Euro 2024 final: Jordan Pickford's Carlisle United spell

It's fair to say the Three Lions No1 has come a long way since his early grounding in first-team football, which included a loan spell at Carlisle United - and one or two harsh experiences.

Pickford's part in England's run to the Euro 2024 final against Spain comes a decade after he was a 19-year-old keeper in a relegation-bound Blues side.

Amid 18 appearances for Graham Kavanagh's strugglers, one afternoon resonated, as Pickford showed the strong mentality which would help him flourish as a top keeper.

United's 6-1 defeat at Preston North End was not a memorable day in the main, but for Carlisle's then goalkeeping coach Tony Caig, one incident - and Pickford's response to it - was striking.

"Jordan came for a cross, and it was as though he was thinking about what to do with it before he caught it," said Caig.

"He dropped it, and they [Preston] scored. At that point I thought, 'Ooh, let's see how he reacts to that.'

"Five minutes later another cross comes into the box and he comes and takes it, as confident as anything.

"What happened before had disappeared. It was out of his system. That's a great trait to have as a keeper."

Pickford in action for United at Port Vale (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Pickford, who was then on loan from Sunderland, went on to break into his parent club's team before earning a £30m move to Everton.

That followed his time in the proving ground of the lower leagues, including teenage loans at Darlington, Alfreton Town and Burton Albion - then Carlisle.

"We'd been looking to take him earlier," Caig says. "I'd seen him a few times before, and liked him, and Mark Prudhoe, his coach at Sunderland and someone I knew well from his Carlisle time, said he was worth a gamble.

"Sunderland weren't playing ball in letting us have him, but then Gus Poyet at the last moment decided he could come and play. The terms of the loan suited the club as well."

Mark Gillespie, Carlisle's senior keeper, was injured, Greg Fleming was holding the fort, while United had also brought in the Australian, Dean Bouzanis, when it seemed Pickford was out of reach.

Pickford makes a save for Carlisle at Tranmere (Image: Barbara Abbott)

The young loanee's last-minute change of circumstances then left Bouzanis in the shadows. Pickford made his debut in a 2-1 home defeat to Gillingham and played 18 times as Carlisle failed to avoid League Two.

The statistics suggest Pickford did his best to help them dodge such a fate. His second game saw a clean-sheet against Bradford and although that was only one of three victories he tasted, he produced seven shut-outs overall, including three in a row against Shrewsbury, Tranmere and Swindon.

Caig was encouraged by the loanee in all departments. "He was a bit of a throwback, in terms of his mentality to playing," the coach says. "He was very driven, and just got on with things. He was very grounded, trained well, and could kick the ball a mile.

"You can tell a lad who hasn't been out on loan before, because they can be very quiet in the dressing room. With Jordan, you could tell he had something about him...a certain confidence. It was an easy transition for him.

"He was also very open to being coached. He wanted to get better. If you came up with something you'd noticed, and it was constructive, he was more than happy to get on with it. With that attitude, it's not surprised me to see the steps he's made."

Carlisle's decline to relegation under Kavanagh was grim but Pickford, said Caig, was not scarred by their slump.

"One thing he did well – and this is something coaches used to say to me – is that he was able to separate himself from everything else," Caig said.

"Yes, you are still part of a team, but when you're not getting the results you need, and you're having the turnover of players we did, the worst thing you can do is worry about that, and over-analyse yourself, because that can breed doubt.

"Jordan was very much one who would just turn up and play, and you didn't have to say much to get him in the right frame of mind. I used to notice that, the closer he got to game day, especially on a Friday, he was right on it, sharp as a tack.

Pickford will keep goal for England in tonight's Euro 2024 final (Image: PA)

"He wasn't one who would wake up on Saturday morning and start thinking about it. He was doing it earlier. As a coach you quickly learn that you don't have to meddle too much with a lad like that, because his thoughts are right.

"I think he recognised that, however we were doing, it was his chance to impress his parent club, so they'd see him as a contender to play in the first team, which eventually happened."

And now, ten years on, he stands on the cusp of history - and English football immortality.

Adapted from the original News & Star article in 2018.