George Wickens is a goalkeeper on the up, quite literally, with Lincoln City, who will be one league away from the Premier League next season after their promotion to the English second tier following 65 years away.

During the campaign, Wickens’ total of 19 clean sheets was the joint highest in England’s top four tiers. With four assists, he matched former Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson for the most assists in a season by a goalkeeper in English football. His achievements earned him a place in the League One team of the season.

The 6ft 6in (198cm) shotstopper represented England at youth level and, at club level, has played across the football pyramid, from backing up Bernd Leno at Fulham to a non-League loan spell with Wealdstone.

Wickens found time to reflect on his best season yet and career as a whole, amid the weeks-long party that has been commencing in the East Midlands city of Lincoln, after the club won League One in style with 103 points.

Originally from Petersfield in Hampshire, to the south west of London and north of the closest city of Portsmouth, Wickens started playing football as an outfielder when he was a kid.

Always the tallest in his age group throughout school, he found himself dropping back positionally until he took up the gloves.

Not long later, the opportunity of a Fulham trial landed at his feet. A goalkeeping coach from the club, Geoff Warne, sent out a call for goalkeepers at nearby clubs for camps he was putting on, and Wickens impressed enough for Warne to bring him for a trial at Fulham.

“It was more the height than the ability at that time, but he (Warne) clearly saw something in me that a lot of people didn’t,” Wickens says with a grin.

Unusually, his trial at Fulham lasted a year, until he signed at age 11, just before secondary school. He would be on their books for the next 11 years, until signing for Lincoln City in 2024.

Wickens grew up a Fulham fan, attending games and idolising Mark Schwarzer, and his development there led to him playing for England at under-18 level.

His first professional contract came in 2018. At 19, he was sent out for his first taste of senior football with non-League side Wealdstone, playing one league below League Two.

“Your main learnings are going to be playing where there’s pressure to get three points and playing in front of crowds, and maybe a goalkeeper seeing the more hostile side of football. So getting out on loan at that age was by far the best thing I ever did,” Wickens says.

While at Wealdstone, he was coached by Stuart Maynard, who this season achieved promotion in dramatic style with York City.

The goalkeeper honed his craft, making 40 appearances for the club. It could have been more, but in a game at Bromley, he received a red card and subsequent suspension for clashing heads with an opposition player.

“I’ve always grown up a little bit hot-headed,” he reflects. “I had to learn pretty quickly that, as a goalkeeper, there are some instances when anger or getting yourself up for it can benefit you, but I had to tone that down a little bit. That’s another massive thing from the loan — learning how to manage emotions on and off the pitch.”

After a successful first loan spell, Wickens was sold on the benefits of learning on the job and was ready to continue climbing the football pyramid with another loan, he says, and had offers to do so.

Fulham, though, wanted Wickens to stay around as a third-choice goalkeeper behind Leno and Marek Rodak.

“I think they saw it as a sort of compliment or a good thing, off the back of my loan year before. Being young, I probably didn’t see it that way. I was desperate to carry on playing football. I didn’t feel as though I’d get as much out of being a third choice.”

Wickens would spend 18 months back at the club, playing in Premier League 2 and training with the first team, before Fulham allowed him to go on his second loan spell. This time it was to Scottish Premiership side Ross County in January 2024.

His first game for Ross County was straight into the deep end as they visited Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic.

“In the first minute, they scored, so I’m thinking this could be a long day.”

Things were about to get worse. After 28 minutes, Celtic captain Callum McGregor was tripped and awarded a penalty.

Luis Palma stepped up to take it, and Wickens got down low to his right-hand side to keep it out, only for the save to be scratched off as Ross County players encroached into the box.

So Palma went eye-to-eye with Wickens once more, and for the second time the goalkeeper saved it down to his right.

“In terms of the percentages (of where the player usually goes), in a situation like this, that then goes out of the window a little bit because it’s the second one,” he says.

“My main thinking within this was I knew that a player like Palma definitely would back himself, as you can tell in the way he plays football, he’s very confident, he’s tricky, and you can see he’s certainly got a lot of confidence. So my only real thing was to think that he’d back himself to go the same way and score.

“It was a really good moment for me. I felt like it was deserved because of how I’d gone about the 18 months prior and how I dealt with them.”

In goal at the other end, for Celtic, was Premier League winner and England international Joe Hart.

“I remember standing in the tunnel that game, next to him (Hart), and thinking it was very surreal the amount of times I’ve watched him play for England growing up,” Wickens says.

“At the end of the game, he hugged me and said congratulations, which meant a lot. He even called me a few months later, just to catch up and see how I was.”

Weeks later, in February, Wickens visited Ibrox to play the other Scottish powerhouse, Rangers. It was another showcase of his abilities as he made a league record 19 saves in one game as his team were defeated 3-1, including keeping out Todd Cantwell’s long-range effort below.

