Trafford: Loan moves, beach training and Wembley glory
Trafford: Loan moves, beach training and Wembley glory Trafford, who had loan spells with Accrington and Bolton before leaving City for Burnley, admits he would always encourage younger keepers to gain experience with loan moves. The youngster’s reputation quickly grew, first with Accrington but particularly with Bolton where he made 67 appearances over an 18-month period, before his permanent move from parent club City to Burnley in 2023. “I remember being in the squad for the Champions League final against Chelsea during the COVID season, and three weeks later I was running around Formby beach on loan with Accrington Stanley,” recalled Trafford.
“The manager would walk off into the distance and we’d be told we all had to run up to where he was, so everything was different, I was 18 and just a young lad. “We’d train on a cricket ground in pre-season with no marked lines and you either enjoy it or you don’t, but I loved it because you are growing as a person all the time. “I try to push loans for younger lads because you learn so much.
“When I was at City during my first spell,, our team was that good, we used to batter everyone because our age group was just ridiculous. “It’s a very different world here - I was at Carlisle until I was 12 and then at City until I was 18, so to go to Accrington after that was a real learning curve. ” Trafford admits being taken back, somewhat, by even the simplest of gestures when he first came on trial to City.
Fresh from life in a small West Cumbrian village where his family own a farm, Manchester City felt a glamorous step up for the highly-rated young keeper. “So I’m 12 and had just come out of farming! ” he smiled.
“I came on trial here and I remember being asked if I was thirsty and whether I wanted a bottle of water and it was like ‘wow, a bottle of water? ’ - then I was given some new gloves and I was thinking, ‘It’s a bit mad this! ’ because I used to only get new gloves for Christmas and they’d be expected to last three monhs!