It's 61 England caps and counting heading into Euro 2024 for Jordan Pickford, who has been at the heart of one of English football's most exciting generations. A World-Cup semi-final in 2018, a European Championship Final in 2021 and a World Cup quarter-final in 2022. Not quite a golden generation until they win some silverware, this summer, the Three Lions want to go all the way.

The former Sunderland shot stopper is one of the finest to don the gloves for his country, from humble beginnings at grassroots level with Washington Envelopes.

"My first memories of football come from when I used to play out in the street near home with my brother, he was a bit older than me but I’d join in with him and his mates," Pickford told England Football.

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"There’s nothing specific around that, but I do remember going to see my brother play for a team he’d joined and there was an U7s team on the same pitch and they didn't have a keeper.

"I was probably a year or so younger than them, but used to go in goal when I was knocking on the street so I just joined in and ever since then I've been in goal. 

"That team was Washington Envelopes, my first club. I didn't really think much about playing with the older lads, but I just liked being brave and getting in front of the football.

"I started playing in the league for them and I remember playing every Saturday and then when the summer came around we'd play in midweeks too.

"The training pitch was just at a local secondary school because there wasn't an actual associated junior club, but that didn’t matter at the time, I just enjoyed playing really."

At eight years-old, Sunderland came calling. After impressing on a six-week trial with the development squad at the Academy of Light, Pickford signed for his boyhood club and would start his ascent to the first-team.

"From an early age, there were lots of coaches that I've worked with who have had such a big influence on me," Pickford added.

"Mark Prudhoe was my goalkeeping coaches and is one who I still speak to today. And at the Sunderland academy, people like Kevin Ball, Elliott Dickman and Ged McNamee...whenever I'm back home I always try to pop in and see them."

It's the aforementioned Black Cats' coaches who played an integral part in getting him where he is today.

"Bally was a massive help for me, he's been top drawer with coaching," Pickford said in an interview with Sunderland's club channels after his departure. "Mark Prudhoe has been the main one for me. He was my first coach from Under-8s and has been massive for me.

"It's been a massive pathway for me and hopefully it's a pathway for others."

It takes a village to raise a Premier League footballer. From the unseen dedication of parents travelling up and down the country after work, to the work with academy coaches behind closed doors, missing out on social occasions with friends in order to prepare for a game.

You need to have a certain mindset to become a footballer, let alone an elite level, international.

From an early age, Pickford was different from the rest.

“Jordan’s transition from youth football to where he is now has been excellent," Sunderland goalkeeper coach Mark Prudhoe told Chronicle Live back in 2017.

“And along that journey, there’s been Kevin Ball, Ged McNamee, and Wayne Walls who brought him to the club. I worked with Jordan when he first came to the club at the age of eight and, apart from a few years when I moved to coach at Hull City, have seen him go right through the system to become part of the first team squad.

“When you look at an eight-year-old you’re assessing their height, are they athletic, are they quick, does he have the right build – Jordan had all those things. He trained a couple of days a week, and you could see from very early on that he had the ability to go as far as he wanted.

“Jordan got into the England set-up with the Under 14s, and Under 15s, so straightaway his career took off. From a young age we thought something of him, and he’s delivering on that promise."

Jordan Pickford during his loan spell with Darlington.Jordan Pickford during his loan spell with Darlington.

Signing a two-year scholarship with the Black Cats in 2010, Pickford was promoted to the reserves the following season, before heading to Darlington and Alfreton Town on loan. Then Sunderland boss, Martin O'Neill, wanted the youngster to toughen up, and he did just that.

More successful loan spells with Burton Albion, Carlisle United, Bradford City and then Preston North End would follow, before being recalled from the Lilywhites by Sam Allardyce and handed an opportunity to make his debut in red and white.

Pickford would make his debut in the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup in 2016, his first start in the Premier League would follow just a week later, a 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

"It was a dream come true as a young lad coming from Washington and a Sunderland fan," he said after his debut. "Obviously the result wasn't the best, but from a personal point of view it was the proudest moment of my life, and for my family as well.

"I have been on a lot of loans and have benefited from each of them. The Preston one really helped me. I'm thankful that they took me, I came back and there's nothing better [than] to go and play.

"I didn't feel too nervous. I kind of told myself it was just another game and I had to keep the ball out of the net. I've made my debut now and I couldn't ask for any more. I'll have to carry on working hard in training and keep putting the pressure on."

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While results at the time of his breakthrough were far from ideal, the young goalkeeper had played in the top five leagues of English football by the age of 21.

Sunderland would tie him down to a new contract ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, starting as understudy to Vito Mannone. However, when the Italian suffered a serious injury to his arm, it gave the academy graduate an opportunity, one he grasped with both hands.

Pickford would make 32 appearances in all competitions as the Black Cats were relegated to the Championship, but he was a silver lining from a dismal campaign, one of six players to be nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Season.

With the Black Cats relegated, they cashed in on Pickford that summer for an initial fee of £25 million, rising to £30 million in add-ons, making him the third most expensive goalkeeper in history at the time, and the most expensive British shot stopper of all time.

Pickford was called up to the England set-up for the first time after making that move to Goodison Park, but would withdraw from the squad due to injury.

Picking up where he left off at the Stadium of Light, Pickford was voted Everton's Player of the Season, along with various other accolades, making his debut for the Three Lions in a 0-0 draw with Germany at Wembley Stadium in November 2017. His senior international career was just about to kick off.

Handed his first opportunity by Southgate, it was that summer, in England's World Cup campaign in Russia, that Pickford announced himself on the international stage.

After finishing runners up behind Belgium, England were handed a last-16 tie against Colombia. The game finished 1-1 in normal time, with neither side breaking the deadlock in extra-time.

Dreaded penalties.

It was an iconic shootout and to this day, it still makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. In any tournament, you need luck - something England always seem to be on the wrong side of.

England had won a World Cup shootout for the first time and Pickford was the man of the moment.

The Three Lions would reach the semi-final stages before being dumped out by Croatia.

Southgate's side have been the nearly men for the past three tournaments, the Euro 2020 penalty shootout defeat to Italy the cruellest of the lot. 

But still, there's an air of confidence heading into this summer's tournament in Germany. 

While times may well have changed, England's trophy drought has not.

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It has to be different this time? Surely?

One thing is for certain, Pickford will play a key part this summer.

Unquestionably England's number one.