Jordan Pickford threw punches in a pub row in his native Sunderland after his fiancee was called a ‘fat c***’ and a ‘slag’, it has been revealed.
The Everton and England goalkeeper, who had returned to Wearside on a day off, was barracked by Newcastle fans as he drank with Megan Davison in the P’s & Q’s bar.
He was called ‘small arms’ and ‘butterfingers’, but there was no sign of trouble as he posed for photographs and playfully flicked V-signs at the man who was shouting at him.
Jordan Pickford said to be shown being dragged away from a street brawl in Sunderland
Incident took place hours after Sunderland had been beaten by Portsmouth in the EFL Trophy
A man resembling Pickford, 25, dressed in a white jumper was pulled away from the scene
Sunderland city centre was busy on Sunday night with lots of people drinking after the football
Pickford poses with fiancee Megan Davison in a photo uploaded to Instagram in March 2018
However, the situation turned ugly when Pickford moved on to another bar. This time his fiancee was the target of the abuse, with pubgoers calling her a ‘fat c***’ and a ‘slag’.
According to sources close to him, Pickford lost control after the insults and began trading punches as video footage, recorded on a mobile phone, showed him being pulled away from the bust-up.
He was eventually restrained by three men and led away. Nobody is believed to have been hurt in the incident but there is no question that Everton’s head coach Marco Silva and England manager Gareth Southgate will be concerned about the episode.
Northumbria Police confirmed on Monday night that they are investigating the disturbance.
A source told Sportsmail: ‘Someone verbally abused Jordan’s partner and he flipped. He went for him but did not hit him and the video looks worse than it actually was. The whole thing was over in six or seven seconds.
‘But there is no sugar-coating this, Jordan had been drinking and that probably didn’t help in that he’s reacted to the abuse. He is not happy that he got himself in that situation. Jordan had been mixing happily with fans before that and there was no issue until someone targeted his partner.’
Miss Davison travelled to Russia to watch Pickford in action at last summer’s World Cup
England ace Pickford, wearing a white jumper, posed for photographs with fans in Sunderland
A witness said: ‘No one wants to see that kind of thing but it wasn’t as bad as it may have looked. It was over in seconds.’
Pickford was back in Sunderland to celebrate Mother’s Day with Megan, who recently gave birth to their first child, a little boy named Arlo.
Pickford had originally intended to stay in London following Everton’s game at West Ham, so he could to go to Wembley to watch his old club Sunderland in the Checkatrade Trophy final.
Instead, he gave his tickets away in order to spend time with his family. The 25-year-old went out to watch the match with friends.
The Sun have claimed he went on an ‘all-day drinking binge’ in his hometown, with a source saying he had been spotted out with friends for most of Sunday.
Pickford, who cost Everton £30million when he joined them in June 2017, became a household name this summer following his heroics in the penalty shootout against Colombia that sent England into the World Cup quarter-finals.
He returned to Merseyside after a short break and Everton rewarded his outstanding form by giving him a new six-year contract last October that made him one of the club’s highest earners on terms estimated to be around £70,000 per week.
Pickford poses with Miss Davison during their holiday to Greece after last year’s World Cup
Pickford in action for Everton during Saturday’s 2-0 win at West Ham United’s London Stadium
This, however, has been a difficult season for him in terms of his form. In December, he made a high-profile mistake in the Merseyside derby that led to Liverpool striker Divock Origi scoring a last-minute goal to snatch a 1-0 victory.
He immediately apologised for the error. Last month, an erratic performance at St James’ Park saw him make a number of errors as Newcastle came from behind to beat Everton 3-2. He was subjected to abuse from Newcastle fans and argued with them when leaving the pitch.
Everton will decide what action to take after speaking to Pickford but they issued a brief statement on Monday night, though they did not name him directly.
It simply said: ‘The club has been made aware of an alleged incident involving one of our players and we are looking into the matter.’
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: ‘At 12:19am today, police received a report of a disturbance involving a large group of individuals on Tunstall Road, Sunderland. Enquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and locate those involved.’