Summary · Question 11 of 14

English goalkeepers in the top-9 leagues per million and their age at the first top-9 season, 2025/26

5 English goalkeepers played ≥ 450 minutes in the top-9 leagues, 0.09 per million (rank 8 of 8), and their median age at the first top-9 season was 26 (n = 5) against 21 for outfield exports (n = 200).

Strip plot of age at first top-9-league appearance, English goalkeepers against outfield exports, one dot per player, medians marked.
How to read it: one dot per player at the age of his first season in a top-9 league; goalkeepers in the upper strip, outfield exports in the lower, medians marked. Further left is an earlier first appearance.
Club tier: English top-9 goalkeepers, 2025/26
PlayerClub LeagueMinutes Club goals percentile
Jordan PickfordEvertonENG-Premier League3420 35 %
Dean HendersonCrystal PalaceENG-Premier League3330 20 %
Nick PopeNewcastleENG-Premier League2416 65 %
Sam JohnstoneWolvesENG-Premier League1080 5 %
Aaron RamsdaleNewcastleENG-Premier League1004 65 %
Goalkeeper production: English keepers, 2025/26
PlayerClub LeagueMinutes Goals against per 90Saves per 90 Save %Clean-sheet share
Dean HendersonCrystal PalaceENG-Premier League3330 1.382.81 66.1 %30 %
Jordan PickfordEvertonENG-Premier League3420 1.322.61 66.1 %29 %
Aaron RamsdaleNewcastleENG-Premier League1004 1.522.15 65.7 %8 %
Nick PopeNewcastleENG-Premier League2416 1.423.32 66.5 %26 %
Sam JohnstoneWolvesENG-Premier League1080 2.003.25 65.8 %0 %
Goalkeepers per million, by country
BEL Belgium
1.78
NED Netherlands
1.39
POR Portugal
1.03
ESP Spain
0.41
ITA Italy
0.29
GER Germany
0.24
FRA France
0.21
ENG England
0.09
How we know

0.09 per million; first top-9 season at a median age of 26 (n = 5), against 21 for outfield exports (n = 200); with this few goalkeepers the two medians cannot be compared.

As an analytics question In numbers: English goalkeepers with ≥ 450 minutes in the top-9 leagues, per million inhabitants, against outfield export age.

What we did We counted goalkeepers the same way we counted outfield players, then compared the age each group first reached one of the strongest leagues.

Sources 450-minute floor, 2025/26 rosters; goals against and saves per 90 are shrunk toward the league median with a prior worth 900 minutes, as every rate in the atlas; first season in a fetched top-9 table; players already there in 2020/21 are censored (100 % of the goalkeepers, 40 % of the outfield exports); a comparison of two pathways inside one nation, not a causal claim. First top-9 season needs no move for a Premier League keeper.

What this means

England had 5 goalkeepers with at least 450 minutes in the top-9 leagues. The age comparison rests on 5 goalkeepers, too few to tell two medians apart, and the per-million rank rests on counts of a few goalkeepers per country, where one player moves a country by several places.

What this does not show

Goalkeepers’ performance separated from their defence, goalkeepers in leagues outside the nine, and back-up goalkeepers below 450 minutes.

Data snapshot: FBref tables fetched 14 September 2026, snapshot commit ef7dbd4 · code: src/goalkeepers.py · status: exploratory, not pre-registered · all limitations