This is worth sharing, I think (nicked from The Mail) Meet Jordan Pickford - England's penalty-saving hero: The boyhood Sunderland fanatic honed his movement with boxing, is known as a 'nutter' by pals and is never far from his childhood sweetheart Megan Jordan Pickford was England's hero in the penalty shootout against Colombia Pickford's save from Carlos Bacca set up progress to World Cup quarter-finals The Everton goalkeeper grew up in Sunderland, and wanted to play outfield He is known as the 'life and soul', according to a former team-mate By CHRIS CUTMORE FOR MAILONLINE PUBLISHED: 12:47, 4th July 2018 | UPDATED: 13:08, 4th July 2018 With just one flick of his outstretched left hand, Jordan Pickford became a national hero. The Everton goalkeeper denied Colombia's Carlos Bacca with a stunning save to set up Eric Dier's match-winning penalty, and England's route into the World Cup quarter-finals, but Pickford is no overnight success. This is the story of the 24-year-old Sunderland boy who finally broke England's penalty shootout curse. please log in to view this image Jordan Pickford springs to his right to save a penalty from Colombia's Carlos Bacca please log in to view this image Pickford is mobbed by his England team-mates after the save helped England to win the shootout please log in to view this image The 24-year-old is now a national hero after England's progress to the World Cup quarter-finals Childhood A Sunderland supporter growing up, Pickford hung about outside the Stadium of Light gates to catch a glimpse of his idols. Not shy, he thrust a pen and paper through the car window of Kevin Ball to secure the autograph of the club captain. Ball, of course, would go on to have a huge bearing on Pickford's future and has since been reminded of a picture that the pair took together. 'He asked if I recognised who was in it,' Ball said. 'I said, "Well, the handsome one is obviously me, and I'm guessing that the scrawny little kid is you?"' Sunderland is in Pickford's blood, and young lads in the North East now throw themselves around pitches to imitate their local hero, who was born in Washington, eight miles from the Black Cats' home, a working class area, synonymous with the coal industry. please log in to view this image Sunderland fan Pickford posed for a picture as a youngster with midfielder Kevin Ball First signs of stardom Pickford, who attended St Robert of Newminster, joined the Sunderland academy when he was eight, and boxed at the Washington Boxing Club as a youngster, too. Players from other European countries have extoled the virtues of committing to other sports. Pickford's range of movement was clearly evident when saving Carlos Bacca's penalty in Moscow. He was a frustrated outfield player in his teens, desperate to roam in training and had to be told by team-mates to stick to what he was there for. Pickford played in midfield at school, nicknamed Speedy, and the prowess with his feet is further proof that trying different things growing up has helped. He still idolised goalkeepers though, with one excited Instagram post revealing his delight at receiving a signed shirt from former England No 1 Joe Hart. please log in to view this image The Academy Pickford was not scared of voicing an opinion and his was a steady progression. His height was mocked by Thibaut Courtois last week (Pickford is 6ft 1in) but that never proved a barrier as a teenager. Sunderland were happy with their man given his obvious ability. Alongside Ball, former academy manager Ged McNamee and coach Mark Prudhoe are credited with his rise. By the time he reached the Under 16s, sizeable crowds were being drawn just to study his kicking, and he was saving penalties against Argentina in the Under 17 World Cup by the time he signed his first professional deal in 2011. So maybe Colombia was not the biggest surprise. Such was his confidence, Pickford wanted to head straight for the Sunderland first team. Friends have expressed their surprise that it took him quite so long – he only made his bow in 2016, but the loan path worked, with the clubs picked carefully. Kicking on from the loans please log in to view this image Tough loan spells down in the lower leagues helped to toughen Pickford - here he is sent off while playing for Preston in 2015 Darlington, Alfreton, Burton, Carlisle, Bradford and Preston may not sound like an exotic list of destinations for a future England No 1, but they all served a significant purpose. He might even have faced Jamie Vardy on his debut for Darlington in 2012 – a 1-0 defeat by Fleetwood Town, but the striker missed out through injury, playing and scoring in the two games sandwiching that. The one thing that all six loan spells had in common is that the club wanted to keep Pickford on for another season. Yet his trajectory was as such that Sunderland continued moving him on. Darlington folded after relegation, so Alfreton was next and then into League Two with Burton by the start of the 2013-14 season. Preston were desperate to keep hold of Pickford in 2016 but