“You’ve got to try not to overthink it too much. Even the way some of the balls are now, and the way some of these lads can hit the thing. Sometimes, 30-yard shots feel like 15-yard shots, because by the time they reach that distance, they’re swerving a completely different way.”

It was at the end of that season that his contract with Fulham expired, and Wickens decided to see it out to explore his options in free agency in the hope of playing regular football.

“It wasn’t an easy decision at all,” he says. “I think it’s (Fulham) a brilliant club and I’ve supported them from a young age, but I knew it was a decision I had to make to give myself the best chance of having a successful career.”

Lincoln had a good track record in the position, with two of their goalkeepers since 2020 — Josh Griffiths and Carl Rushworth — going on to receive England Under-21 call-ups. Another, Alex Palmer, went on to play in the Premier League. Coventry City’s Rushworth and Millwall’s Lukas Jensen could be the latest former Lincoln goalkeepers to play in the Premier League next season.

Wickens signed for the club in July 2024 on a four-year deal. In his first season, he kept 10 clean sheets as Lincoln were forming an identity under manager Michael Skubala in his first full campaign in charge. This season, Wickens’ second, the team have embraced a low-possession but direct style of play.

“There’s been this feeling around the place that even when we’re under stressful situations, it doesn’t feel awfully stressful because of how solid we are in a low block, and how good we are at closing gaps,” Wickens says.

“It’s just this confidence that we can absorb it, knowing what we’ve got up the other end of the pitch, and how good we are transitionally, that we can score even if we only have 30, 40 per cent of the ball.”

In a top-of-the-table clash in early March, Lincoln were just one point behind leaders Cardiff City before kick-off. In one of the first attempts of the game, Cardiff midfielder Ollie Tanner tried to bend one in the far top corner.

“There are always saves you go for but don’t expect yourself to save,” Wickens says. “That was one of them. I’ve dived thinking this could be going in and managed to get a tip on it.

“You see here, I’m quite high, and then I realise that he’s possibly going to shoot, so I take that step back, and I think that’s what gives me enough time to get over and get that push. If I didn’t make that step to get back and give myself more time, I don’t know if I would have been able to save it.”

Lincoln finished with a clean sheet. A 2-0 away win put them at the top of the table, and they didn’t look back.

After promotion was secured with five games remaining, the club needed to set themselves alternative targets to remain motivated, including winning the league title and reaching 100 points. For Wickens, he had Ederson’s assist record in sight — four in a single season is the most achieved in England’s top four tiers for a goalkeeper.

Collecting his third against Stockport County on March 14, he reached four in Lincoln’s penultimate game against Wycombe Wanderers on April 25.

Wickens received possession in open play from one of his defenders and played a long ball that bounced over the Wycombe back line, falling so kindly for Lincoln captain Tendayi Darikwa that he didn’t need to take a touch before firing into the bottom left corner.

“I’d say that is one of my strengths, longer-range passing,” Wickens says. “I think that’s something I’ve really enjoyed (the freedom of) this season. Like taking free kicks within our half.

“When I have been kicking longer this year, I wouldn’t say all the time I’ve looked for an individual. Especially in this case, I can’t say I meant to pick him out, not the way I did, but a lot of times I have tried to hit it into an area where the goalie can’t come for it, but it’s also going over the defenders.

“It’s usually not very nice for them to deal with in terms of backpedalling and then the clearance usually is never too clean, and I think that’s where we attack second balls quite well. But as you can see here, there are also times when it does manage to get over the top.”

Next season, possible opponents could include recent European trophy winners Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United, who both have stadiums with capacities over 60,000, compared to Lincoln’s Sincil Bank, which holds just over 10,000 people.

Lincoln were already underdogs in League One, with the 17th-largest budget out of 24 teams.

“I’d say my target for next year is to claim more than I’ve punched,” Wickens says about playing in the Championship. “But at the same time, I’ve been fairly pleased with when I have gone for punches more often than not, it has been the right decision or helped take pressure off the team.

“The game in terms of set pieces has changed in the last season, where teams are sticking seven in the six-yard box and then on top of that, you’ve got people marking.”

Staying up next season has to be the goal for Skubala and his team after reaching the second tier for the first time since 1961. Other teams have proved it is possible to stabilise after promotion — all four clubs that went up automatically in the past two campaigns will remain in the division next season (Wrexham, Birmingham City, Portsmouth and Derby County).

“Shot-stopping is a big part of my game and I’ve probably not had to show it an awful lot this year at times, just because of how good my defenders are and how quiet I am kept most games,” says Wickens.

“But I’m well aware it won’t be as quiet as it has been this year because of moving up a level. That’s what I’m looking forward to most, being slightly busier and embracing that a little bit and being able to help my team.”

Greater challenges are ahead next season in the Championship. For Wickens, though, it’s the same aim. To play games, make the most of opportunities, and see how far it takes him.