Joe Worrall (footballer)

For the football referee of the same name, see Joe Worrall (referee).

Joe Worrall

Worrall with Beşiktaş in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Joseph Adrian Worrall [1]
Date of birth	(1997-01-10) 10 January 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Nottingham, England
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) [2]
Position(s)	Centre-back [3]
Team information
Current team	Burnley
Number	4
Youth career
2011–2016	Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2024	Nottingham Forest	205	(4)
2016	→ Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	14	(1)
2018–2019	→ Rangers (loan)	22	(0)
2024	→ Beşiktaş (loan)	6	(1)
2024–	Burnley	4	(0)
International career
2017	England U20	4	(0)
2017	England U21	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:09, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

Joseph Adrian Worrall (born 10 January 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL Championship club Burnley.

Early and personal life

Worrall was born on 10 January 1997 ^[4] in Nottingham. ^[5] He started playing football for Kimberley Miners Welfare F.C. at the age of eight, before playing for Priory Celtic when moving to Watnall and Hucknall Sports when moving to Hucknall. ^[6]

On 29 August 2023, Worrall's uncle, Sgt. Graham Saville, died in hospital after being struck by a train five days prior in an attempt to save a man in distress. The following day in Forest's EFL Cup second round fixture at home to Burnley, a one-minute's applause was held in his honour before kick-off by players, staff and fans. ^[7]

Club career

Nottingham Forest

Beginnings and loan to Dagenham & Redbridge

Worrall signed with Nottingham Forest in October 2011, rejecting interest from other local sides, Derby County and Leicester City. ^[8] Worrall joined League Two club Dagenham & Redbridge on 8 January 2016 on a one-month loan deal. ^[9] He made his professional debut the next day in a third-round FA Cup tie against Everton, which Dagenham & Redbridge lost 2–0, ^[10] and scored his first professional goal on 23 January in a 2–2 draw away to Newport County. Worrall made his first-team debut for Forest on 29 October 2016 at Reading and, despite losing the game 2–0, his performance was praised as "strong" and "decisive" by the Nottingham Post . ^{[11] [12]} He revealed that he had been frustrated with the quality of Forest's defending that season and pulled manager Philippe Montanier aside to ask for a chance in the first team. Montanier simply replied "OK, you play against Reading on Saturday". ^[13]

On 19 November, Worrall started alongside Damien Perquis and Matt Mills in a three-man defence as Forest earned their first away win and clean sheet of the season at Ipswich Town. His performance led to Worrall being included in the Football League's Team of the Week and comparisons to former Forest and England defender Michael Dawson. ^{[14] [15]} He also received praise from manager Philippe Montanier, who described the centre-back as "strong and tall, but very clever too, tactically". ^[16] Worrall's performances were noticed by Premier League clubs, with Everton and Stoke City reportedly tracking the centre-back. ^[17] On 27 February 2017, Worrall signed a three-and-a-half-year contract to extend his stay with Nottingham Forest until 2020. ^[18] Then later that year, after his success with England at the Toulon Tournament, he signed a further extension until 2022. ^[19]

Loan to Rangers

On 31 August 2018, Worrall joined Scottish Premiership club Rangers on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season. ^[20] Worrall did not wish to go out on loan, and turned down a move to Ipswich Town, but Forest manager Aitor Karanka insisted that he needed more experience. ^[13]

Return from loan and becoming club captain

Following his loan spell at Rangers, Worrall became a key player in the Nottingham Forest side under new manager Sabri Lamouchi, with the defender starting every league game of the 2019–20 season. ^[21] He signed a four-year contract extension in February 2020. ^[22]

During the 2021–22 season, Worrall regularly captained the Forest side during Lewis Grabban's absence through injury. He scored against rivals Leicester City during a 4–1 FA Cup win. ^[23] He played a key role in Forest's promotion to the Premier League and captained them in their 1–0 play-off final victory over Huddersfield Town at Wembley. Worrall was also featured in that season's EFL Championship Team of the Season alongside teammates Ryan Yates and Djed Spence. ^[24]

On 4 August 2022, Worrall was named Forest's captain for their season in the 2022–23 Premier League. ^[25]

Loan to Beşiktaş

On 5 February 2024, Worrall was loaned to Turkish side Beşiktaş for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. ^{[26] [27]}

Burnley

On 22 August 2024, Worrall ended his 13-year association with Nottingham Forest and signed a four-year deal with EFL Championship side Burnley for an undisclosed transfer fee. ^{[28] [29]}

International career

On 19 May 2017, Worrall was called up to the England representative squad for the 2017 Toulon Tournament as a replacement for Charlton Athletic's Ezri Konsa, who had been promoted to the U20 squad for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. ^[30] Appointed as the team's captain, Worrall played four times and lifted the trophy as England defended their title on penalties after a 1–1 draw with the Ivory Coast in the final. Worrall was named the second-best player of the tournament after teammate David Brooks, who won the award. ^[31]

Following his impressive summer with England, Worrall received his first call-up to the U21 squad on 24 August 2017 for their upcoming qualifying matches against their Dutch and Latvian counterparts. ^[32] Worrall was, however, left out of the squad against the Dutch and was an unused substitute in his team's 3–0 win over Latvia on 5 September. ^[33]

