Jordan Pickford's meteoric rise to England World Cup 2018 hero just six years after mum wouldn't put Sky in his room
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Just six years ago, World Cup hero Jordan Pickford Tweeted a complaint to his parents about not having Sky in his room.
He was unhappy at the options on Freeview. Now he is the most expensive goal keeper in British football history, earning £60,000-a-week - and a hero of our first ever penalty shoot out victory at the World Cup.
The former Sunderland keeper recalled having his lunch in the back of the car when dad Lee took him to games from their home in Washington, Tyne and Wear.
Lee, a builder, was in the crowd, raising his arm in the air as his son punched away the spot kick.
"I'd travel to Alfreton for games and my dad, Lee, would drive,' recalled Pickford, now a favourite with the fans at Everton.
"I'd eat my pre-match meal in the back. Mam would make chicken and pasta and she'd stick it in a tub.
(Image: Propaganda)
"I'm not sure it was too professional but as long as I was getting man of the match it was all right!"
He has not forgotten their devotion, and the help they gave to get him to the very top.
"They both came to every game, it was brilliant," he went on.
(Image: Jordan Pickford/Twitter)
"It's the little things you remember.
"My mam, Sue, would take me to training in a taxi when I was a kid if dad, who is a builder, had to work on a Saturday morning.
"You look back at the stuff like that and realise the sacrifices were all worth it."
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Pickford made a fantastic save from Carlos Bacca to put England ahead before super-cool Eric Dier tucked away his kick to send millions of fans back home into dreamland.
There were scenes of jubilation on the final whistle as Dier was mobbed by his team mates and the England fans in the stands danced and sang to 'Football's Coming Home'.
The goalkeeper was known to friends as 'Picky' growing up eight miles from the Stadium of Light.
He was a Sunderland fanatic, and went to St Robert of Newminster Catholic School when his parents enrolled him into Sunderland's academy, aged eight.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
There were no goalie positions and he later travelled the country on loan just to get experience, playing at Darlington, Alfreton Town, Burton Albion, Carlisle United, Bradford City and Preston North End.
He also represented his country at junior level aged under-16, U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21.
"He's a typical, down-to-earth local lad, there is no arrogance to him, it's all confidence," says Adrian Tucker, the former Sunderland goalkeeping coach who worked with Pickford after his first-team breakthrough.
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Pickford signed his first professional contract with the side in in 2011. Six years later he had made a huge impression on his team - and Everton.
The star keeper signed for them in 2017 for a five-year stint, on a salary of £25million, likely to increase to £30million with add-ons.
(Image: Ryan Pierse)
He met his girlfriend Megan Davison, 22, at school. She is University of Sunderland graduatd, and they have been dating since she was 14 and he was 16.
They now live together in Cheshire. And 'Instagram addict' Megan posts pictures of herself enjoying champagne and cocktails on beaches around the world, including the Bahamas.
But former Sunderland academy boss Kevin Ball says the World Cup star has remained a down to earth, likeable character. "He asked for my autograph and a photo and said I was his favourite player," remembers Ball, now a club ambassador.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
"He showed me that picture years later and asked if I recognised who was in it. I said, "Well, the handsome one is obviously me, and I'm guessing that scrawny little kid is you?".'
Former team mate George Honeyman is a big admirer of Pickford.
"I played with him all the way through and he's always been such a fierce competitor," he said.
"He had his mood swings if he didn't get his own way, but the main reason he has succeeded is how competitive and aggressive he is.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
"Off the pitch, he's the life and soul, no-one dislikes him. Everyone says goalkeepers are mad, but he genuinely is, he's a nutter, in the nicest way. He loves his boxing, motocross, golf, he's just a full-on, fun guy to be around.'
And coach Ball remembers that well.
Once, team mates overheard him telling Jordan he wouldn't make it with his attitude - to which the goalie replied 'I bet I will'.
Ball said: 'He thought he was the best. He knew he had potential and athletic ability. But you have to work hard to achieve that, and he has.
(Image: Clive Brunskill)
"He wanted to be in the first-team at 17 and was pushy, but I liked that. He challenged me.' On the morning of his senior debut at Sunderland Pickford called his former coach, just to say thank you.
Pickford is expected to start in England's game against Sweden on Saturday. And England now go into the quarter final against Sweden as clear second favourites to win the World Cup.
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Our keeper's meteoric rise is perhaps best summed up by a tweet he sent six years ago, which has been widely shared in the time since he helped England to the last eight of the World Cup.
Sent in September 2012, the then-18-year-old Pickford complained about his parents not paying for him to have sky television in his room. 'Freeview is soul destroying at this time of night,' he wrote.
It is unlikely to trouble him now.