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Birthdate:
28.01.1978
Birthplace: Bootle, Liverpool, England
Other clubs: None
Bought from: Local
Signed for LFC: £0 09.10.1996 (signed as professional)
International debut: 28.04.1999 vs.Hungary
International caps: 38/0 (18.06.2010)
Liverpool debut:
08.01.1997
Last appearance: 29.08.2010
Debut goal: 18.01.1997
Last goal: 23.08.2008
Contract expiry: 2009 (signed 08.07.2005)
LFC league games/goals: 438 / 4
Total LFC games/goals: 636 / 5
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Player Notes:
A scouser whose fighting capabilities and sense of humour has endeared him to supporters and team mates alike. Carragher has become the scouse rock at the heart of the Liverpool defence. Houllier deployed him as a full back in the treble cup winning year, and in the last years he has established himself as the most consistent performer in a red shirt in the centre of defence. Under Rafa, Jamie has excelled both on domestic and European level, leading the charge to Jerzy Dudek's goal following the heroics in Istanbul. He wears his Liverpool heart on his sleeve and always gives 100%.
It was Roy Evans, in his penultimate full season as sole manager, who gave the soon-to-be 19-year old defender his first-team debut in January 1997, as a substitute for Rob Jones in a League cup tie at Middlesbrough. It was a debut that had been expected for a while because Jamie’s presence had been carefully monitored through his days at the Football Association’s School of Excellence at Lilleshall and as a member of Liverpool’s successful Youth cup-winning team of 1996. Carragher also appeared as a substitute in the League fixture with West Ham three days after the cup trip to The Riverside; and his first ‘start’ was only delayed by a further week, a day he marked in fine style by heading in a left-wing corner shortly after the interval to set his team on the way to a comfortable three-nil victory over Aston Villa at Anfield.
Jamie was ‘on the bench’ another 5 times during the rest of the 1996-97 season so it was not until the following season, Roy Evans’ last in sole charge of team affairs, that he became a more regular member of the team with 20 first-team appearances from the start and 3 more as substitute. Once Gerard Houllier had taken over following the departure of Roy Evans towards the end of 1998, his number of first-team appearances per season went up into the 40’s and then for several seasons into the 50’s (apart from 2003-04 when he was unavailable due to a broken leg sustained at Blackburn). By the time of the historic ‘Treble’ season of 2000-01 Jamie Carragher had become a vital part of Liverpool’s defence as he collected winners’ medals in three different cup competitions and he even scored what turned out to be the decisive penalty in the shoot-out win over Birmingham City in the first of those finals.
By the time he received his second League cup winners’ medal against Manchester United in 2003, Jamie was also a regular in the full England squad, although he was unable to participate in the 2002 World Cup because of injury. He did, however, make the squads for the 2004 European championships in Portugal and the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In Portugal he found himself overlooked in favour of Ledley King and in Germany he was one of three players who missed penalties in the quarter-final shoot-out defeat by Portugal. In the aftermath of England’s failure to progress beyond the last 8 of the World Cup, there were reports that Carragher was thinking of retiring from international football. Despite a change of manager when Steve McLaren replaced Eriksson, neither McLaren nor his own successor Fabio Capello were able to persuade Carrager to represent his country again. Jamie made 34 appearances for the senior international team, to which can be added a record 27 appearances, a figure later broken by Scott Carson, for the Under-21 side.
Jamie’s versatility as a defender means that he can play reliably in almost any defensive position. Houllier used him in both full-back positions as well as a central defender, the position most favoured by the Frenchman’s successor, Rafa Benitez. In the Spaniard’s first two seasons in charge, Carragher made 56 and 57 first-team appearances respectively in the two seasons that ended with victories in the Champions League and the F.A. cup. Carragher’s partnership with Sami Hyypia was a vital part of the astonishing European cup victory but a year later his unfortunate early own-goal could not prevent another cup final win against West Ham in Cardiff.
When Carragher played vs. Chelsea at Anfield in the 2nd leg of the Champions League semi-final on 1st of May, 2007, he set a new European club record of 90 games, eclipsing the great Ian Callaghan. Jamie continued to be one of Liverpool's key players during 2007-08, a season during which he reached the milestone of 500 senior appearances, against Luton in the F.A. cup, as well as reaching the rare landmark of a century of competitive European appearances for the same club. If he saw the arrival of Martin Skrtel as a threat to his place in the team, he didn't show it because once again his performances were of a remarkably high standard, although that is only what we have come to expect from him.
Jamie passed his 32nd birthday half-way through the 2009-2010 season, and in a poor season for Liverpool showed some signs of fatigue, but figured in all but three of Liverpool's 56 competitive matches. His appearance at Hull on the final day of the season was his 435th in the League and 630th overall. Unsurprisingly he failed to add to his meagre total of goals but on the plus side he didn't increase his number of own-goals either!
Although Carragher effectively 'retired' from international football in 2007, as the 2010 World Cup in South Africa got closer there were strong rumours that he would be willing to reverse that decision should he be picked in Fabio Capello's provisional 30-man squad for the finals. On the 11th of May came confirmation that Jamie HAD indeed been included by Capello in England's provisional World Cup squad.
Carra has played 50+ games in 9 of the last 10 seasons and it is likely that he will become only second to Ian Callaghan in Liverpool’s all-time appearance table.
World Cup 2010 : Jamie appeared as a second-half substitute in England's opening match against the United States but received a yellow card which, when added to the card he also got in the secomd match against Algeria, ruled him out of the final group game against Slovenia. Carragher was then an unused substitute in the Last 16 match which saw England exit the tournament after a heavy defeat by the Germans. |
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