James Trafford
English footballer (born 2002) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Harrington Trafford (born 10 October 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Burnley.[3]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Harrington Trafford[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 October 2002[2] | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cockermouth, England[2] | |||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (1.97 m)[2] | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Burnley | |||||||||||||
| Number | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Cockermouth | ||||||||||||||
| Carlisle United | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2021 | Manchester City | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2021–2023 | Manchester City | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | → Accrington Stanley (loan) | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2022 | → Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 22 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | → Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 45 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2023– | Burnley | 36 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | England U17 | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2019 | England U18 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2019 | England U19 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | England U20 | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2022– | England U21 | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:30, 5 October 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13:00, 12 October 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
Trafford grew up in Greysouthen in a farming family.[4] He was a Chelsea fan.[4] He attended Cockermouth School and St Bede's College.[4] He learned to drive on a tractor[5] and in his early career he would return to help out on the family farm in the off-season.[6]
Manchester City
Trafford began his career with Cockermouth and Carlisle United, signing with Manchester City in August 2015 at the age of 12.[4] At Carlisle he began as a midfielder but volunteered to become a goalkeeper at age nine.[6]
He moved on loan to Accrington Stanley in July 2021.[7] This loan was later described as "challenging" due to injuries and losing his first-team place.[6]
Trafford signed on loan for Bolton Wanderers on 13 January 2022, until the end of the 2021–22 season.[8] He kept four clean sheets in his first four games, the first time a goalkeeper had done so in Bolton's entire history.[9][10][5]
On 15 June 2022, Trafford rejoined Bolton on loan for a further season.[11][12] In July 2022, he signed a new five-year contract with Manchester City.[13] By October he was noted for his clean sheets,[14] and Trafford broke Bolton's record for consecutive home clean sheets on 4 February, with the 1–0 win over Cheltenham Town being his eighth in a row.[15][16][17] He was able to extend the record to nine,[18][5] though was unable to have it reach double figures as on 25 February he conceded against Port Vale in a 2–1 win, the first time since 2 December.[19] On 2 April, he started in the 2023 EFL Trophy final and kept a clean sheet in 4–0 win against Plymouth Argyle.[20] Trafford's clean sheet in a 1–0 win against Shrewbury Town on 22 April was his 25th of the season, which broke the record for the most clean sheets by a Bolton goalkeeper in one season.[21][22] He finished the season with a total of 26 clean sheets.[5] He helped Bolton qualify for the play-offs, though they were defeated by Barnsley in the semi-finals.[23] He was voted as Bolton's Young Player of the Year for the 2022–23 season, together with Conor Bradley.[24][25] His performances during the season saw him named in the PFA Team of the Year for League One.[26] He said his time at Bolton turned him from a "long, skinny boy" into a "long, skinny man".[27]
Burnley
On 3 July 2023, it was announced that a £15 million transfer fee had been agreed between Manchester City and Burnley for Trafford.[28] With add-ons, the deal could reach a total of £19 million — which if met would break Burnley's transfer record.[5] On 20 July 2023, Trafford's move to Burnley was officially completed.[29][30] Due to their sell-on clause, Carlisle United got 15% of the fee for around £2.25m.[31] He became the third most expensive British goalkeeper in history.[32]
He made his Burnley and Premier League debut on 11 August 2023, in a 3–0 home defeat to his former club Manchester City.[33] He earned high praise after Man of the Match performance in a 1–1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion on 9 December in which he made 10 saves.[34][35]
Trafford played his first international match of his career for England U17 on 24 March 2018 against Croatia U17 in which he saved a penalty and kept a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw despite England being down to ten men.[36] He made a further six appearances for the U17 including one appearance at the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, then played twice for England U18, and once for England U19.[37]
On 6 September 2021, Trafford made his debut for the England U20s during a 6–1 victory over Romania U20s at St. George's Park.[38]
On 25 May 2022, Trafford received his first call up to the England U21 squad ahead of the final round of 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches.[39] Trafford made his debut in the 5–0 win away to Kosovo.[40]
On 14 June 2023, Trafford was included in the England squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[41] He did not concede a goal during the tournament in six matches,[5] the first time a goalkeeper had done this in the tournament's history,[42] and saved a stoppage-time penalty and its rebound in the final against Spain as England won the game 1–0.[43] His mentality was praised by England under-21 manager Lee Carsley.[44] It was later reported that Trafford had told friends that he would save a penalty that game.[32]
Following an injury to Sam Johnstone in March 2024, Trafford received his first call up to the senior squad for a friendly against Belgium.[45][46] He was selected to England's provisional 33-member squad for Euro 2024.[47] On 6 June 2024, he was dropped from the final 26-man squad.[48]
He spent his early career as an outfield player.[4] At Carlisle he began as a midfielder but volunteered to become a goalkeeper at age 9.[6] He has been praised for his reflexes and distribution.[49] He is noted for his ability to get clean sheets, breaking multiple records with Bolton Wanderers[14][5][15][21] and winning the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship without conceding a goal.[5][43][42]
- As of match played 5 October 2024
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester City U23 | 2020–21[50] | — | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Manchester City | 2021–22[51] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022–23[52] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Accrington Stanley (loan) | 2021–22[51] | League One | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2021–22[51] | League One | 22 | 0 | — | — | — | 22 | 0 | |||
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2022–23[52] | League One | 45 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 52 | 0 |
| Burnley | 2023–24[53] | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | |
| 2024–25[54] | Championship | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| Total | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 36 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 114 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 123 | 0 | ||
- Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
- Four appearances in EFL Trophy, two appearances in League One play-offs
Bolton Wanderers
England U21
Individual
- Bolton Wanderers Young Player of the Year: 2022–23 (shared)[24]
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2023[56]
- PFA Team of the Year: 2022–23 League One[26]
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