‘Golf is a switch off from football’ – Matty Godden an ice-cool performer on football pitch and the fairway

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

When it comes to the 18 yards inside a football penalty box or a golf fairway, Matty Godden is an ice-cool performer under pressure.

But as the moment approaches for  the weight of expectation to be cranked up even further on Charlton Athletic’s players as they bid for League One play-off glory, the 33-year-old admits that picking up a club helps him to de-stress.

And it is working for Godden.

The summer signing from Coventry City has more than paid back his transfer fee with his double in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Burton Albion nudging him on to 21 goals for a highly-productive campaign.

The last time he scored as many was when he came back into the professional game with Stevenage in 2016 after non-league spells with Ebbsfleet United, Tamworth and Dartford.

Godden will look to improve his haul in the play-offs with Wycombe Wanderers standing in the way of a Wembley place for Nathan Jones’ team.

Playing full rounds of golf is not something allowed during the season but Godden – mooted to be one of the best footballers playing the sport by the likes of Jimmy Bullard and Ben Foster – is still able to get his fix.

“I purely use golf as my time to switch off from football,” the Canterbury-born forward told the South London Press. “Especially these sort of scenarios. This is when I probably use it most – even if that is just going to the golf club and putting for 45 minutes.

“And especially with me being back home now – I’m surrounded by Charlton fans and family members that support the club. It’s important for me to take myself off – because the golf club is in the middle of nowhere. I have no signal on my phone and spend some time on the putting or chipping green – so it isn’t strenuous.

“My handicap is nearly plus-one, so I’m off scratch. I started when I was at Scunthorpe at 18 – Gary Hooper, Cliff Byrne and Joe Murphy, the goalkeeper, asked if I fancied playing. I used to play a lot of cricket when I was younger, so I had an eye for a ball.

“I loved it. Once you play golf and you get the bug, that’s you. I got the bug.

“Once I’m playing a sport that I’m okay at – but you can get better if you put the work in – I just want to be the best whenever I am playing it.

“I only started to get good recently. To make it on the main tour you have got to be ridiculous now. People even on the mini tours are nowhere near to playing on the main ones.”

Golf is about keeping numbers low. But as a striker you want them to be high – at least in terms of goals and assists.

Godden has netted eight times in his last 10 outings, including against Wycombe in a 4-0 victory on April 21.

Only Leyton Orient’s Charlie Kelman (21) and Birmingham’s Jay Stansfield (19) can better his total of 18 in League One – two more than ex-Addicks frontman Alfie May, who took the Golden Boot last season before joining the title-winning Blues.

Godden said: “The manager spoke to me last Tuesday and asked how I was feeling with the game coming up and the important ones after that. I said it was quite important to me to get to the 20-goal mark.

“Luckily he gave me the opportunity to go out there on Saturday and do it.

“I got to 21 and only two or three off the top goalscorer in the league, which is something I’ll look back on once the season is done and probably be really proud of it.

“I’ve always backed my ability in front of goal. I’m really enjoying my football and being back home.

“When I was last back home it was with Ebbsfleet and I scored a lot of goals there. It is completely different levels but when you’re happy, enjoying your football and settled at a club that you love then good things come your way.”

And Godden has also flourished under Jones, who was utterly convinced the striking department would be stronger for his inclusion.

Charlton’s reliance on their number 24 has only increased with the injury absences of Miles Leaburn, Chuks Aneke and Gassan Ahadme.

Academy products Daniel Kanu and Micah Mbick were the substitute options against Burton.

Jones, an intense and demanding character,  described Godden as “being exemplary” since arriving.

“I’ve loved working with the gaffer,” said Godden. “I feel he gives me the license for me to be me in front of goal. I can play free – in how I want to play – go and put myself around.

“I can’t speak highly enough of him. He is the first manager I’ve had that is really like that – it’s no disrespect to any other managers. I’ve really enjoyed my time playing under him and I think that shows with the goals I’ve scored.

“I take praise as it comes, but if it is your gaffer it is the one person you really take notice of because he has seen top, top people play and managed at the highest level.”

Godden was part of the Coventry side which lost 6-5 on penalties to Luton in the Championship play-off final in May 2023.

He successfully converted their first spot-kick – Fankaty Dabo’s miss sending the Hatters into the top-flight for the first time since 1992.

“We lost on penalties to Maidstone when I was with Ebbsfleet,” said Godden. “Then I wasn’t part of it – I was still an apprentice – but I watched Scunthorpe win the play-offs at Wembley against Millwall, when Gary Alexander scored a worldy.

“The Cov-Luton one was really gutting and disappointing.

“It is crushing to lose in them – especially in the final when you are so close, like that was with the penalties. It was heartbreaking.

“It does take some getting over but it’s football, at the end of the day. You have to knuckle down and try to get back there the following year – or go one step further and get the top two.

“One hundred per cent I would take a penalty in the play-offs for Charlton. I’ll never turn one down. It’s you versus the keeper and someone is going to come off on one side or the other.”

Godden is keen to downplay Charlton’s emphatic victory when they last headed to Wycombe. He punished a mistake by Will Norris, his pressure forcing the goalkeeper to miscontrol a backpass.

“We have got to take the 4-0 out of our minds,” said Godden. “It’s going to be a completely different game. They are going to know what we’re about.

“It was a really tough game there. I know we controlled it in the second half but the first half was really tight – we were just really ruthless on the day.

“That is what separated the two sides, we limited them to nothing. We need to do that again and see where it takes us.”

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