England star Jordan Pickford's dad changed family name after 'family trauma'

Having served as England's number one for the better part of a decade, Jordan Pickford is one of the first names on the teamsheet for Thomas Tuchel - but that name could read quite differently.

The Everton stalwart has become the most-capped World Cup player for the Three Lions (18), surpassing goalkeeping icon Peter Shilton and current teammates John Stones, Marcus Rashford, and Harry Kane.

The ever-present keeper has 89 England caps in total, with 44 clean sheets (including 9 in the World Cup), and will be hoping to make that 90 if England can win their quarter-final fixture against Norway.

But Jordan Pickford might have had a very different name that rings around stadiums, as his dad once legally altered their family name to avoid a young Jordan from being bullied at school.

Pickford's dad once changed their surname to avoid 'bullying' and 'trauma'

The Daily Mail reported back in 2018 that Pickford senior changed their family name when his son was younger after suffering his own 'family trauma'.

That's because his original surname was 'Pigford'. The family title was derived from the translation of 'Pig Crossing', but his father changed it to Pickford.

Pickford senior never knew his son would go on to be the most successful English goalkeeper of all time, and simply wanted him to avoid being bullied on the school playground.

Pickford has been an icon for England, even if there have been doubts about his performance in this World Cup so far.

In the opening games, he was singled out by Emmanuel Petit as the weak link in the Three Lions starting eleven.

"I was not really impressed by Pickford," he said

“I think he should have done better on the first goal, definitely. He made some saves, but I don't know, I don't feel it."

"If you want to go until the end, you need to have one of the strongest goalkeepers in the competition - that's my opinion.

“You may disagree with me, but I'm not really confident with him.

"With the ball at his feet, especially on the line, sometimes when he goes for a free kick or corner, I always have the feeling that something could happen."

A similar sentiment was echoed by Troy Deeney.

Pickford's error against Croatia was nullified by a huge performance against Mexico, as he made four massive saves to deny the home team from equalising.

A freak goal from Norway opens that debate up again, though.