Ben Chilwell

Benjamin James Chilwell (born 21 December 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back, left wing-back or centre-back for Premier League club Crystal Palace.

Beginning his career at Leicester City, Chilwell had a loan spell with Huddersfield Town. He was part of Leicester City’s Premier League-winning squad in 2015–16. He joined Chelsea in 2020 and won the UEFA Champions League in his first season with the club. He made over 100 appearances for Chelsea, as well as won the FA Cup on loan with Crystal Palace in 2025. He departed Chelsea permanently and joined French side Strasbourg in 2025, subsequently leaving Strasbourg as a free transfer to join Crystal Palace for the second time in his career in 2026.

At international level, Chilwell made his debut for England in 2018. He was a member of the England squad that finished as runners-up at UEFA Euro 2020.

Benjamin James Chilwell was born on 21 December 1996 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, and was raised in Ampthill, Bedfordshire. He attended Redborne Upper School and Community College in Ampthill.

Chilwell joined Leicester City's academy aged 12 in 2009 having played in Rushden & Diamonds' centre of excellence. He won their Academy Player of the Year award at the end of the 2014–15 season.

After featuring for the club in pre-season under new manager Claudio Ranieri, Chilwell was given the number 30 shirt ahead of the 2015–16 season. On 27 October 2015, in the club's League Cup match against Hull City, he made his first-team debut. Chilwell played the entire match as Leicester lost 5–4 in a penalty shootout following a 1–1 draw after extra time.

On 19 November 2015, Chilwell joined Championship club Huddersfield Town on a loan until 3 January 2016. He made his debut nine days later in a 2–0 home loss to Middlesbrough. Despite only spending six weeks at the West Yorkshire club, Chilwell would later describe his spell as "a big part of [his] growth in [his] career" and credited Huddersfield manager David Wagner with aiding his development as an attacking full back.

In January 2016, Chilwell was recalled from his loan by Leicester City. On 10 January, he started at left-back and played the full 90 minutes of a 2–2 draw away at Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the FA Cup. Ten days later, he made his first appearance at King Power Stadium as Leicester were beaten 2–0 by Tottenham in the replay. He was described in the BBC's match report as "Leicester's best player" and "exceptional as an attacking full-back".

On 28 July 2016, Chilwell signed a new contract with Leicester until June 2021. Having previously been assigned the number 30, Chilwell was given the squad number 3 for the 2016–17 season.

On 26 August 2020, Chilwell signed a five-year contract with Chelsea, after Leicester City had accepted an offer for the player, reported by BBC Sport to be £45 million. He made his debut on 23 September, providing the assist for Olivier Giroud's goal in a 6–0 home win against Barnsley in the third round of the EFL Cup after he came off from the bench. On his first league start for the club on 3 October, Chilwell scored the opening goal and assisted Kurt Zouma for the second as Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 4–0 at home.

On 7 April 2021, Chilwell scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a 2–0 away win over Porto in the first-leg of the quarter-final tie. On 16 May, Chilwell scored against his former club Leicester City in the 2021 FA Cup final in the 88th minute, only for it to be disallowed by VAR, as Leicester went on to win 1–0. On 29 May, Chilwell won his first-ever trophy after Chelsea defeated Manchester City 1–0 in the 2021 UEFA Champions League final in Porto.

On 2 October 2021, on his first Premier League start of the campaign, Chilwell scored his first goal of the season in a 3–1 home win over Southampton. Chilwell would go on to score in Chelsea's next two league games as well, 1–0 win against Brentford and a 7–0 victory over Norwich City. Having scored in Chelsea's final match of the 2020–21 Premier League season, Chilwell became the first English player to score in four consecutive Premier League games for Chelsea since Frank Lampard in February 2013.

On 23 November 2021, Chilwell sustained a ruptured cruciate ligament injury in a 4–0 home win during Chelsea's 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage match against Juventus. He was substituted in the second half after a coming together with Adrien Rabiot. On 28 December 2021, it was revealed in a statement by Chelsea that Chilwell would have to receive a surgical repair, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Chilwell signed a new contract with Chelsea on 11 April 2023, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2027. In August, he was named as Chelsea's new vice-captain, acting as deputy to Reece James. On 25 February 2024, Chilwell captained Chelsea in the 2024 EFL Cup final where they lost 1–0 to Liverpool.

Chilwell's future with the club was cast into doubt in late August 2024 when new manager Enzo Maresca made clear the player was not in his plans, telling reporters "with (Chilwell), I said he is a lovely guy but with his position, he's going to struggle with us." On 23 September, Maresca announced that Chilwell was back in the squad for the EFL Cup home tie against Barrow the following day; he appeared as a 46th-minute substitute in a 5–0 win, which ended up being his only appearance for Chelsea of the season.

On 3 February 2025, Chilwell joined Crystal Palace on loan for the remainder of the 2024–25 season. On 1 March, he was subjected to homophobic chants by Millwall supporters during the fifth round of the FA Cup, an incident which sparked an investigation by the Football Association. Crystal Palace defeated Millwall 3–1, and would eventually progress to the final; Chilwell was an unused substitute as the club went on to lift the FA Cup for the first time in its history following a 1–0 victory against Manchester City. On 20 May, he scored his first goal for Palace in a 4–2 league win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

On 1 September 2025, Chilwell joined Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg on a two-year contract. He made his RC Strasbourg debut against Le Havre AC on 15 September, and went on to play 20 Ligue 1 matches and nine UEFA Conference League matches in the 2025–26 season .

On 1 September 2026, Chilwell rejoined Crystal Palace on a permanent transfer.

Along with his Leicester teammate Demarai Gray, Chilwell was called up from the under-21 team to the full England squad in September 2018 for a friendly match against Switzerland. He made his debut in this match on 11 September, as a 79th-minute substitute for Danny Rose in a 1–0 home win. Upon taking to the pitch in the match at the King Power Stadium he became the first England player to debut at his club ground since Paul Scholes at Old Trafford in 1997. Chilwell made his first start on 12 October in a goalless draw with Croatia in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League A, in a match played behind closed doors.

Chilwell was named in the 26-man England squad for UEFA Euro 2020. On 22 June 2021, Chilwell and fellow England player Mason Mount were forced to self-isolate after coming into contact with Scotland player Billy Gilmour, who tested positive for COVID-19 after England's goalless draw with Scotland at the tournament.

On 9 October 2021, Chilwell scored his first international goal in a 5–0 away win during England's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Andorra.

Chilwell's father was from New Zealand and emigrated to England in 1993, three years prior to Chilwell's birth.

Chilwell's maternal grandfather Guy Shuttleworth was also a sportsman who played football for Corinthian-Casuals — winning an international cap for England Amateurs in 1949 — and represented Cambridge University at first-class cricket. He died at the age of 94 on 21 January 2021. Chilwell played cricket for his local club, Flitwick.

UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2020

UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21

Leicester City Under-21s Player of the Season: 2015–16

Leicester City Academy Player of the Year: 2014–15