Andy Carroll

At 35 years old, Andy Carroll has this physical status:

Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Newcastle United.

He has played in the Premier League and Football League for Newcastle United, Preston North End, Liverpool and West Ham United, and at senior international level for the England national team.

Carroll started his professional career with Newcastle United in 2006, before spending a brief period on loan with Preston North End, during which time he scored his first league goal.

He established himself as a regular in the Newcastle first team by 2008, and following Newcastle's relegation from the Premier League to the Championship in 2009, scored 17 goals in 39 appearances to help Newcastle finish first in the league, earning immediate promotion back to the Premier League in the process.

He continued to play for Newcastle in the Premier League, scoring 11 goals in 19 appearances. Carroll signed for Liverpool on the last day of the transfer window on 31 January 2011 for a fee of £35 million, at the time the highest amount paid for a British footballer.

Carroll was bought to replace Fernando Torres, who moved from Liverpool to Chelsea on the same day for a fee of £50 million.

An injury sustained in December delayed his Liverpool debut until March 2011, and he scored his first two goals for his new club in April 2011 in a 3–0 victory over Manchester City.

In August 2012, Liverpool agreed a £2 million loan deal that would see Carroll spend a season-long loan at West Ham United.

This move was made permanent in June 2013 for a fee of £15 million.

He spent six injury-impacted years at West Ham and was released in 2019 at the end of his contract.

In August 2019 Carroll re-signed with his boyhood club Newcastle as a free agent.

Between 2010 and 2012, Carroll played nine matches for England, scoring twice, including one goal at UEFA Euro 2012.

Personal life

Born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, Carroll attended Brighton Avenue Primary School and Joseph Swan School. He is a model for clothing retail company H&M and has fronted a campaign led by fashion designer Alexander Wang. In November 2014, Carroll became engaged to reality TV star Billi Mucklow. The couple live in Essex. Their son, Arlo, was born in June 2015. He has two children from a previous relationship. In November 2017, Mucklow and Carroll had a second child.

In November 2016, Carroll was approached by two men on motorcycles while driving near his home in Brentwood, Essex. Armed with a handgun, they attempted to steal his £22,000 watch but failed. Carroll was then chased in his car for about 20 minutes as he drove back to West Ham's training ground in Rush Green to get help from security staff. In September 2017, 22-year-old Jack O'Brien was found guilty of the attempted robbery. He was sentenced to six years in prison for the offence.

In May 2019, Carroll was listed as the 14th-wealthiest sports person aged 30 or under in The Sunday Times Rich List, his personal wealth having increased to £19m.

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Club career

Carroll, an occasional scorer in Newcastle United's reserve team, signed his first professional deal with the club in July 2006. In a 1–0 win over Palermo on November 2, 2006, he made his first-team debut on November 2, 2006, at the age of 17 years and 300 days. Nolberto Solano replaced him late in the competition. In doing so, he became Europe's youngest ever player to represent Newcastle.

On January 17, 2007, he made his FA Cup debut, appearing as a substitute for the last ten minutes in Birmingham City's 5–1 home loss. Carroll came as a replacement in Newcastle's 1–0 loss to Wigan Athletic in the 87th minute, with almost scoring in the process; only Wigan goalkeeper John Filan stopped him from scoring his first Newcastle goal on February 25, 2007.

He was the winner of the Wor Jackie Milburn Trophy, which is given every year to the rising star of North-East football, chosen from among Newcastle players.

Carroll won by 2–0 over Juventus in a friendly match on Friday, with a left-foot shot on 29 July 29, 2007. Carroll received praise from Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who tipped Carroll to have a big future after the match.

Carroll began a six-month loan with Preston North End on August 14 and made his League debut against Morecambe on the same day. Carroll played for Preston against Scunthorpe United on September 18th, his first red card of his professional career. Against Leicester City on 6 November, he scored his first Championship goal and his first English league goal.

Carroll made his first appearance for Newcastle in the 2008–09 season on October 20th, serving as a replacement for Shola Ameobi at home to Manchester City. Carroll scored his first competitive goal for Newcastle on his first home run in 2009 with a header against West Ham United in a 2–2 draw. On March 12, 2009, he signed a new three-and-a-half year, effectively keeping him at Newcastle until 2012.

Carroll was paired with Shola Ameobi in Newcastle's attack for Newcastle following Newcastle's demotion and the departures of first-team strikers Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, and Obafemi Martins. With a header, he scored his first league goal in the Championship against Blackpool on September 16, 2009. Carroll was playing virtually every match in a new strike partnership with Peter Lvenkrands by 2010. In 2010, this collaboration fulfilled more than half of the club's targets. Carroll had 19 goals in all competitions, 17 in the league, and 17 in the league.

