Winger Carter earned himself a good reputation at Millwall after earlier spells with Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers. He was part of the Lions' squad who gained promotion into top division for the first time in the south-east London club's history in 1988. After signing for Kenny Dalglish on 10 January 1991 he went straight into the team for a League match at Aston Villa two days later. The Guardian commented on his performance in his second match against Wimbledon that he was "like a Millwall player masquerading in a Liverpool shirt" and unfortunately for Carter his move didn't work out. By the time Dalglish left Anfield, only six weeks after Carter's arrival, he had lost his place in the starting line-up. Carter only made eight appearances; five under Dalglish and three under his successor, Graeme Souness.

It was clear that Souness didn't rate the 25-year-old Londoner highly exemplified by when he substituted Carter at Stamford Bridge after he had come on as a substitute earlier in the game. Souness recouped over half of the purchase price when Arsenal paid £500,000 to take Carter back to London in October 1991. Carter spent over three years at Highbury but only played 30 matches and was twice loaned out to Oxford United before making a permanent move to Portsmouth in Football League One in 1995. Three years, 80 games and six goals later he was back at Millwall but his second spell with the club was nowhere near as successful as his first. At the end of the 1998/99 season he had to retire as a player at the age of 33 because of a serious back injury. He now works as a matchday host for Millwall.