Udoka Godwin-Malife

Udoka Godwin-Malife

Godwin-Malife in 2024.
Personal information
Full name	Udoka Favour Godwin-Malife [1]
Date of birth	(2000-05-09) 9 May 2000 (age 25)
Place of birth	Oxford, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) [2]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Burton Albion
Number	2
Youth career
	Littlemore
	Oxford City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2018	Oxford City Nomads	18	(3)
2017–2019	Oxford City	32	(0)
2019–2023	Forest Green Rovers	112	(0)
2020	→ Eastleigh (loan)	4	(0)
2023–2024	Swindon Town	42	(1)
2024–	Burton Albion	46	(2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19:38, 2 September 2025 (UTC)

Udoka Favour Godwin-Malife (born 9 May 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League One club Burton Albion.

Career

Godwin-Malife initially began his career playing for local side Littlemore, before signing for hometown club Oxford City at the age of 16 after previously playing for the club during his schoolyears. ^[3] Godwin-Malife initially played for the club's reserve side, Oxford City Nomads, in the Hellenic League, before making his first team debut for Oxford City in a 1–1 draw against St Albans City on 9 December 2017. ^[4]

In January 2019, Godwin-Malife signed for Forest Green Rovers. ^[5] He moved on loan to Eastleigh in January 2020. ^[6]

In June 2021 he signed a new two-year contract with Forest Green. ^[7]

In August 2023 he signed for Swindon Town for an undisclosed fee. ^[8]

He moved to Burton Albion in June 2024 for an undisclosed fee, signing a three-year contract. ^[9]

Personal life

Godwin-Malife is of Nigerian descent. ^[10]

Career statistics

As of match played 2 September 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Oxford City Nomads	2017–18 [11]	Hellenic League Premier Division	18	3	—		—		5 [a]	1	23	4
Oxford City	2017–18 [2]	National League South	8	0	0	0	—		0	0	8	0
	2018–19 [12]	National League South	24	0	6	0	—		3 [b]	0	33	0
	Total		32	0	6	0	0	0	3	0	41	0
Forest Green Rovers	2018–19 [13]	League Two	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	2019–20 [14]	League Two	12	0	1	0	2	0	3 [c]	0	18	0
	2020–21 [15]	League Two	44	0	1	0	1	0	4 [d]	0	50	0
	2021–22 [2]	League Two	26	0	1	0	1	0	2 [c]	0	30	0
	2022–23 [16]	League One	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	0
	Total		112	0	3	0	4	0	9	0	128	0
Eastleigh (loan)	2019–20 [2]	National League	4	0	0	0	—		1 [b]	0	5	0
Swindon Town	2023–24 [17]	League Two	42	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	44	1
Burton Albion	2024–25 [18]	League One	42	1	2	0	0	0	2 [c]	0	46	1
	2025–26 [19]	League One	4	1	0	0	0	0	1 [c]	0	5	1
	Total		46	2	2	0	0	0	3	0	51	2
Career total			254	6	12	0	5	0	21	1	292	7

1. One appearance in FA Vase, two appearances one goal in Hellenic League Floodlit Cup, two appearances in Oxfordshire Senior Cup
2. Appearance(s) in the FA Trophy
3. Appearance(s) in the Football League Trophy
4. Two appearances in the EFL Trophy; two appearances in League Two play-offs

Honours

Forest Green Rovers

• League Two: 2021–22 ^[20]

References

1. "Intermediary Transactions 1 February 2018 to 31 January 2019" (PDF). The FA. p. 14. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
2. Udoka Godwin-Malife at Soccerway . Retrieved 25 January 2019.
3. "The Big Interview: Forest Green Rovers defender and Oxford City graduate Udoka Godwin-Malife talks to Velocity Football". Velocity Football. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
4. "INTERVIEW - Udoka Godwin-Malife". Oxford City F.C. 9 December 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
5. "Forest Green Rovers: Defender Udoka Godwin-Malife joins from Oxford City". BBC Sport. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
6. "NEW SIGNING | UDOKA GODWIN-MALIFE JOINS ON LOAN | Eastleigh FC". www.eastleighfc.com.
7. "Godwin-Malife pens new Forest Green deal". BBC Sport.
8. "Swindon sign Godwin-Malife from Forest Green". BBC Sport. 3 August 2023.
9. "Udoka Godwin-Malife: Burton Albion sign Swindon Town defender". BBC Sport. 25 June 2024.
10. "Done deal: Nigeria-eligible defender who spent 15 years at Chelsea joins Swindon Town". All Nigeria Soccer. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
11. "Udoka Godwin-Malife player stats | Hellenic League". fulltime.thefa.com. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
12. "Udoka Godwin-Malife | Player Profile". www.aylesburyunitedarchive.com. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
13. "Games played by Udoka Godwin-Malife in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
14. "Games played by Udoka Godwin-Malife in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
15. "Games played by Udoka Godwin-Malife in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
16. "Games played by Udoka Godwin-Malife in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
17. "Games played by Udoka Godwin-Malife in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
18. "Games played by Udoka Godwin-Malife in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
19. "Games played by Udoka Godwin-Malife in 2025/2026". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
20. "Forest Green's title win 'surreal' - Edwards". BBC Sport.