Carroll was named number 9 for the 2010–11 season, a number with a lot of importance to Newcastle United fans, as it has been worn in the past by Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald, and Alan Shearer. Carroll earned his first hat-trick against Aston Villa in their 6–0 victory in the Premier League on August 22. On October 3, 2010, Carroll captained Newcastle for the first time as a replacement for Kevin Nolan against Manchester City. Carroll signed a new five-year deal in October 2010, extending his stay at the club until 2015. Carroll won by 3-1 over Liverpool at St James' Park on December 11, 2010, with a low 25-yard drive.

Liverpool made a bid for Carroll worth £30 million on January 31, 2011, but it was turned down. Newcastle eventually accepted a £35 million bid, but the transfer was completed shortly before the 11:00 p.m. deadline, following an agreement of personal terms and a medical.

Carroll argued he was forced out of Newcastle by Newcastle, but United claimed he had put in a transfer request after Liverpool turned down Liverpool's £30 million bid. Carroll has confirmed that Carroll will wear the number 9 jersey formerly worn by Fernando Torres, who left Anfield for Chelsea on the same evening for £50 million. Carroll became the eighth overall most expensive footballer at the time, as well as the most expensive British footballer of all time. After Torres, he became the second most expensive footballer to play for a British club. Carroll, however, would have to wait a while before his Liverpool debut due to an injury suffered while working with Newcastle.

Carroll made his Liverpool debut as a replacement in the 3–1 victory over Manchester United on March 6, 2011. In his first European match for Liverpool in a 1–0 loss at Braga in the UEFA Europa League, he appeared as a replacement after halftime. He got off to a good start in the return leg a week earlier, but the match went 0–0, ending in Liverpool losing 1–0 on aggregate. In a 2–0 victory over Sunderland on Monday, he made his first Premier League appearance for Liverpool. Carroll scored his first goals for Liverpool against Manchester City 3–0, scoring his first with a long-range strike and his second with a header on April 11. He played many times this season, but no more goals were scored.

In the second round of the League Cup, he scored his first goal of the new season with a 20-yard kick against Exeter City, making the score 3–0. During a 2–0 win over Everton at Goodison Park on October 1, 2011, he scored his first league goal of the 2011–12 season. West Bromwich Albion defeated him 2–0 on his third goal of the season. In a 5–1 third-round FA Cup victory over Oldham Athletic, he scored his first goal of 2012. In a 3–0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on January 31, he would continue to score in the 88th minute against Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup on January 28th, just before marking his first birthday of the season. During Liverpool's 6–1 thrashing of Brighton & Hove Albion in the fifth round of the FA Cup, he scored and set up teammate Luis Suárez.

He won his first trophy with Liverpool as they gained the League Cup on Sunday, defeating Cardiff City in the final on February 26. He beat Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, bringing an injury-time victory to an end to Liverpool's run of four games without a win. Liverpool beat Everton in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley on his 50th appearance for Liverpool. He was four days later. Carroll referred to his match-winning goal as "the best feeling ever," alongside teammate Jamie Carragher, who said that the aim was "worth £35 million in itself" and that Carroll will "be remembered forever." He also scored in the final, where Liverpool lost 2–1 to Chelsea.

Carroll was decided on August 30th, 2012, the 2012–13 season would be spent on loan to West Ham United, a new Premier League club, who were newly promoted to the league at the time. Liverpool first needed a £17 million option written into the loan agreement, but West Ham refused to fund the transfer, and Carroll's £80,000-per-week wages were paid.

Carroll made his debut on September 1 in a 3–0 home victory over Fulham, setting up two goals. In a 3–1 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur on November 25, he scored his first goal on November 25, 2012. Carroll scored his first goal in a home win over Swansea City on February 2nd, 2013, after getting his first game back from injury in November. Carroll had seven goals in 24 appearances to end the loan spell.

West Ham and Liverpool agreed a £15 million to make the loan transfer permanent, pending Carroll's consent and then to the change, then to personal terms. Carroll agreed to a six-year deal with West Ham on June 19, 2013, representing a record transfer fee that was not paid to the club until that time.

Carroll's heel injury was the cause of an accident in the last match of the season. In the 72nd minute of West Ham's second goal, he made his first appearance of the season as a replacement. Sky Sports named him man of the match for his role in a 2–1 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in which he scored one and assisted with the other Hammers' goals on March 31. Carroll had two goals from 18 appearances in the 2013-2014 Premier League season.

Carroll sustained an ankle ligament injury on his first visit to New Zealand, preventing him from playing in any of West Ham's first eleven Premier League matches. Carroll returned to the team on Monday, as a replacement for Mark Noble in a 0–0 home draw with Aston Villa.

He scored his first two goals of the season against Swansea in a 3–1 home victory on December 7, 2014; these were also his first goals scored at Upton Park since March 2013. Carroll scored his 50th league goal of his career in West Ham's 2–0 victory over Leicester on December 20th. He went from December 2014 to January 2015 in eight league appearances.