realised that they were fighting a losing battle. From there he has not looked back, and Sunderland coaches put his loan progress down to managers and coaches at clubs having close links with the Stadium of Light. please log in to view this image The young goalkeeper takes a goal-kick during the early days of his career Success with Sunderland 'He's a typical, down-to-earth local lad, there is no arrogance to him, and it's all confidence,' says Adrian Tucker, the former Sunderland goalkeeping coach who worked with Pickford after his first-team breakthrough. Pickford made his first-team debut aged just 21 in a 3-1 FA Cup defeat by Arsenal in January 2016, and soon became the club's No. 1 despite his young age. Sunderland limped to relegation the following season, but Pickford still impressed enough to earn a nomination for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Pickford is the perfect team-mate, according to Sunderland midfielder George Honeyman. 'Off the pitch, he's the life and soul, no-one dislikes him,' says Honeyman. 'Everyone says that goalkeepers are mad, but he genuinely is, he's a nutter, in the nicest way.' please log in to view this image Pickford broke into the Sunderland first team aged 21 and excelled despite the club's slump He made a £30million move to Everton last summer as a reward for his fine form Family After his £30million move to Everton last summer, Pickford now lives on Merseyside with his childhood sweetheart, Megan Davison, a University of Sunderland graduate who has accompanied him in Russia. Megan, 22, and Jordan have been dating since she was 14 and he was 16. His potential future father-in-law, Gary Davison, was filmed in a heartwarming moment wildly celebrating after watching that penalty save, shouting 'me boy's a f****** hero!' Pickford's dad Lee is a builder, and he was pulling onto his mother's driveway in October 2016 when he got the call to say that he had been selected for England. Sue did not believe her son when he entered the terraced family home and delivered the shock news. Mum might need to pinch herself again this morning. please log in to view this image Mum Sue and dad Lee are proud parents - they are pictured watching him at Goodison Park please log in to view this image Pickford now lives with Megan Davison, his childhood sweetheart, on Merseyside please log in to view this image Megan showed her tension while watching from the stands during the penalty shootout please log in to view this image The happy couple celebrate after a recent England win in Russia with a kiss
Would love to think that near the end of his career after he’s played at the very top he’d come back to us. As a player or coach who cares love the kid
That’s Won’t be at the end of his career mate we will be near the top long before then when he rejoines us
Top lad is Jordan, pity hes come of age when his club were in a **** state and we had to sell him onto survive, there's no way we would have slipped to our present league with him between the posts. Hope this scenario never reoccurs at our club.
Working away in Aberdeen. Proudly telling any jock who will listen that he's from my town! One of our own!
Ain’t it lush seeing all the reports and press and country loving him. Nations sweetheart and one of ours. Beaut.
Found an article online in the telegraph its a subscription so cannot read the full article but its a bloke called Steve Walsh (Everton DOF) talking about Jordan Pickford's transfer; Walsh’s greatest concern was not overvaluing Pickford when agreeing the deal with Sunderland, but how long Everton might keep him if Real Madrid called. “We never actually paid £30million. The initial outlay was not that much, but was built on Premier League and international appearances,” says Walsh. “It is fair to say it might eventually be that much. But when a player proves you... www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/07/04/jordan-pickford-making-world-cup-hero-loan-alfreton-becoming/
He's not saying anything surprising there to me. Aren't most deals done with instalments paid over periods of time with add-on clauses? Or am I missing something here?
A lot of people assumed that the fee for Pickford went towards servicing the debt depending on what he means by "the initial outlay" just how much of the debt was cleared? In which case Short might have taken a bigger hit than was thought and may also explain the lack of investment last season - basically the club did not have the readies to pay for a keeper etc.
But wasn't it also mentioned a few weeks ago that we still have about £25m of transfer debt to finance as well? Given his was one of the biggest in recent times, I just assumed that Pickfords sale was part and parcel of the whole in and outs situation.
It could also mean that safc are in 25mill debt for transfers and are waiting for 25 mill from Everton - I don't know just posted an article
I know mate. As we've discussed on other threads over the last month or so, things arent necessarily so black and white when it comes to the clubs finances.
