NICK POPE has shown a lotta bottle to earn his England call-up.
Now the one-time milkman is on the doorstep of a place at the World Cup this summer.
Pope, 25, started the season as Burnley’s back-up keeper, behind another Three Lions hopeful Tom Heaton.
But Heaton’s dislocated shoulder back in September gave Pope his chance.
And he delivered so much for the Clarets he gatecrashed Gareth Southgate’s squad for Friday night’s friendly in Holland and the Three Lions’ Wembley date with Italy on Tuesday.
Yet Pope was rejected by Ipswich when he was just 16 then played for Bury Town Reserves while studying at West Suffolk College and earning a few quid as a milkman in his home town of Soham, Cambridgeshire.
He said: “Obviously when you get released by Ipswich at 16, you think making it is a distant possibility.
“But I was lucky enough to go to a college and a set-up that suited me down to the ground with the people I met.
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“That allowed me to play 150 games in three years — something that is impossible in academy football.
“It allowed me to get into the men’s game and play men’s football at that young age. That gave me a springboard and helped me grow as a player
“I did two years of business marketing and one year of sports science. I had a couple of jobs alongside — on a milkround and in Next, too.
“It didn’t pay much. I was on an electric float. It was a 4am start in Soham.”
Pope joined Charlton in 2011 after being spotted playing for Bury Town — based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
He had loan stints at Cambridge, Aldershot, York and Bury — the one in Greater Manchester — before Sean Dyche took him to Burnley in 2016.
The keeper has not forgotten his football roots in deepest East Anglia, though.
Asked about his least favourite ground, Pope revealed: “There were a couple. Bury Town Reserves played in the Essex & Suffolk Border League — not many would have heard of that one, step seven I think.
“Brightlingsea was a bit of a rough one — I hope the people there won’t mind me saying that — and Little Oakley. Some places you might not even find on a map to be honest.
“Ten people and a dog were watching, not many.
“We won the reserve version of the Suffolk Senior Cup. I think I might still have the medal . . . somewhere.
“I have worked through the leagues. So yes, I feel as though I have put in the hard yards to get to this level.
Pope is one of four keepers in the squad battling with Joe Hart, Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford.
He added: “There’s got to be one No 1 and I want it to be me. You’ve got to be hungry in football and you’ve got to be greedy, as well.
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“The last six months are something I couldn’t have foreseen happening.
“Obviously Tom going down was an opportunity for me and something that has blossomed into an England call-up.
“I’ve played in some cold, dark leagues so this is a level — this national team — that you think is too far away almost.
“It is a day I never thought I would see come. But it is not a fluke to get into the England squad. I am here to prove myself again. It’s a new challenge and one I want to take on.”
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Pope’s Turf Moor team-mate James Tarkowski has overcome his own hurdles to land a first England call-up.
The defender, 25, said: “I broke my leg when I was 15, had a double foot operation at 17 and then lingered around Oldham’s reserves for a few years.
“Eventually, I kicked on but sometimes you have to wait for the opportunity which has come around this season.
“It’s always an ambition to play for England. But it wasn’t until a few weeks into the season, when I started to do OK and the club started to do well, that I thought, ‘Maybe I’ve got a chance but there’s a lot of work to be done’.
“Fortunately, that work’s been done.”
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