Lee Carsley has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal as England U21 boss.
To name just a few: Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott, Bayer Leverkusen target Jarell Quansah, Manchester City’s James McAtee and Arsenal wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri.
So while the achievement of retaining the U21 European Championship at the end of June – after a gripping 3-2 win over Germany after extra-time – was a tremendous achievement, it was perhaps not completely unexpected.
Between the sticks in the team was Brighton’s James Beadle, the current first-choice goalkeeper for the Young Lions, who has taken the mantle from Burnley’s James Trafford within the last year.
The 20-year-old has played just shy of 100 senior games through loan spells at Crewe, Oxford and, most recently, Sheffield Wednesday. A summer loan to Birmingham was mooted throughout June.
With input from Fred Barber – Beadle’s goalkeeper coach at Crewe – BBC Radio Sheffield’s Andy Giddings and The Argus’ Brighton reporter Brian Owen, we take a look at the goalkeeper’s journey so far, and what the future may hold.
An untested 18-year-old begins to make his mark
Beadle’s loan to Crewe in January 2023 gave him his first taste of senior men’s football.
“Arthur Okonkwo was going back to Arsenal, then on loan in Austria, so we needed another young goalkeeper to fight for the No 1 spot,” says Barber.
“I spoke to a very good goalkeeping agent in Richard Lee, who I’ve known since he played for Watford. I respect and listen to him because he’s always given me good players.
“The manager didn’t know much about James and I didn’t know much about him. A lot of clubs don’t really want to touch youngsters because they’re untried, untested, but with Richard’s track record, he was worth listening to.”
Dave Richards took over from Okonkwo to begin with and Beadle had to sit on the bench for the first six games, before keeping three clean sheets in the nine games he played.
“I think it was a big shock to him, coming to the EFL,” Barber adds. “It was a big step for him, coming away from Brighton at 18, but he was a good listener, a good learner.
“He came out of his shell, he was good with his feet and he pulled unbelievable saves off in training. I could see Aaron Ramsdale in him.
Fred Barber was Beadle’s goalkeeping coach at Crewe
“I do like to put the ‘keepers through the paces. I’m 61 but I’ve got new methods, new ideas. At the end of the day, though, you can’t beat graft.”
Barber lights up when he is asked for his abiding memory of the young stopper.
“His match-winning saves – he kept us in so many games! It wasn’t just pulling one save off; it was double saves, triple saves.
“That’s like scoring a hat-trick in a game. It wins you points – and he got us so many.
“I used to say to him to try and keep a clean sheet every 15 minutes, for the mental side. You let a goal in, let’s go again, let’s reset.”
Beadle joined Oxford on loan after his time at Crewe
Like he does with all goalkeepers he works with, Barber says he acted “like a father figure” to Beadle, too.
“I do a bit of cooking for them and make sure the accommodation is clean. I used to drive around and make sure they were eating properly or they had some shopping. James couldn’t drive so I used to take him to Morrisons!
“His dad said to me afterwards that he came a boy and went back a man. It’s just a shame he got injured.
“I think he could go all the way and become one of the top goalkeepers.”
Crewe boss Lee Bell had hoped to bring him back on loan for 2023/24 after his season was curtailed in April 2023, but any chance of that was wiped out when he joined Oxford on loan two months later. At the Kassam Stadium, he kept nine clean sheets in 28 appearances in all competitions.
Lessons learned during 18 productive months at Sheff Wed
Brighton brought Beadle back from his loan at League One Oxford in January 2024, then sent him straight out again to Sheffield Wednesday of the Championship. Eight clean sheets in 19 games helped the Owls avoid relegation by a margin of just three points – and earned a him a season-long loan return for 2024/25.
He kept nine clean sheets in 38 games last term but had the lowest save percentage of any goalkeeper in the division with 58.5 per cent.
The caveat is, statistically, he faced the highest average expected goals per shot on target of any goalkeeper to play more than 10 games in the Championship, with 0.39.
“It is a healthy clean sheet record, particularly as Sheffield Wednesday didn’t necessarily play a brand of football that made you think they should be getting 19 clean sheets in a season,” says Giddings.
“At the other end of the scale, I’m sure James Trafford is a very fine goalkeeper, destined for huge things in his career. But Burnley played in a way that probably is manna to every goalkeeper’s heaven in the way that they set up.
“What was in front of Beadle as a defensive structure and the standard of defence – which changed an awful lot throughout the course of the season, albeit going on the field to do something pretty decent for that group of players – wasn’t the strongest.
“So if James Beadle was playing for Burnley and his stats were like that, then alarm bells would ring. But he wasn’t.”
