at London City, go and shine, Freya.