Carroll was suspended in the second half of a 0–0 draw against Southampton on February 11, 2015, with a tear in his medial ligament on the side of his knee. Carroll was supposed to have surgery the following week and that he would miss the remainder of the 2014–15 season, two days later. He did not return to play again after February and made only 14 league appearances in the 2014–15 season, including three against Swansea City and one each against Hull City and Leicester.

Carroll made his first appearance of the season as an 88th-minute replacement for Victor Moses in a 2–0 home win over his former club, Newcastle, on September 14th.

Carroll scored his first goal in nine months on Saturday, going back as a replacement and throwing Aaron Cresswell's cross in a Premier League fixture at Upton Park. Carroll sustained a groin injury while training for West Ham's 7 December match against Swansea, sidelining him for several weeks. In a 2–1 victory over Southampton, he came back to action as a halftime replacement. After a shot from Michail Antonio that had rebounded off the crossbar, Carroll had the winning goal by header. Carroll's first goal since the match against Chelsea was played, but it was only his third goal of the year.

Carroll played for West Ham against his former club Liverpool in a 2–0 victory on January 2nd, with Carroll scoring again from a header following Mark Noble's cross. This was the first time Carroll had scored in consecutive matches in nearly 12 months, and it was his first goal against Liverpool since joining the club in 2013. Carroll had his first hat-trick with West Ham in a 3-3 draw against Arsenal on April 9th. West Ham defeated Watford 3–1 at the Boleyn Ground on 20 April 20th, Carroll scored in his third consecutive Premier League match in his career.

Carroll played the full 90 minutes in West Ham's 2–1 loss to Chelsea in the first match of the season on August 15th. Carroll came on at the 63rd minute of a 1–1 draw against Astra Giurgiu in the Europa League first leg of the Europa League playoffs on August 18th, suffering a knee injury. Although initial estimates put his recovery timeframe at six weeks, it turned out that it took him more than three months.

He returned to action on December 3rd-minute as a 73rd-minute replacement in a 1–5 home loss to Arsenal. Carroll scored what he described as "the best goal I've scored" on a bicycle kick during a 3–0 victory over Crystal Palace at London Stadium on January 14th. By the Premier League on February 10, the aim was designated Goal of the Month for January.

Carroll scored his 50th Premier League goal of his career in a 2–1 loss at Hull City on April 1st, captaining West Ham for the first time.

Carroll played only 14 games in the 2018-19 season, scoring just one goal in the FA Cup, before being suspended in April 2019 for the remainder of the season after ankle surgery. He was released by West Ham at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Carroll re-signed for Premier League Newcastle United on August 8, 2019, with a one-year deal. In the 82nd minute of a 0–0 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, he made his return to Brighton on September 21 as a substitute for Jetro Willems. Carroll agreed to a one-year deal in June 2020. Carroll scored his first goal for the Magpies since returning to the club in a 1–2 home league loss to Leicester City on January 3rd. After two seasons with Newcastle, he departed in July 2021.

Reading announced the signing of Carroll on a short-term deal until mid-January 2022. He made his Reading debut on November 20th in a 1–1 draw with Nottingham Forest's 61st minute replacement Liam Moore and himself playing a part in the build-up to Scott Dann's second-half equalizer. In a 3–2 victory over Swansea City on November 27, he scored his first goal for the club. Carroll's second goal for Reading was canceled after losing 21-0 away to Middlesbrough on January 15, 2022, in which Carroll scored his second goal for Reading.

Carroll's contract was announced on January 28th, 2022, by West Bromwich Albion, who was on a short-term deal until the season's end. In a 2–0 away loss to Millwall the following day, he made his debut the following day. Carroll scored the equalizer in the 85th minute during a 2–2 home draw against Huddersfield Town on March 12, 2022.

Carroll was expected to leave Albion at the end of the season on April 30. 2022

Carroll signed a four-month deal with the club until the middle of January 2023 and taking the vacant number one squad number in the process.

International career

Carroll scored in the 4–0 win on September 11, 2007 on his England under-19 debut against Belarus. Carroll was called up to the England under 20s for a match against Italy in 2009, but he was forced to leave the team and replaced by Hal Robson-Kanu.

Carroll was given his first call up to the England Under-21s on August 5, 2009. He made his debut against the Netherlands on August 11, 2009, before being deployed as a second-half replacement. England defeated Macedonia 6-3 on his second cap with the under-21 team on October 9, 2009, scoring two goals and assisting another.

Carroll's appearances for Newcastle United earned him a call-up to the England squad for the friendly against France on November 17, 2010. To begin the game, he completed a late fitness test. On March 29, 2011, England's first senior goal, a low left-foot kick into the bottom corner, was scored. Carroll was selected in the squad for UEFA Euro 2012 on May 15, 2012. In England's second group match against Sweden, which England defeated Sweden 3–2, he opened the scoring for the nation with a strong header.

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