Manchester City
Trafford began his career with Cockermouth and Carlisle United, signing with Manchester City in August 2015 at the age of 12. [5] At Carlisle he began as a midfielder but volunteered to become a goalkeeper at age nine. [7] He was part of the Manchester City Under-18s team that won the 2019–20 Professional U18 Development League and the Under-23s team that won the 2020–21 Professional U23 Development League. [8]
He moved on loan to Accrington Stanley in July 2021. [9] This loan was later described as "challenging" due to injuries and losing his first-team place. [7]
Bolton Wanderers
Trafford signed on loan for Bolton Wanderers on 13 January 2022, until the end of the 2021–22 season. [10] He kept four clean sheets in his first four games, the first time a goalkeeper had done so in Bolton's entire history. [11] [12] [6]
On 15 June 2022, Trafford rejoined Bolton on loan for a further season. [13] [14] In July 2022, he signed a new five-year contract with Manchester City. [15] By October he was noted for his clean sheets, [16] and Trafford broke Bolton's record for consecutive home clean sheets on 4 February, with the 1–0 win over Cheltenham Town being his eighth in a row. [17] [18] [19] He was able to extend the record to nine, [20] [6] though was unable to have it reach double figures as on 25 February he conceded against Port Vale in a 2–1 win, the first time since 2 December. [21] On 2 April, he started in the 2023 EFL Trophy final and kept a clean sheet in 4–0 win against Plymouth Argyle. [22] Trafford's clean sheet in a 1–0 win against Shrewbury Town on 22 April was his 25th of the season, which broke the record for the most clean sheets by a Bolton goalkeeper in one season. [23] [24] He finished the season with a total of 26 clean sheets. [6] He helped Bolton qualify for the play-offs, though they were defeated by Barnsley in the semi-finals. [25] He was voted as Bolton's Young Player of the Year for the 2022–23 season, together with Conor Bradley. [26] [27] His performances during the season saw him named in the PFA Team of the Year for League One. [28] He said his time at Bolton turned him from a "long, skinny boy" into a "long, skinny man". [29]
Burnley
On 3 July 2023, it was announced that a £15 million transfer fee had been agreed between Manchester City and Burnley for Trafford. [30] With add-ons, the deal could reach a total of £19 million — which if met would break Burnley's transfer record. [6] On 20 July 2023, Trafford's move to Burnley was officially completed. [31] [32] Due to their sell-on clause, Carlisle United got 15% of the fee for around £2.25m. [33] He became the third most expensive British goalkeeper in history. [34]
He made his Burnley and Premier League debut on 11 August 2023, in a 3–0 home defeat to his former club Manchester City. [35] He earned high praise after Man of the Match performance in a 1–1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion on 9 December in which he made 10 saves. [36] [37]
In January 2025, he saved two penalties in a league match against Sunderland, [38] [39] being praised by manager Scott Parker as a "special" player. [40] Having not conceded a goal across any of their six matches in the month, he was named EFL Championship Player of the Month. [41] By February 2025, Trafford had gone 1,000 minutes without conceding a goal. [42] In March 2025, this streak came to an end in Burnley's EFL Championship match against Cardiff City, with Yousef Salech scoring in the 42nd minute. [43] During this run, Trafford got 12 clean sheets in a row — breaking the record for the most consecutive clean sheets in Championship history (the prior record was 10). [44] After 33 games, Trafford/Burnley had conceded only 9 goals — the lowest in the history of English Football at that point of the season. [45] Trafford finished the season with 29 clean sheets, [46] which equalled the record for a goalkeeper in a single season in English football. [47] During the 2024–25 season, Burnley conceded only 16 goals in 46 games, the least in the history of the Football League, beating the previous record of 20, [48] [45] although this was 1 more than Chelsea's 15 conceded in 38 games in the 2004–05 Premier League. [45]
Return to Manchester City
On 29 July 2025, Manchester City announced the return of Trafford on a five-year deal, after activating their buy-back clause and matching Newcastle United's £31 million bid. [8] [49] [50] Trafford's official fee was £31 million (being the record paid for a British goalkeeper), although City received £4 million back due to their sell-on clause, and so only paid £27 million. [49] [50] On 16 August, he made his debut for City in their first Premier League game of the season, keeping a clean sheet in a 4–0 away win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. [51] In his home debut for City on 23 August, he made an error that led to Tottenham Hotspur's second goal in a 2–0 defeat. After the game, Guardiola said he still backed Trafford. [52] Trafford was presented with the August Save of the Month award for saving a close-range shot by Jan Paul van Hecke as City lost 2–1 to Brighton & Hove Albion on 31 August. [53] [54]
