England’s best keeper grew up helping lambs give birth and spent summer working on FARM – now he’s set for Prem transfer
JAMES TRAFFORD has always been good with his hands.
Right now they are the most talked about in football, with the Burnley keeper, 22, having not conceded for ONE THOUSAND minutes.
And he has only let in NINE goals all season, keeping 23 clean sheets.
And tonight, as Burnley host Sheffield Wednesday, Trafford — the Sky Bet Championship player of the month for January — is aiming for an incredible 12th successive shutout.
But those safe hands have been put to other uses — such as being shoved up the backside of sheep or mixing manure with lime!
Trafford was raised and worked on a North Cumbrian family-run farm in the Lake District, where his duties included lambing and mucking out.
And he grimaced as he told SunSport: “The first time I did lambing was aged 11. I had to put my hand up them and pull.
“That was far too disgusting and, although it was cool to have experienced that, it wasn’t the best thing.
“I also had to muck out. We mixed manure with lime to get the right soil pH acidity. And being in the slurry pit was horrible — the stench.
“Only last summer I was helping wrap fleeces and clipping sheep.”
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Trafford — brought up in Cockermouth, where England Test captain Ben Stokes lived during his teens — was even driving tractors on the farm years before he had a driving license.
He laughed: “About 14 or 15, way before I was allowed on the roads.”
Despite his growing reputation as one of Europe’s finest goalkeeping talents, with a host of Premier League clubs hoping to snap him up, the youngster still loves getting his hands dirty on the farm.
He said: “I enjoy it. I do it to spend more time with dad because I always go out for lunch with my mum when I go home and he’s always working.
“When I was with dad last month, I was bedding up all the sheep and putting hay out for the ones outside.
“We’ve always done that. I remember as a kid on the tractor where he’d sit on the seat and I’d be on the arm-rest, and our dog would be down there.”
Trafford revealed that, had his grandfather had his way, he would have been a JOCKEY.
The 6ft 6in keeper said: “Grandpa Bill, god bless his soul. I have two cousins then my sister and I.
“Grandpa always said, ‘He has to be a farmer’ but he really wanted one of us to be a jockey — but we were all too tall!”
His dad James Sr was never a football expert but has been learning through watching YouTube videos and going to his son’s games.
Trafford said: “He’s even using football terminology now and I’m thinking, ‘You haven’t thought about this, you’ve just listened to it and repeating it’.
“But dad loves it for me. As long as I’m happy, he’s happy.”
Trafford developed a strong work ethic from his years on the farm that stood him in good stead as he progressed through Manchester City’s academy after being signed from Carlisle aged 12.
And he went on to play on loan at Accrington Stanley and Bolton, where he won the EFL Trophy by beating Plymouth at Wembley in 2023, before going on to play in the Prem last season after Burnley signed him in a £19million deal.
Chelsea and England star Cole Palmer had seen so much of Trafford’s heroics as team-mates growing up at City that he was videoed on the touchline predicting his old friend would save Spain’s late stoppage-time penalty in the Euro Under-21s final in Georgia two years ago.
Not only did he dive to his right to keep out Abel Ruiz’s spot-kick, he made an incredible reflex stop from Aimar Oroz’s follow-up.
That save saw the Young Lions win the trophy — and he became the first keeper in the competition’s history to go through an entire tournament without conceding a goal.
And in his recent incredible run, he made TWO late penalty saves in last month’s goalless draw against Sunderland at Turf Moor.
Asked if the double penalty heroics at Turf Moor were among he finest, he said: “All the noise around those saves has been great but there are other things since that have brought me more enjoyment. Anyone can save a penalty.”
Trafford — who looks set for a summer move to Newcastle — was named in the most recent England squad that faced Ireland and Greece in the Nations League in November.
That was after he was in the provisional World Cup squad but was cut from the final party.
His call-up came after he was axed by then-Clarets manager Vincent Kompany — but Trafford reckons that made him stronger.
He said: “I got taken out the team and it was hard to deal with.
“Then I knew I was going away with the national team, I was excited.
“When I came back this season, it was my aim to get into the England squad even though I was in the Championship.”
The boyhood Chelsea fan was delighted the FA appointed ex-Blues boss Thomas Tuchel.
He said: “He’s a brilliant manager who has won numerous things and got a massive reputation.
“He will be the best man to win us the World Cup in 2026.”
Former NFL star JJ Watt, at the start of this incredible run, vowed to come out of retirement and play for Trafford’s favourite team, the Cincinnati Bengals, if he does not concede another goal this season.
There are 13 games left and Trafford said: “When it gets down to single digits he should start worrying!”
If he achieves another 13 clean sheets, you can bet Trafford will continue talking about this season until the cows come home!