POPE’S JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY
Cool head and quiet determination have helped England goalkeeper reach the top
NICk POPE’S rise from rejection as a teenager at Ipswich Town has been defined by his ability to seize the moment. Whether on trial at Charlton, on loan in the lower reaches or stepping in for an injured Tom Heaton at Burnley, he has rarely let an opportunity slip by.
The secret lies somewhere within his even nature and quiet determination, according to those who know him best.
Strength of character has helped him survive those setbacks that come with the territory for goalkeepers and will serve the 29-year-old well as he reports for international duty as England’s senior goalkeeper.
‘I love the kid,’ says Ben Roberts, who was Charlton’s goalkeeping coach when chief scout Phil Chapple asked him in 2010 to look at Pope, then a teenager playing in goal for Bury Town in Suffolk.
‘He had a straggly mullet and a bandaged-up head because he got a massive bang after about 10 minutes. I sat behind the goal and there was enough to like
‘He can cope when the eyes of the country are on him’
about his character to invite him in on trial.’
Roberts, now in the same role at Brighton, became a central figure in Pope’s early development and is a coach prepared to make a stand to protect his young players.
In December 2014, when Charlton were 2-0 down after 20 minutes at Blackburn, manager Bob Peeters sent substitute goalkeeper Neil Etheridge out to warm up.
‘I was sitting in the stand and radioed down to say, “What’s going on?”,’ Roberts tells Sportsmail. ‘They were like, “Er, Ben, the manager’s going to bring Popey off”. I said, “Come on, you’re killing the kid, tell him if he does that I’m walking out of the stadium”.
‘I was checking the Trainline app to see how I was going to get back to London. It was heated at halftime but afterwards the manager was fine about it. He kept him on and Popey went on and made five or six big saves. There are lots of stories like that with goalkeepers.
‘It’s important not to zoom in on mistakes. If there are too many or you see no improvement then it’s a problem but I know more about a goalkeeper after they’ve made an error. Can they front up in training with their team-mates and perform the next week? That’s when you know you’ve got a goalkeeper.’
This is a recurring theme in Pope’s story. When a loan at Aldershot went badly, he set out to put it right on loan at York, then in League Two.
‘Nick was inspirational as we reached the play- offs,’ says York chairman Jason McGill. ‘You could see he was destined for big things and he went about it all with a quiet authority.’
Pope made 22 appearances but the bond is still strong and he recently bought an old Bootham Crescent goalpost as the club auctioned off the fixtures and fittings from their beloved old ground.
‘He told me he’s going to put it in the garden and hope his missus won’t notice,’ says York’s goalkeeping coach Andy Collett.
‘I’ve seen plenty of guys turn up on loan at clubs in Leagues One and Two and not buy into the culture once they find out they’ll have to wash their own kit and stay in a B&B. Nick was superb, he bought into the club and lived in a B&B with four or five others.
‘It’s great to see him now performing at the highest level with all the attributes you need to be England’s goalkeeper. He’s good in the air, positive and makes those big saves that get you off your seat.’
Pope’s next loan was at Bury, attracting Premier League scouts as he helped the Shakers win promotion to League One.
‘His personality around the place was massive,’ says David Flitcroft, then Bury boss and now Port Vale’s director of football. ‘He spent hours in the gym and joined the staff’s head-tennis tournament because he was trying to develop his touch with his feet.
‘It was a constant search for improvement and an obsession with keeping a clean sheet like a striker has for scoring goals.
‘He was brave, not scared of making mistakes and unfazed by the physical element. We played Stevenage under Graham Westley, the most direct team, they liked to swing in set-pieces and get round the goalkeeper. I’d never seen them take a short corner and they went w short with every set-piece.
‘That stuck out for me. That was their t strength and they’d prepared something s totally different because they knew Popey would come and take anything in the air and a they’d get counter-attacked.’
Flitcroft is another who is certain Pope can handle the unique pressure of being England’s No 1.
‘His strengths are his character, decision-making and courage,’ he adds. ‘His journey has been one of the hardest. He’s done almost every level to reach this one.
‘Hunger plays a big part in football. He will drive through the tough times. He has the mental capacity to cope with it when the eyes of the country are on him.’
Back at Charlton, after promotion with Bury in 2015, his mentor Roberts had moved on and Lee Turner was goalkeeping coach.
‘Nick was at a crossroads,’ says Turner, now in the same role at Millwall. ‘He felt there wasn’t a future at Charlton and we had a long discussion in Belgium on pre- season, rebooting him and planning a training programme to suit his development.
‘He’s a thinker, a student of the game. There’s a calmness about the way he plays and that’s a wonderful thing because goalkeepers can be emotional, a little bit up and down, but he just goes about his business.
‘We spent hours going through his games and training, and I’m sure he’s carried on like that with Billy Mercer, his coach at Burnley. I’ve been glad to see him blossom because he’s a lovely guy and it sends signs to others that you can come back from adversity.’
Pope has waited patiently for his chance with England. He has won four caps in almost three years since making a debut in a friendly against Costa Rica. He is yet to concede in 250 minutes.
Opportunity knocks again. Jordan Pickford, who has retained Gareth Southgate’s faith, is out with a muscle injury. Dean Henderson, who made his debut as a sub against Ireland in November, and uncapped Sam Johnstone are the other keepers in the squad for World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland.
Do not be surprised if Pope takes the chance with both hands.