Nick will milk every moment of his chance to make the England team
‘It is now every man for himself, so why can’t it be me?’
NINE years ago, when Nick Pope was waking at 4am to do the milk round on his electric float in the villages of Suffolk, the World Cup was the stuff of dreams.
Particularly when later in the day he would turn out for Bury Town reserves in the Essex and Suffolk Border League at places such as Brightlingsea and Little Oakley.
From full fat and semiskimmed to sitting at St George’s Park in an England tracksuit talking about his chances of making his debut for the national team. Now that is some story.
But yesterday, that was exactly where his journey had taken the 25-year-old, one of four goalkeepers in England manager Gareth Southgate’s squad for the World Cup warm-up games against Holland in Amsterdam on Friday and Italy at Wembley next Tuesday.
“Being here is a massive achievement,” said Burnley keeper Pope. “It is a day I never thought I would see come.” It could become even greater. Along with West Ham’s Joe Hart, Stoke’s Jack Butland and Everton’s Jordan Pickford, Pope is in a quartet chasing the No1 role... possibly all the way to the World Cup finals.
“There has to be one keeper who has that slot,” said Pope. “There are eight games left of the Premier League season, and it is every man for himself. I want it to be me. Who wouldn’t?”
Kicked out by Ipswich at 16 for not being good enough, a shattered Pope ended up doing a marketing course at West Suffolk College in Bury St Edmunds, and playing for Bury Town, making his debut in the tough environs of the Southern League, doing his milk round and working in Next as well.
The route to Burnley has been a long one – being picked up by Charlton, but then loaned out to the non-League sides such as Harrow Borough, Welling United and Aldershot Town. It has not been easy. He said: “There were a couple of really rough places. I was in Bury Town reserves and they played in the Essex and Suffolk Border League. Not many would have heard of that one, step seven.
“Brightlingsea was a bit of a rough ground – and I hope the people of Brightlingsea won’t mind me saying that, Little Oakley, they are some places you might not even find on the map, to be honest. Ten people and a dog watching.”
Pope earned his shot at Burnley this season when first choice and another England candidate, Tom Heaton, dislocated his shoulder in September.
Pope came in and played so well between the sticks that his rival cannot get his place back.
He said: “When you get released at 16 you think this possibility is a long way away.
“But I was lucky enough then to go to college. The set-up allowed me to
play about 150 games in three years in men’s football, something that in academy football would have been impossible. “It allowed me to get into the men’s game it was the springboard that helped me grow as a person and as a player. “I did two years of business marketing and one year sports science at college. I had couple of jobs alongside that, a milk round in Soham and working in Next for a bit.” What was the money like on the milk round? “Not enough. But I didn’t drop any bottles,” said Pope. “I have worked through the leagues. There were some cold and dark ones in the Ryman League and Southern League. You think even the National League would be too far away, almost.
“It’s sweeter now. I feel as though I have put in the hard yards and have proved myself to get to this level. It’s not a fluke to get into the England squad. But I’m here to prove myself again.”
Pope joined Burnley from Charlton in July 2016 as back-up to Heaton, but he said: “When Tom went down, it was an opportunity for me. It has blossomed into an England call-up.
“I’m here now. If I wasn’t in this squad, a shot at the World Cup is an outside thing. I have to prove myself at this level. I have come here to show what I’m about. I want to play for England.” Pope’s namesake Nick was also the government’s man in charge of their UFO investigation department in the Nineties.
When the footballer Pope made his Premier League debut in September, UFO Pope got some tweets congratulating him.
Footballer Nick said: “It first came up when I made my league debut. I think he got a number of tweets meant for me, and since then I’ve probably had a few meant for him.
“But I have not had any UFO experiences.”