Everton goalkeeper George Pickford has signed a new deal before agreeing a loan move to Southport
Everton Under-21s goalkeeper George Pickford has signed a new contract with the club until June 2028 and joined Conference North side Southport on a short-term loan deal. The Preston-born shot-stopper joined the Blues as an 11-year-old, rising through the ranks of the club’s academy before becoming a regular for Paul Tait’s Everton Under-21s last season.
Pickford – an England youth international most recently capped at Under-20 level – says he’s enjoyed his development over the past few years, especially when linking up with the senior side.
After penning his new contract, the 19-year-old told evertonfc.com: “I’m excited, it’s going to be a good experience for me to keep training [with David Moyes’ first team squad] and have more years at the club.
“My development has come on a lot over the past few years, especially from training with the first-team lads and getting more confidence when I’m with them. They help me a lot when I’m up there and it gives me a little boost to keep going.”
Pickford has played in 22 games across all competitions for Everton U21s this season, picking up six clean sheets in Premier League 2 – the most in the division.
Although there’s no relation to England number one and namesake, Jordan, they often sharpen their skills together at the club’s Finch Farm training ground.
George explains that Everton’s senior keeper has been a huge factor in his progression, and said: “It’s unbelievable to train with him, especially when you watch him when he plays for the first team and you see how good he is.
“But you see all the stuff you don’t see in games – and how much he helps you, too. I’m only 19, and he’s always there to improve you and help you as much as he can.
“He’ll always give the right advice, and I’ll always take it on board. Throughout the academy, we’ve got some really good goalkeepers, I think the whole club has.
“We've got Dave Lucas (coaching) for the first team, we’ve got Aaron (Cameron) who helps us all out. I think working with them over the year, it just gives us all a lot of improvement.”
Now heading to National League North club Southport for the remainder of the campaign, Pickford is relishing his maiden loan spell with Neil Danns’ side.
He said: “I’m really excited, especially with the club I’m going to. I’m going to do the best I can for the club, especially with all the fans there as well who will be supporting us.
“I think it’s going to be really good and it's going to develop me a lot as well. I’ll still be training with the Everton first team while I’m there, so it’ll be really good for me to experience both parts of it.”