Top 40 Jack Butland Quotes

Coming to Stoke was a chance for me to develop and take my game to the next level.

I am very proud to represent my country and the honour of being captain.

For me, playing for my country is the ultimate honour, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do that through many of the age groups. It’s something that will never get old or boring for me.

I would have liked to have played more but injuries are part and parcel of football and you’ve got to shoulder it, got to take it on and get on with it.

I’ve played for England, played in the Olympics and made my Premier League debut.

We all know the power of social media, things can get out there so quickly. We are high-profile footballers, we know that.

I had a fantastic time at Birmingham and I never regret anything that happened there.

I do want to play at the top.

I am not someone who enjoys being on the bench.

I’ve always said and I’ve never hidden the fact that I want to play at the top, be England’s No 1 and win trophies.

All I can focus on is playing as many games as I can at the highest level. If that leads me to the World Cup, then brilliant. It’s certainly a target of mine.

Regardless of what happens, I want to be part of a successful England team and if I have to swallow my pride and disappointment at not being the number one, then I’ve got to do that for us to be successful and obviously to help whoever is in goal perform at their best.

I want to test myself, playing with the best and against the best. I can do that at international level, so that’s my target and what I want to reach.

I’m always confident in my ability; you have to be as a goalkeeper.

I’m confident about playing on the big stage.

Ask any keeper what it’s like when there’s a recognised No. 1, the competition might not be as high. You’re after that competition because it drives you on further.

As soon as I was given the opportunity at Stoke it was head down, this is what I want. This is where I want to be, this is my opportunity and I was fully confident about taking it.

When I am No. 2, and I am working as hard as I can, then quite often the keeper ahead starts to raise his game even more.

The Olympics has solely been around other sports as far as Great Britain has been considered.

I have learned in football that you can’t trust anyone and if you listen to what everyone says, more often than not it doesn’t happen. So when I’m told ‘so-and-so are interested’ or ‘such-and-such have done this’ I don’t get caught up in it all.

I want to become the best goalkeeper in the country and the best goalkeeper around.

I don’t know how many 19 year-olds are playing in the Championship, there’s certainly not any playing in the Premiership. It depends on what type of character you are really.

I’ve played for England Under-21s, in the Under-20 World Cup and I’ve been part of the play-offs in the Championship. But in terms of helping my career and getting me ready, going to Cheltenham Town was a massive experience.

My ambitions are to be the Stoke number one and England number one, but there are other things I want to achieve in my career as well.

There’s no reason why we can’t win trophies at Stoke, we’ll try and win some cups and do as well as we can, but I obviously have ambitions.

I was doing up to 10-12 hours a week sitting on a train to get to training but it was something I needed to do. But I still passed all my GCSEs – two As, six Bs and a C.

Sometimes you have a good game and mentally you are very tired.

The Champions League has always been a target of mine. I do want to play at the top.

I wasn’t a goalkeeper until I was 13 or 14 so before that, my heroes were the likes of Paul Scholes and David Beckham, but since becoming a goalkeeper, I’ve obviously trained with Joe Hart.

I hardly had any coaching until I joined Birmingham where I had Dave Watson for five years. He’s one of the best and I knew how important that was for me.

I’ve been fortunate enough to play at all the age groups but I’m not eligible for them anymore.

It’s a good thing isn’t it, having competition? I enjoy it.

I had dreams of being a professional rugby player.

I’ve experienced tournament wins with younger age groups and I know how good it feels – it’s about carrying on.

I love playing any sport.

We can only control what we do on the pitch and what we do on the training ground.

Communication is something that I find if don’t do, I will go missing, I won’t be fully focused. If I’m constantly giving messages to the defenders not only do they know where they are but I am switched on and in the right position. It all links together.

The most important thing for me is being part of a successful England squad and being as big a part of it as I can.

You’ve always got to back yourself.

I don’t prepare to sit on the bench, I prepare to play because you never know what is going to happen.