| James Trafford | |
| Full Name: | James Harrington Trafford[1] |
| Birth Date: | 10 October 2002[2] |
| Birth Place: | Cockermouth, England |
| Height: | 1.97m (06.46feet) |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Currentclub: | Burnley |
| Clubnumber: | 1 |
| Youthclubs1: | Cockermouth |
| Youthclubs2: | Carlisle United |
| Youthyears3: | 2015–2021 |
| Youthclubs3: | Manchester City |
| Years1: | 2021–2023 |
| Clubs1: | Manchester City |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs2: | → Accrington Stanley (loan) |
| Caps2: | 11 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2022 |
| Clubs3: | → Bolton Wanderers (loan) |
| Caps3: | 22 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs4: | → Bolton Wanderers (loan) |
| Caps4: | 45 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2023– |
| Clubs5: | Burnley |
| Caps5: | 29 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2018–2019 |
| Nationalteam1: | England U17 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2019 |
| Nationalteam2: | England U18 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2019 |
| Nationalteam3: | England U19 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2021–2022 |
| Nationalteam4: | England U20 |
| Nationalcaps4: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 0 |
| Nationalyears5: | 2022– |
| Nationalteam5: | England U21 |
| Nationalcaps5: | 17 |
| Nationalgoals5: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 23:02, 12 August 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 18:43, 24 March 2024 (UTC) |
James Harrington Trafford (born 10 October 2002) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Burnley.
Trafford grew up in Greysouthen in a farming family. He was a Chelsea fan. He attended Cockermouth School and St Bede's College. He learned to drive on a tractor[3] and in his early career he would return to help out on the family farm in the off-season.[4]
Trafford began his career with Cockermouth and Carlisle United, signing with Manchester City in August 2015 at the age of 12.[5] At Carlisle he began as a midfielder but volunteered to become a goalkeeper at age nine.[4] He moved on loan to Accrington Stanley in July 2021.[6] This loan was later described as "challenging" due to injuries and losing his first-team place.[4]
Trafford signed on loan for Bolton Wanderers on 13 January 2022, until the end of the 2021–22 season.[7] He kept four clean sheets in his first four games, the first time a goalkeeper had done so in Bolton's entire history.[8] [9] [3]
On 15 June 2022, Trafford rejoined Bolton on loan for a further season.[10] [11] In July 2022, he signed a new five-year contract with Manchester City.[12] By October he was noted for his clean sheets,[13] 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.[14] [15] [16] He was able to extend the record to nine,[17] [3] 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.[18] On 2 April, he started in the 2023 EFL Trophy final and kept a clean sheet in 4–0 win against Plymouth Argyle. 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.[19] [20] He finished the season with a total of 26 clean sheets.[3] He helped Bolton qualify for the play-offs, though they were defeated by Barnsley in the semi-finals.[21] He was voted as Bolton's Young Player of the Year for the 2022–23 season, together with Conor Bradley.[22] [23] His performances during the season saw him named in the PFA Team of the Year for League One.[24] He said his time at Bolton turned him from a "long, skinny boy" into a "long, skinny man".[25]
On 3 July 2023, it was announced that a £15 million transfer fee had been agreed between Manchester City and Burnley for Trafford.[26] With add-ons, the deal could reach a total of £19 million — which if met would break Burnley's transfer record.[3] On 20 July 2023, Trafford's move to Burnley was officially completed.[27] [28] Due to their sell-on clause, Carlisle United got 15% of the fee for around £2.25m.[29] He became the third most expensive British goalkeeper in history.[30]
He made his Burnley and Premier League debut on 11 August 2023, in a 3–0 home defeat to his former club Manchester City.[31] 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.[32] [33]
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.[34] 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.[35]
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.[36]
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.[37] Trafford made his debut in the 5–0 win away to Kosovo.[38]
On 14 June 2023, Trafford was included in the England squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[39] He did not concede a goal during the tournament in six matches,[3] the first time a goalkeeper had done this in the tournament's history,[40] and saved a stoppage-time penalty and its rebound in the final against Spain as England won the game 1–0.[41] His mentality was praised by England under-21 manager Lee Carsley.[42] It was later reported that Trafford had told friends that he would save a penalty that game.[30]
Following an injury to Sam Johnstone in March 2024, Trafford received his first call up to the senior squad for a friendly against Belgium.[43] [44] He was selected to England's provisional 33-member squad for Euro 2024.[45] On 6 June 2024, he was dropped from the final 26-man squad.[46]
He spent his early career as an outfield player.[5] At Carlisle he began as a midfielder but volunteered to become a goalkeeper at age 9.[4] He has been praised for his reflexes and distribution.[47] He is noted for his ability to get clean sheets, breaking multiple records with Bolton Wanderers[13] [3] [14] [19] and winning the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship without conceding a goal.[3] [41] [40]
| Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Manchester City U23 | 2020–21 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Manchester City | 2021–22 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | 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 | League One | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2021–22 | League One | 22 | 0 | — | — | — | 22 | 0 | ||||
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2022–23 | League One | 45 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 52 | 0 | |
| Burnley | 2023–24 | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25 | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 29 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 107 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 116 | 0 | |||
Bolton Wanderers
England U21
Individual
2022–23 League One[24]