Career statistics

As of match played 15 December 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		League cup [b]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nottingham Forest	2015–16 [34]	Championship	0	0	—		0	0	—		—		0	0
	2016–17 [35]	Championship	21	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		21	0
	2017–18 [36]	Championship	31	1	2	0	2	0	—		—		35	1
	2019–20 [21]	Championship	46	1	0	0	2	0	—		—		48	1
	2020–21 [37]	Championship	31	1	2	0	0	0	—		—		33	1
	2021–22 [38]	Championship	39	0	4	1	0	0	—		3 [c]	0	46	1
	2022–23 [39]	Premier League	30	1	0	0	4	0	—		—		34	1
	2023–24 [40]	Premier League	7	0	2	0	0	0	—		—		9	0
	Total		205	4	10	1	8	0	—		3	0	226	5
Dagenham & Redbridge (loan)	2015–16 [34]	League Two	14	1	1	0	—		—		—		15	1
Rangers (loan)	2018–19 [41]	Scottish Premiership	22	0	4	1	2	0	4 [d]	0	—		32	1
Beşiktaş (loan)	2023–24. [5]	Süper Lig	6	1	3	0	—		—		—		9	1
Burnley	2024–25 [42]	Championship	4	0	0	0	1	0	—		—		5	0
Career total			251	6	18	2	11	0	4	0	3	0	287	7

1. Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup, Turkish Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup, Scottish League Cup
3. Appearances in Championship play-offs
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Nottingham Forest

• EFL Championship play-offs: 2022 ^[43]

Beşiktaş

• Turkish Cup: 2023–24

England U20

• Toulon Tournament: 2017

Individual

• Toulon Tournament Second best player: 2017 ^[44]
• Toulon Tournament Best XI: 2017
• Nottingham Forest Player of the Season: 2020–21
• EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2021–22 ^[45]

References

1. "Club list of registered players: Nottingham Forest" (PDF). English Football League. p. 28. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
2. "Joe Worrall". Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
3. "Joe Worrall: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. 6 February 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
4. "Joe Worrall: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
5. "J. Worrall: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
6. "Family's pride as teen Joe Worrall makes full Nottingham Forest debut". Hucknall Dispatch. 3 November 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
7. "Nottingham Forest 0–1 Burnley: Zeki Amdouni's 90th-minute winner sends Clarets through to round three". Sky Sports. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
8. "Proud Joe signs deal with Forest" . Retrieved 9 January 2016.
9. "BBC Sport – Dagenham sign Nottingham Forest's Joe Worrall on loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
10. Caroline Chapman. "Everton 2–0 Dagenham & Redbridge". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
11. "Reading 2–0 Forest". Nottingham Forest F.C. 29 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
12. "Reading 2 Nottingham Forest 0: Reds player ratings". Nottingham Post. 29 October 2016. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
13. Taylor, Paul. "Joe Worrall Exclusive – his 'fetish' for heading the ball, demanding his debut and earning the right to drive a Maserati". The Athletic. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
14. "Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall selected in the Football League's team of the week". Nottingham Post. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
15. "Joe Worrall reminds Nottingham Forest legend Kenny Burns of Michael Dawson". Nottingham Post. 21 November 2016. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
16. "Joe Worrall deserving of his run in Nottingham Forest first-team, says Philippe Montanier". Nottingham Post. 24 November 2016. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
17. "Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall reportedly being tracked by Everton and Stoke City". Nottingham Post. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
18. "Joe Worrall: Nottingham Forest defender signs new three-and-a-half-year contract". BBC Sport. 27 January 2017.
19. "Worrall pens new deal". Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
20. "Worrall makes Rangers loan move". Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
21. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
22. "Worrall signs new contract". Nottingham Forest F.C. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
23. "Forest defeat FA Cup holders Leicester". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
24. "Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced". English Football League. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
25. "Joe Worrall named Nottingham Forest captain". Nottingham Forest F.C. 4 August 2022.
26. "Beşiktaş'a Hoş Geldin Joe Worrall".
27. "Worrall completes Besiktas move". Nottingham Forest F.C. 5 February 2024.
28. "Clarets secure Worrall". Burnley F.C. 22 August 2024.
29. "Joe Worrall departs". Nottingham Forest F.C. 22 August 2024.
30. "Worrall called up for Three Lions". Nottingham Forest F.C. 19 May 2017.
31. Kenny Burns (11 June 2017). "Joe Worrall will now want to 'take next step' with Nottingham Forest and England". Nottingham Post. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
32. FA staff (24 August 2017). "First U21s squad of the season contains a host of world champions". The FA. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
33. "England U21 3–0 Latvia U21". BBC Sport. 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
34. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
35. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
36. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
37. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
38. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
39. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
40. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
41. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
42. "Games played by Joe Worrall in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
43. Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2022). "Huddersfield Town 0–1 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
44. "THE TOULON TOURNAMENT 2017 AWARDS". Tournoi Maurice Revello. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
45. "Football Manager EFL Team of the Season line-ups announced". English Football League. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.

External links

• Profile at the Nottingham Forest F.C. website
• Joe Worrall – UEFA competition record ( archive )