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 Premier League club Manchester City.
_(James_Trafford).jpg)
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Trafford with Burnley in 2025 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
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| Full name | James Harrington Trafford[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 October 2002[2] | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cockermouth, England | |||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (1.97 m)[2][3] | |||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Manchester City | |||||||||||||
| 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) | |||||||||||
| 2023–2025 | Burnley | 73 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2025– | Manchester City | 3 | (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) | |||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | England U21 | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:38, 22 March 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 13:00, 12 October 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
Early life
Trafford was born in Cockermouth, Cumbria,[4] and grew up in the nearby village of Greysouthen in a farming family.[5] He was a Chelsea fan.[5] He attended Cockermouth School and St Bede's College.[5] He learned to drive on a tractor[6] and in his early career he would return to help out on the family farm in the off-season.[7]
Club career
Manchester City
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.[7] He was part of the Manchester City Under-18s team that won the 2019–20 Professional U18 Development League and the Under-23s team that won the 2020–21 Professional U23 Development League.[8]
He moved on loan to Accrington Stanley in July 2021.[9] This loan was later described as "challenging" due to injuries and losing his first-team place.[7]
Bolton Wanderers
Trafford signed on loan for Bolton Wanderers on 13 January 2022, until the end of the 2021–22 season.[10] He kept four clean sheets in his first four games, the first time a goalkeeper had done so in Bolton's entire history.[11][12][6]
On 15 June 2022, Trafford rejoined Bolton on loan for a further season.[13][14] In July 2022, he signed a new five-year contract with Manchester City.[15] By October he was noted for his clean sheets,[16] 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.[17][18][19] He was able to extend the record to nine,[20][6] 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.[21] On 2 April, he started in the 2023 EFL Trophy final and kept a clean sheet in 4–0 win against Plymouth Argyle.[22] 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.[23][24] He finished the season with a total of 26 clean sheets.[6] He helped Bolton qualify for the play-offs, though they were defeated by Barnsley in the semi-finals.[25] He was voted as Bolton's Young Player of the Year for the 2022–23 season, together with Conor Bradley.[26][27] His performances during the season saw him named in the PFA Team of the Year for League One.[28] He said his time at Bolton turned him from a "long, skinny boy" into a "long, skinny man".[29]
Burnley
On 3 July 2023, it was announced that a £15 million transfer fee had been agreed between Manchester City and Burnley for Trafford.[30] With add-ons, the deal could reach a total of £19 million — which if met would break Burnley's transfer record.[6] On 20 July 2023, Trafford's move to Burnley was officially completed.[31][32] Due to their sell-on clause, Carlisle United got 15% of the fee for around £2.25m.[33] He became the third most expensive British goalkeeper in history.[34]
He made his Burnley and Premier League debut on 11 August 2023, in a 3–0 home defeat to his former club, Manchester City.[35] He earned high praise after a Man of the Match performance in a 1–1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion on 9 December, in which he made 10 saves.[36][37]
In January 2025, he saved two penalties in a league match against Sunderland,[38][39] being praised by manager Scott Parker as a "special" player.[40] Having not conceded a goal across any of their six matches in the month, he was named EFL Championship Player of the Month.[41] By February 2025, Trafford had gone 1,000 minutes without conceding a goal.[42] In March 2025, this streak came to an end in Burnley's EFL Championship match against Cardiff City, with Yousef Salech scoring in the 42nd minute.[43] During this run, Trafford kept 12 clean sheets in a row, breaking the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in Championship history (the prior record was 10).[44] After 33 games, Trafford and Burnley had conceded only nine goals, the fewest in the history of English Football at that point of the season.[45] Trafford finished the season with 29 clean sheets,[46] which equalled the record for a goalkeeper in a single season in English football.[47] During the 2024–25 season, Burnley conceded only 16 goals in 46 games, the fewest in the history of the Football League, beating the previous record of 20,[48][45] although this was one more than Chelsea's 15 conceded in 38 games in the 2004–05 Premier League.[45]