Beadle was dropped by Owls boss Danny Rohl for the final eight games of the season, with former Man City prospect Pierce Charles, 19, taking his place.
There had been a handful of errors in the lead-up to that decision. In an interview with the Daily Mail last month, Beadle showed his maturity in owning those mistakes.
“Towards the end of my time at Wednesday, I don’t think I really performed to my best for whatever reason,” he said.
“It [being dropped] was really hard to take at the time, but when you take a step back and realise how I was actually performing, I understand why.
“I know what I need to do to be at my best more consistently. I know how good I am, I know I can perform at that level, and in the future I know what I need to do to stay more at my level.
“I don’t really go on social media. I try to live in my own bubble, but at the time when results aren’t going well and you aren’t performing at the level you can, you know you’re going to get criticised. I have no issue being criticised if I know I’m not performing to the level I can.”
Giddings adds: “His form across the course of the season didn’t warrant such a change. But from Wednesday’s perspective, given the fact the season was over, as it were, I can understand their logic.
“I genuinely think, if a ‘keeper of the supposed – and I fully subscribe to this – standard of Pierce Charles wasn’t there, they wouldn’t have made the change.”
‘Euros performances can be a springboard’
Regardless, Beadle was selected by Carsley for this summer’s Euros alongside fellow Brighton player Jack Hinshelwood. The pair followed in the footsteps of fellow Seagulls stopper Carl Rushworth, who was part of the 2023 Euros-winning squad.
He impressed with six saves in the 3-1 win over Czech Republic on June 12 and made another three in the goalless draw with Slovenia.
Speaking on Channel 4 after the latter, former England international Joe Cole described Beadle’s performance as “regal”.
“England are going to need a replacement for Jordan Pickford soon so one of these two boys [Beadle and Trafford] has got to develop into a top goalkeeper for us,” he said.
“This can be a great springboard,” added Joe Hart, who earned 75 England caps between 2008 and 2017.
In the quarter-finals against Spain, Beadle made a superb double save. He was caught out at the near post in the semi-final against the Netherlands, but was otherwise impressive as progress to the final was secured.
Beadle was part of the England squad that retained the U21 Euros title
In the final, he could do little about Nelson Weiper’s bullet header and Paul Nebel’s deflected equaliser, but would not be beaten again.
Predecessor Trafford had just completed a season-long loan in League One with Bolton when he kept goal for the Young Lions in 2023. Two years on, he is being linked with a £40m move to Newcastle after promotion back to the Premier League with Burnley.
The inspiration for Beadle – who trained with the senior goalkeeping group once last year – is there.
‘Birmingham loan the next step on journey similar to White’s’
The next step is that aforementioned move to Birmingham.
Backed by a US ownership group, of which NFL legend Tom Brady is the face, the Blues won the League One title at a canter last season, meaning all eyes will be on St Andrew’s this term.
It is just as well Beadle has worked in demanding circumstances; the pressure will be on at a club with ambitions much greater than simply one day returning to the Premier League.
It is unclear whether he has received assurances over the No 1 shirt, and if he has not, displacing Ryan Allsop – League One’s Golden Glove winner in 2024/25, with 21 clean sheets in 38 games – will be a stern test.
Beyond that, it seems he is being readied to eventually pull on Brighton’s No 1 shirt, currently occupied by Bart Verbruggen.
“Beadle now appears to be the one who is being lined up to come in if and when Verbruggen moves on,” says Owen.
“Verbruggen is dominant, good with his feet, quite calm. The more I think about it, Beadle is really similar, from what I can tell.
Bart Verbruggen is Brighton’s current No 1
“With what he does with the ball at his feet, his confidence and his general demeanour, it feels like he fits the bill of what has been a Brighton goalkeeper in recent times.
“He’s learning his trade the hard way, in the EFL. It’s a little bit like when Ben White came through. He did his loan in League Two, loan in League One, loan in the Championship.
“He is a player who pretty much every Brighton fan has never seen play live, but he has taken his opportunity and the Euros have done him so much good.”
Giddings adds: “Birmingham will be expected to do pretty well in the Championship. But I have no particular fears that, mentally, James wouldn’t be able to deal with that, and his ability is there.
“I suppose the only thing is – and we’re only going to know this in time – can he go on and be Brighton’s first-choice goalkeeper?
“But if everything comes together for him, I wouldn’t be surprised if, for his entire career, he’s contracted to a Premier League club.”
Beadle, under contract at the Sussex club until the summer of 2028, has another big chance in 2025/26 to show he can be the heir to the throne at his parent club – but also for his country on the world stage.
