A KILLER who stabbed a promising teenage footballer has been jailed for life.

Moise Avorgah, 20, murdered 17-year-old Godwin Lawson, a trainee at Oxford United’s Football and Education Academy, when he tried to protect a childhood friend from attack in North London.

The victim, whose family had moved away from another part of London for fear of gang violence, was on a weekend visit to the capital to see family and friends.

CCTV cameras captured him staggering across the road with a fatal wound to the heart before collapsing on the pavement.

Two of Godwin’s childhood friends were also stabbed by Avorgah during the fight, last March.

Avorgah, from Tottenham, who had a previous conviction for carrying a knife in public two years before the killing, was yesterday convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury.

He was also convicted of wounding with intent of Godwin’s friends Julian and Daniel Borja.

Three other men, Daniel Riley, 22, Koffi Osimeh, 20, and Matthew Lanihun, 20, all from London, face a retrial after the jury failed to agree verdicts on murder charges.

Avorgah was told he would serve a minimum of 19 years behind bars.

Godwin dreamed of forging a career as a professional footballer and playing for Manchester United.

His father Calvin, 42, said after the sentencing that the murder of his son was “senseless”.