Ben Goddard hit the headlines for the wrong reasons when he was stabbed in the stomach during an incident at his school in Suffolk. Ben narrowly escaped death and a fellow pupil was sentenced to 12 months in a young offender institution after pleading guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.The youth, who had behavioural problems, had followed Ben into the school's toilets during a maths lesson, threatened to kill him and plunged a knife into his stomach.

Ben, of Grove End, Stradbroke, had been a member of Norwich City's youth academy at the time of the stabbing, which occurred during the run-up to his GCSE examinations.

Surviving the incident and and studying A-levels at Copleston High School in Ipswich, Ben participated in a soccer excellence scheme at the school's sports centre, a scheme that "feeds" players to Ipswich Town, Woodbridge Town and a club called Coplestonians. The Soccer Excellence Through Education and Coaching course at Copleston Community Sport and Leisure Centre is being run by Peter Trevivian, a former member of the Ipswich Town coaching staff who believes Ben has the potential to become an excellent footballer."He is working really hard and I have been very impressed with his attitude and his work rate. He is one of those strikers who never let centre-halves settle. He is busy, aggressive and has an eye for the goal," he said. Ben was proving a "breath of fresh air" on the course and had been made captain of the team that played regularly in the highly successful Ridgeon's Youth League."

He is now playing regularly for Norwich United in the Ridgeons League, having signed from Woodbridge Town in the summer of 2008