Non-League side's unlikely role in England vs Denmark Euro 2024 clash
England’s Group C clash against Denmark at Euro 2024 features two of the best goalkeepers in the tournament.
Jordan Pickford has been England’s No. 1 since 2017, turning out 62 times for the Three Lions before Thursday afternoon’s clash in Frankfurt as he plays his fourth major tournament for the Three Lions.
In the other goal stands Kasper Schmeichel, the Danish stopper who stepped out of the shadow of his father Peter years ago, winning more than 100 international caps and being the bedrock of the fairytale Leicester City 2015/16 Premier League win.
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Between them, the pair have combined for more than 160 international caps and over 1,160 senior appearances.
And remarkably, both of these senior careers began at the same unlikely ground that hasn’t hosted a football match since 2012.
The Darlington Arena was home to Darlington FC between 2003 and 2012, during which time both goalkeepers enjoyed loan spells with The Quakers.
Schmeichel came through the Manchester City academy and was given his first taste of first-team football at the club in 2006, making his senior debut for League 2 Darlington against Peterborough in January 2006 at the Darlington Arena, one of just four appearances he made for the club.
Kasper Schmeichel in action for Denmark (Image credit: PA)
Fast forward to 2012 and Darlo had another promising young goalkeeper on loan, as Pickford joined from Sunderland. His debut also came at the Darlington Arena, when he played in a 1-0 defeat to Fleetwood Town. He would make 17 appearances as Darlo were relegated from the Conference that season.
Both have gone on to bigger and better things and have the eyes of the world watching them at Euro 2024, while Darlington now play their football at the more modest Blackwell Meadows (capacity is just over 3,000, compared to the Arena’s 25,000) in the National League North.
Pickford has two records in his sights at Euro 2024. Firstly, he has overtaken Peter Shilton to set the mark for the most tournament appearances by and England goalkeeper at 21 and after keeping a clean sheet against Serbia, he just needs one more to overtake another Shilton record of 10 tournament blanks.
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