The St Helens-born centre-back is a product of Liverpool’s esteemed youth academy, joining at the age of 12. From there he progressed up into the first team, making two senior appearances for the Anfield club in 2012/13, one in the UEFA Europa League and one in the Premier League.
A fruitful season-long loan at Sheffield United followed, playing half a century of games for the Blades and reaching an FA Cup Semi-Final in the process. That impressive showing in League 1 led to joining Championship side Huddersfield Town on a permanent deal in the summer of 2014.
Playing all but one of the Terriers’ league matches that season, Wolverhampton Wanderers became his next destination, helping to guide the club back to the Premier League by claiming the second tier title in 2017/18.
Wolves’ success under Nuno Espirito Santo that season was built on a three-man central defensive partnership which Coady anchored from the middle to great acclaim, earning a spot in the EFL Championship Team of the Season and the EFL Team of the Season.
He adjusted to life in the top-flight with relative ease, illustrated by being an ever-present in the side across the team’s first two seasons back in the Premier League. Both ended in seventh-place finishes, leading to Europa League qualification.
Reaching the quarter-finals of the competition, Coady was named in UEFA’s 2019/20 Europa League Squad of the Season, having played every minute for Wolves up to the last-eight stage.
A UEFA European Under-17 Championship winner a decade earlier, Gareth Southgate handed Coady his senior England debut in September 2020, a month that also saw his long-standing run of playing 84 consecutive games (and 7,560 consecutive minutes) come to an end.
It became the third highest stretch for an outfield player in the Premier League. The 2020/21 campaign brought his first top-flight goal, too, before the milestone of 300 competitive games at the club the following year.
Continuing to be named in national team squads, including for the 2020 UEFA European Championship as England finished as runners-up, Coady is renowned as a commanding presence at the back.
The 6ft 1in centre-half can also prove a threat in the opposition box, demonstrated on the international stage when he scored against Wales during a friendly at Wembley.
With a further 24 league appearances under his belt on loan at Everton last term, the 30-year-old entered the 2023/24 Sky Bet Championship season as one of the most experienced heads in the Foxes’ squad. He had to wait, though, for his debut after suffering a foot injury in pre-season.
His debut for the Club was in a Carabao Cup reverse at Premier League side Liverpool, before a league bow during a 3-0 success over Preston North End, both in October.