Nicholas David Pope

Nicholas David Pope is an English goalkeeper born in Soham in 1992. After being released by Ipswich Town’s academy at 16, he joined non-league Bury Town in 2008, where he made his senior debut and established himself as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper. Pope signed professionally for Charlton Athletic in 2011 and developed through loan spells with Harrow Borough, Welling United, Cambridge United, Aldershot Town, York City and Bury. His promotion-winning spell at Bury in 2015 helped earn him a move to Premier League club Burnley in 2016. Initially deputising for Tom Heaton, Pope took over after Heaton’s injury in 2017 and became a regular first-choice goalkeeper. He kept 15 league clean sheets in 2019–20 and was selected for the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, while also joining England’s squad for the 2018 World Cup. In 2022, Pope moved to Newcastle United, where his shot-stopping and command of crosses supported the club’s return to Champions League qualification.