Jamie Carragher

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Jamie Carragher
Personal information
Full name	James Lee Duncan Carragher
Date of birth	January 28, 1978 (age 29)
Place of birth	Bootle, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.86 m)
Nickname	Carra, Carradona
Playing position	Centre Back, Full Back, Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Liverpool
Number	23
Youth clubs
1992–1996	Liverpool
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–present	Liverpool	316 (3)
National team2
1996-2000 1998-2006 1999-Present	England U21 England B England	027 (1) 003 (0) 033 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:58, 16 February 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 24 March 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

James Lee Duncan Carragher (born January 28, 1978 in Bootle, Merseyside) is an English international footballer permanently playing his club football at Liverpool where he is at present vice-captain, behind teammate and fellow Liverpudlian Steven Gerrard.

As well as being a leader, Carragher is also seen as the joker of the team. His determination and attitude on the pitch, his humble nature off it, and his willingness to stick to his roots, have made him the player most fans identify with best. This was proved when he was voted 7th in liverpoolfc.tv's "100 Players Who Shook The Kop"^[1], the highest placed defender on the list.

Many football experts consider Carragher to be one of the best natural "out-and-out" defenders in England.^{[citation needed]} Under Rafael Benitez, he has developed his game going forward from central defence. Carragher has made over 400 first team appearances for Liverpool, more than any other player in the current Liverpool squad and only the 24th Liverpool player in the club's history to do so. He is now settled in the heart of the defence under Benitez though Gérard Houllier and Sven-Göran Eriksson preferred to use him as a full-back. As a result, he has been described as a victim of his own versatility.^{[citation needed]}

On Saturday 20th January 2007 Jamie Carragher played in his 450th game for Liverpool (in all competitions) and has been offered a testomonial by the club to commemorate 10 years of service. To celebrate this, Jamie won man of the match and kept the defence watertight against the defending champions Chelsea.

Liverpool fans have honored him by displaying a banner reading, "Carragher - probably the best scouser in the world."

Contents 1 Club career 2 International career 3 Private life 4 Statistics 5 Career honours 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Club career

Liverpool signed Carragher as an apprentice while in his teens, although as a boy he had been a supporter of their local arch-rivals Everton. As a talented youngster Carragher attended the former FA school of excellence in Lilleshall and was a member of Liverpool's FA Youth Cup winning team in 1996 — a side that also contained his good friend Michael Owen.

He signed a professional contract in October 1996 and then made his first team debut three months later in the second leg of the Coca Cola Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough, coming on as a substitute for Rob Jones.

Next came his Premiership debut, again coming on a substitute, against West Ham. He then started the next game against Aston Villa and marked the occasion with his first goal, scored in front of the Kop.

By the following season Carragher was a regular in the first team squad and by the 1998–99 campaign was considered a player of real promise - which led to his first full international cap towards the end of the season.

Throughout his early years he was essentially used as a utility player, spending time as a centre-half, right and left full-back and defensive midfield. Because of this he would be deployed to fill in wherever there was a hole, ultimately harming his ability to hold down a first team position of his own. In 1999–00 he played mainly as a right-back, then in 2000–2001 he made the left-back position his own. By this time Carragher had become a firm fans' favourite for his determination, and "no-nonsense" style of defending.

He hit the headlines in January 2002 during an FA Cup tie against Arsenal. A coin was thrown from the crowd, and Carragher opted to throw it back into the fans. He earned a red card and a disrepute charge from The Football Association. Carragher then missed out on the 2002 FIFA World Cup as he needed an operation on his troublesome knee, which was also expected to keep him out of the first two months of the 2002–03 season.

By this time Carragher was back playing on the right following the signing of John Arne Riise. In summer 2003 it seemed that he might struggle to hold down a first team place, as the more attacking Steve Finnan was signed to give the team a better balance. However, this battle for the right-back spot never came into fruition. A tackle by Blackburn's Lucas Neill at Ewood Park in the Reds' fifth game of the season left Carragher out of the game for six months with a broken leg, and sparked a war of words between Gérard Houllier and Blackburn manager Graeme Souness after Neill and his manager failed to apologise for the tackle. In the second half of the season, he made a terrific comeback making 24 further appearances.

The 2004–05 season was a personal high for Carragher. New manager Rafael Benítez moved him to centre-half where he managed 56 appearances alongside Sami Hyypiä, forming what has become one of the best central defensive partnerships in Europe. Carragher's strength, positioning and never-say-die attitude proved instrumental in Liverpool winning the 2005 UEFA Champions League. Carragher was voted as Liverpool's player of the year at the end of the campaign.

On 8 July 2005, he signed a new four year contract with Liverpool FC alongside his friend and teammate, Steven Gerrard. On 26 July 2005 during the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first leg, he scored his first goal in six years, and his third ever, in the 3–1 victory against Lithuanian champions FBK Kaunas. On August 26, 2005, he lifted the UEFA Super Cup when Liverpool won against CSKA Moscow in Monte Carlo as captain instead of the injured Steven Gerrard.

On 13 May 2006, Carragher played in the FA Cup final against West Ham. It was his tenth final in ten years of club football. In the 21st minute, Carragher rolled the ball into his own net after a strong cross from the Irons' full-back Lionel Scaloni got caught under his own feet. Despite this Liverpool went on to win 3–1 on penalties after the match finished 3–3 after extra-time.

