Jordan Pickford made 18 senior appearances for Carlisle United, while James Trafford and Dean Henderson came through the club's academy. Cumbria is an area well known for the Lake District, author Beatrix Potter and of course Cumberland sausages. Turns out they make pretty good goalkeepers too.

All three of England's World Cup goalkeepers have featured for Carlisle United. Dean Henderson and James Trafford both came through the club's academy, while the Three Lions' number one Jordan Pickford passed through as a first-team player on loan. It's an accolade and source of huge pride for those presently and formerly associated to the club.

BBC Sport has been speaking to the coaches and scouts who played a part in the footballing journeys of the England stars. Jordan Pickford made 18 appearances for Carlisle while on loan from Sunderland in 2014. Having made his England debut in 2017, Pickford helped the team reach the World Cup semi-finals the following year in Russia and has cemented his place as manager Thomas Tuchel's number one. Now a veteran of the team with 85 caps at the age of 32, Carlisle played their part in his development after he joined the then-League One team on loan from Sunderland. He only played 18 games for the Cumbria-based club but clearly left his mark.

"I remember one game in particular, we were playing at Deepdale against Preston," said Ben Benson, who went to the game as a fan but was also part of Carlisle's goalkeeping set-up. "He made a mistake, one that goalkeepers up and down the country make every week." The stakes couldn't have been higher in the incident Benson recalled as Pickford, aged just 19, had joined a club struggling to stay in the division. Away to Preston he'd come for a cross and, despite seeming to have both hands on the ball, it fell from his grasp and Lee Holmes poked home to score North End's third goal in a 6-1 success.

However, it was what Pickford did after that mistake which impressed Benson and set the tone for the rest of the season. He added: "Once it happened, I could remember him going back to his goal. He got his towel and put it over his head for maybe five seconds. He took it off, put it back on, and it was almost like he'd pressed the reset button. From the moment on, I remember him being outstanding."

Pickford's displays weren't enough to save Carlisle from relegation but he returned to Sunderland where he established himself as their first-choice keeper and moved to Everton in 2017 for a transfer fee reported to be £30m. "In Jordan you see reliability and robustness first and foremost," said Benson. "For him to have over 300 Premier League appearance and more than 80 England caps, there's a robustness there and I think that's very important."

Dean Henderson (front, centre) with Carlisle United Under-15s in 2010. "The first time I met him was during half-term, he must have been 13 or 14, and he kept pestering me to train with the under-18s. I would say, 'You're too young, you're too small'. But eventually I let him have a go."

Sat in a sun-soaked garden a short drive from Carlisle city centre, Eric Kinder clearly takes great delight in delivering the plot twist to his story. "So now we've got two 18-year-old centre-forwards smashing balls at him from 12 and 18 yards," he added to BBC Sport. "They're hitting him in the face and in the stomach. There are tears coming down his face but he's getting back up and shouting, 'Do it again! Do it again!' - and I thought 'Wow', what have we got here?"

That person was Dean Henderson who, even at such a young age, was clearly doing his part in reaffirming the notion it takes a certain type of character to stand between the sticks. Kinder is now semi-retired after spending the bulk of his career as a goalkeeping coach with Carlisle's various youth teams. In Henderson and Trafford, he is able stake a claim in the development of two of England's World Cup 2026 goalkeepers. Henderson was born in Whitehaven, 40 miles from Carlisle.

In the 2025 FA Cup final Henderson, as Crystal Palace's keeper, sprung to his right to save Omar Marmoush's penalty in front of a sold-out Wembley crowd. The 1-0 victory over Manchester City marked a first major trophy for the Eagles. The fact a spot-kick save had played such a crucial part in the outcome brought back fond memories for James Tose, who scouted Henderson as a nine-year old. He had been playing as an outfield player at a community event organised by Carlisle. When a penalty shootout contest was announced, Henderson decided he wanted to go in goal to take part.

"We're standing there and all these kids keep lining up taking penalties and Dean keeps saving them all," recalled Tose. "There might have been 18 or 19 penalties. No-one was scoring. I think I took a penalty myself and he saved that too. Then I remembered meeting his mum and dad. They were over six foot and I thought, 'Wow', he's good in goal and there's a chance he might be tall too."

Tose, now chief executive of Carlisle's Community Sports Trust (CST), sent scouts to watch the youngster and the collective agreement was he could be special. But it took a few attempts to convince Henderson to focus on being a full-time goalkeeper. Once he did that, the player set his sights on becoming the best in the country. Henderson blossomed in six years under the tutelage of Carlisle's coaching staff and Manchester United signed him in 2015 at the age of 14. Henderson, now 29, played 13 times for the Premier League club and loan spells at Stockport County, Grimsby, Shrewsbury Town, Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest followed to show his quality. He then left United for current club Palace on a permanent deal, worth up to £20m, in 2023.

Tose added: "Attitude in football is huge and Dean's a very determined person and you can tell that by the career that he's had so far. It's just great to see him thrive. I've got no doubt if he gets the chance to play he'll do the country proud."

James Trafford (top left) and his childhood teammates. Trafford was born in Cockermouth, 20 miles from where Henderson grew up. He may well be third in Tuchel's goalkeeping pecking order, but experts assessing the situation say the margins are small.

After spending time in Carlisle's youth teams, he made the move to Manchester City at the tender age of 12 in 2015. Despite breaking into the first team, he struggled with a lack of regular opportunities. He left for Burnley in 2023 and impressed in their promotion to the Premier League two years later, only to return to City last summer with the objective of being Pep Guardiola's number one. But the club then signed Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma in the same transfer window to leave Trafford, 23, as a back-up keeper.

"When I look at him, you see the potential and you see the calmness," said Benson, who also coached Trafford at Carlisle. "As a player you could call him an introvert, takes it all in, not the life and soul of the party but that's not a bad thing, you see a calmness to his play. I remember him playing under [Vincent] Kompany at Burnley and he has his foot on the ball, I think they were losing the game and the crowd are getting on his back, but he stuck to the gameplan, stuck to his principles. He plays so calm and the fact he can take in this environment at such a young age, and also still execute that, is really important."

Max Crocombe, who is New Zealand's number one at the World Cup, also spent the 2016-17 season at Carlisle. While that shows it's not just the Three Lions who have benefited, it's safe to say Carlisle has become England's goalkeeping factory.

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