Return to Manchester City
On 29 July 2025, Manchester City announced the return of Trafford on a five-year deal, after activating their buy-back clause and matching Newcastle United's £31 million bid.[8][49][50] Trafford's official fee was £31 million (being the record paid for a British goalkeeper), although City received £4 million back due to their sell-on clause, and so only paid £27 million.[49][50] On 16 August, he made his debut for City in their first Premier League game of the season, keeping a clean sheet in a 4–0 away win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[51] In his home debut for City on 23 August, he made an error that led to Tottenham Hotspur's second goal in a 2–0 defeat. After the game, Guardiola said he still backed Trafford.[52] Trafford was presented with the August Save of the Month award for saving a close-range shot by Jan Paul van Hecke as City lost 2–1 to Brighton & Hove Albion on 31 August.[53][54]
After playing in the club's first few matches, he was dropped in favour of transfer deadline day signing Gianluigi Donnarumma.[55] Thereafter Trafford appeared only in Cup games,[56] with former Man City goalkeeper Nicky Weaver saying he "felt sorry" for Trafford.[57] On 22 March 2026, Trafford started in the EFL Cup final, securing a 2–0 victory over Arsenal and becoming the second youngest goalkeeper to achieve this feat, surpassed only by Chris Woods in 1978.[58][59]
International career
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.[60] 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.[61]
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.[62]
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.[63] Trafford made his debut in the 5–0 win away to Kosovo.[64]
On 14 June 2023, Trafford was included in the England squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[65] He did not concede a goal during the tournament in six matches,[6] the first time a goalkeeper had done this in the tournament's history,[66] and saved a stoppage-time penalty and its rebound in the final against Spain as England won the game 1–0.[67] His mentality was praised by England under-21 manager Lee Carsley.[68] It was later reported that Trafford had told friends that he would save a penalty that game.[34]
Following an injury to Sam Johnstone in March 2024, Trafford received his first call up to the senior squad for a friendly against Belgium.[69][70] He was selected to England's provisional 33-member squad for Euro 2024.[71] On 6 June 2024, he was dropped from the final 26-man squad.[72] In October 2025, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said that Trafford would become an England goalkeeper in due course.[73]
Style of play
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 nine.[7] He has been praised for his reflexes and distribution.[74] He is noted for his ability to keep clean sheets, breaking multiple records with Bolton Wanderers,[16][6][17][23] Burnley,[44][45] and winning the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship without conceding a goal.[6][67][66]
Personal life
In 2025, two years after leaving Bolton Wanderers, Trafford revealed he loved his time at the club so much that it had caused him to become a Bolton fan.[75]
Career statistics
- As of match played 22 March 2026
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester City U23 | 2020–21[76] | — | — | — | — | 2[a] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Manchester City | 2021–22[77] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022–23[78] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Accrington Stanley (loan) | 2021–22[77] | League One | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2021–22[77] | League One | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2022–23[78] | League One | 45 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6[b] | 0 | 52 | 0 | |
| Burnley | 2023–24[79] | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25[80] | Championship | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 45 | 0 | |||
| Total | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 0 | ||
| Manchester City | 2025–26[81] | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |
| Career total | 154 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 173 | 0 | ||
- Appearances in EFL Trophy
- Four appearances in EFL Trophy, two appearances in League One play-offs
- Appearance in UEFA Champions League
Honours
Manchester City
Manchester City Under-18s
Manchester City Under-23s
Bolton Wanderers
England U21
Individual
- Bolton Wanderers Young Player of the Year: 2022–23 (shared)[26]
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2023[84]
- PFA Team of the Year: 2022–23 League One,[28] 2024–25 Championship[85]
- EFL Championship Player of the Month: January 2025[41]
- EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2024–25[86]
- EFL Championship Golden Glove: 2024–25[87]
- PFA Championship Player of the Year: 2024–25[85]