On 9 December 2006, Carragher scored his first league goal since January 1999, in a match against Fulham at Anfield. His central defence partner Agger flicked the ball on from a corner, and Carragher slid the ball under Fulham keeper Jan Lastuvka at the far post.

[edit] International career

In 1996, before signing a professional contract or making his league debut, Carragher had his first appearance for the England under-21 team. Playing as a defensive midfielder, he became a regular for the team, and eventually captain. He is the joint record-holder for the number of caps won for the team (27).

On 28 April 1999 he made his debut for the senior England team, as a substitute against Hungary. He made his full international debut against Holland at White Hart Lane in 2001. Carragher missed the 2002 World Cup through injury, but travelled with England to Euro 2004. He eventually ended up with no playing time, losing out to Ledley King when a vacancy opened up. He was selected for the England squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and was not in the original starting eleven, but came into the team after Gary Neville suffered an injury.

Carragher's versatility has seen him occupy centre-back, right-back and defensive midfield positions for England. Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson generally used two from John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell in preference to Carragher as centre-back, but has occasionally used Carragher as right-back as deputy for Gary Neville, as he did during the 2006 World Cup. Eriksson rarely uses a defensive midfielder, but is seen to prefer Owen Hargreaves to Carragher in this position. Jamie featured in three games in the 2006 World Cup, he started the match against Sweden, as a replacement for the injured Gary Neville at right-back, and appeared as a substitute in the matches against Ecuador and Portugal.

On 1 July 2006 Carragher was one of three players to have a penalty saved by Ricardo Pereira, as England yet again succumbed on penalties to exit the 2006 World Cup in the quarter finals against Portugal. Carragher, who had been brought on as a substitute for Aaron Lennon in the dying moments of the game, presumably with the "shoot-out" in mind, was the most unfortunate of the three players who missed, as he scored with his first attempt but was forced to re-take the kick by the referee, who had not blown his whistle. Carragher then saw his second effort saved.

[edit] Private life

Carragher grew up on Knowsley Road in Bootle and lived with his mother Paula, father Phil and brothers Paul & John and attended St James RC school. He currently lives in Blundellsands, which is situated approximately five miles north of Bootle.

In 2005, Jamie starred in an anti-bullying music video for Liverpool band Just 3, entitled Stand Tall. The video was directed by Samantha Janus, and was heavily backed by Childline ambassador Esther Rantzen.

In July 2005, he married his childhood sweetheart, Nicola Hart, with whom he has two children, James and Mia.

Carragher has been awarded the freedom of his home borough of Sefton for his local charity work and "the exceptional example he sets to the youth of today."With this Carragher is allowed to drive a herd of sheep through the streets of bootle! ^[2]

[edit] Statistics

Club performance

Club	Season	Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Liverpool FC	2006-07	26	1	1	0	1	0	9	0	0	0	37	1
	2005-06	36	0	6	0	0	0	13	1	2	0	57	1
	2004-05	38	0	0	0	3	0	15	0	0	0	56	0
	2003-04	22	0	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	29	0
	2002-03	35	0	3	0	5	0	11	0	0	0	54	0
	2001-02	33	0	2	0	1	0	16	0	1	0	53	0
	2000-01	34	0	6	0	6	0	12	0	0	0	58	0
	1999-00	36	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	40	0
	1998-99	34	1	2	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	44	1
	1997-98	20	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	23	0
	1996-97	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Total		316	3	25	0	23	0	87	1	4	0	454	4

[edit] Career honours

All honours won with Liverpool.

Winner

• 1995–96 FA Youth Cup
• 2000–01 League Cup
• 2000–01 FA Cup
• 2000–01 UEFA Cup
• 2001–02 Charity Shield
• 2001–02 European Super Cup
• 2002–03 League Cup
• 2004–05 UEFA Champions League
• 2005–06 European Super Cup
• 2005–06 FA Cup
• 2006–07 Community Shield

Runner-up

• 2001–02 League Championship (Premiership)
• 2002–03 Community Shield
• 2004–05 League Cup
• 2005 FIFA Club World Championship

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Profile at liverpoolfc.tv
• Profile at BBCSport
• FootballDatabase provides Jamie Carragher's profile and stats
• TheFA.com profile
• Jamie Carragher career stats at Soccerbase

	England squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Robinson | 2 Neville | 3 A. Cole | 4 Gerrard | 5 Ferdinand | 6 Terry | 7 Beckham | 8 Lampard | 9 Rooney | 10 Owen | 11 J. Cole | 12 Campbell | 13 James | 14 Bridge | 15 Carragher | 16 Hargreaves | 17 Jenas | 18 Carrick | 19 Lennon | 20 Downing | 21 Crouch | 22 Carson | 23 Walcott | Coach: Eriksson

Liverpool F.C. - Current Squad
1 Dudek | 2 Arbeloa | 3 Finnan | 4 Hyypiä | 5 Agger | 6 Riise | 7 Kewell | 8 Gerrard | 9 Fowler | 10 Luis García | 11 Mark González | 12 Fábio Aurélio | 14 Xabi Alonso | 15 Crouch | 16 Pennant | 17 Bellamy | 18 Kuyt | 20 Mascherano | 22 Sissoko | 23 Carragher | 25 Reina | 26 Anderson | 29 Paletta | 30 Padelli | 32 Zenden | 38 Lindfield | 39 Darby | 42 El Zhar | Manager: Benítez