'One Of Our Own'

When I was a little nipper who first frequented Roker Park in the 90s, Tony Norman was between the sticks for Sunderland. He was the first goalkeeper I saw play for us in the flesh. It wasn’t until I got older that I really appreciated how good someone like Shay Given was, especially when you take into consideration how old he was in that 1995/96 title-winning season. Whenever the subject of keepers crop up in conversation, I always found it difficult to pick a stopper I’d seen who stood out from the rest. My Grandad would say Mapson or Monty and my Dad loved Chris Turner. As I write, I’m scanning through each of them in my mind; the guys I saw who tried their damnedest to keep the ball out of the back of our net. When I think about it, I’ve seen plenty of bad ones too. There’s been no middle ground; it’s been one or the other! Personally, I loved Thomas Sorensen. He was a great shot stopper, and was fairly vocal too. His level of consistency was what made him one of our great goalkeepers, certainly in the more modern history of the club. He helped us into the Premier League, and was part of Peter Reid’s sides that finished 7^th in consecutive seasons, as if you didn’t know that eh? I thought Simon Mignolet was very good too. He’s had his problems at Liverpool, but for me that doesn’t detract from a successful spell at Sunderland. We made a healthy profit on him too. Craig Gordon is also worth a mention. This season though, all of that reasoning and reminiscing has changed. There is no longer a debate to be had. There is one reason as to why I’ve written this piece on SAFC’s goalkeepers, and that reason is Jordan Pickford.

I write this the day after our defeat to Arsenal. Again, we’ve learned very little from a game concerning the club’s current players. We know the politics surrounding most of them, those of which will not be here next season. I won’t be losing any sleep on that I can assure you. One thing that I have learned is that we possess arguably the most exciting young keeper in the league, and in this country. Maybe even in Europe. Arsenal managed 36 shots at goal, with fourteen on target. The different type of saves Pickford was making was astounding. Quite simply, the kid has everything. His positioning enables him to make saves of all kinds. He is very vocal and commands his box extremely well. He has held his head high this season and he knows exactly what it means to wear the Sunderland badge on his chest. The quick and astonishing accuracy of his distribution is so good; I can’t say I’ve seen anything like it before, especially from a Sunderland keeper. It is scary that he has only just turned 23 years old. The club have managed him well I have to say, the loans he’s had have more than contributed to his rapid development. Tie all that in with the fact that he’s a local lad, means he already has an affinity with the Wearside faithful that is only reserved for a special select group of players.

Jordan Pickford can go on to be as good as he wants to be, and by that I mean in terms of joining a top club competing for honours in the elite competitions and on the biggest of stages. He will play for England for many years, of that I have no doubt. In the same way we look at Jordan Henderson, there is certainly scope to do that after leaving Sunderland, which Pickford will inevitably do in the not too distant future. Whether he remains here next season is doubtful, however much we like to think that it is vaguely possible. Whatever he decides and wherever he goes, he will do so with our blessing. He is as they say, ‘one of our own.’ The debate I’ve had with myself and others these past few years is over. Jordan Pickford is without doubt the best goalkeeper I’ve seen play for Sunderland.