Jordan Pickford is now an established Premier League and England goalkeeper, the 23-year-old having signed for Everton from Sunderland in a mammoth £30million move last summer, and it was just over six that he made his senior debut for Darlington.

Then aged 17 and highly-rated at Sunderland, he was brought on loan to The Northern Echo Arena by Craig Liddle to replace Sam Russell, who had joined Forest Green following the previous fixture away to Barrow, while Liam Hatch and Jamie Chandler also left to join Gateshead.

Pickford’s debut came in front of a bumper crowd of 5,638, fans from around the country rallying around to lend their support to financially-stricken Quakers.

Darlington lost the Fleetwood game 1-0, Pickford going on to make 17 appearances as he took his first steps in the senior game.

Thanks to Craig Stoddart