Andrew Thomas Carroll was born in the north-eastern town of Gateshead but signed a professional contract with neighbouring Newcastle United when he was only 17-years-old. He made four Premier League appearances for the Magpies in 2006/07, in addition to becoming the club’s youngest-ever player to feature in a European fixture when he played against Palermo on 2 November 2006. His FA Cup debut came two months later against Birmingham City. Carroll first played for England’s Under-19 side in 2007 after Scotland had named him in their U-19 side as he was eligible to play for both countries. In 2007 he was the recipient of a ‘rising star’ award bearing the name of Newcastle legend Jackie Milburn but despite his growing reputation was loaned out to Championship club Preston North End to give him a better chance of regular first-team football. But his time at Deepdale was not a great success, just one goal from twelve League and cup matches and the first red card of his fledgling career against Scunthorpe. He returned to Newcastle in January 2008 and had added a further four Premier League matches to his total by the end of the 2007/08 season but had still not scored for the Magpies. To be fair to him he had only started one game and was often a late substitute. By the time the following season started, Carroll was much more in the first-team picture despite the team battling, ultimately unsuccessfully, against relegation from the Premier League. He scored his debut goal in a 2-2 draw against West Ham on 10 January 2009 and added two more in a total of 16 matches. Carroll's career blossomed in 2009/10 when he scored 17 goals as Newcastle returned to the top division as winners of the Championship.

In the summer of 2010, Carroll was handed the legendary No. 9 shirt at Newcastle that Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer had worn with such distinction. Carroll was understandably quite proud: "Alan Shearer was my idol as a young lad and who would have thought I'd be following in his footsteps?" Carroll enthused. "When you look at the fantastic players down the years who have worn the shirt, it sends shivers down your spine, it's amazing. It's every young Geordie lad's dream to be the Newcastle United No. 9." The legendary shirt certainly did Carroll no harm as the goals continued to flow when Newcastle resumed their place at English football’s top table. He had delivered 11 goals from 19 League games halfway through the season. His powerful performances for Newcastle had been noted by England’s national manager, Fabio Capello, who played Carroll in a Wembley friendly against France in November 2010. Liverpool had already seen first-hand his all-round strength and shooting capabilities at Newcastle in December. He beat Pepe Reina from distance and had a hand in the other two goals in a 3-1 victory. Incoming Newcastle manager Alan Pardew attempted to dissuade potential suitors for his in-form striker by declaring that he was not for sale and had a “bright future at St. James’ Park”. A week later Carroll was injured during a defeat at Tottenham which kept him out of action as the January transfer window opened. Because the player was unavailable for selection, it was maybe a bit of a surprise when Liverpool made their move towards the end of the window, although Kenny Dalglish already knew that he was likely to lose Fernando Torres to Chelsea and knew he had to act swiftly with time running out for him to secure an adequate replacement. The size of the fee astounded the footballing world, £35 million, making Carroll the most expensive British player in history. 

From being short of cover in attack, Liverpool were able to unveil two new forwards on the same day, Carroll and Luis Suarez, with Reds’ supporters eager to see what impact the new men would have. Carroll needed a month to recover from his injury and had to wait for his first goal until in his sixth match against Manchester City at Anfield, a ferocious left-foot strike from the edge of the penalty area. He added a second ten minutes before half-time with a towering header from a Meireles' cross from the left. For much of the 2011/12 season, the enormous transfer seemed to hang like a millstone around the young striker's neck. Only nine goals from 47 first-team matches did not seem to represent good value for money. But big Andy persevered and got his reward in the middle of April when he headed late winners against Blackburn in the Premier League and against Everton in the FA Cup semi-final. He scored in the FA Cup final against Chelsea and was denied a second goal by a miraculous save. His improved form towards the end of the season earned him a place in Roy Hodgson's 23-man squad for the Euro 2012. As soon as Brendan Rodgers took over at Liverpool it was abundantly clear that Carroll didn't suit his requirements. On 30 August 2012 Carroll was loaned for the whole of the 2012/13 season to Sam Allardyce's West Ham without a replacement coming in following the collapse of the deal to bring Clint Dempsey in from Fulham, leaving the Reds a striker short until January.

Carroll took time to settle in at West Ham but wasn't helped by receiving a hamstring injury on his debut. Once recovered, however, he had a strong end to the season and ended up with a respectable seven goals after appearing in twenty-four Premier League matches. As his loan-spell finished, West Ham and Liverpool appeared to reach agreement over a fee for a permanent transfer but were waiting for the player himself to agree to the move and also agree to the personal terms that were on offer. Carroll's permanent transfer to West Ham United was completed on 19 June 2013, with Liverpool receiving a fee of £15 million. The striker made 16 first-team appearances for West Ham in 2013/14, scoring twice. The following season he managed only fourteen appearances due to injury but 2015/16 was better, scoring nine times in 27 games, including one against Liverpool at Upton Park. Injuries have continued to hamper Carroll's career and at the end of the 2018/19, the final four months of which he had an ankle injury, his deal was not renewed. He rejoined his old club Newcastle on 8 August 2019 but failed to score in nineteen league appearances (fifteen as substitute) in his first campaign back there. In 2020/21 he started just four times, coming off the bench a further fourteen and scored just one goal. He became a free agent at the end of the season with manager Steve Bruce saying the departure was amicable and he needed to be playing more.

During the summer 2021 transfer window Carroll failed to find another club but did agree a short term two month deal with Championship side Reading on 15th November. Their manager Velijko Paunovic commented "Andy is looking for a new challenge in his career and we need a player with his quality and vast experience." His final appearance for the Royals on 12th January was a 7-0 home defeat to Fulham in which he had two two sensational goals - a overhead kick and a volley- disallowed after VAR checks. After failing to agree a contract extension he joined West Bromwich Albion at the end of January 2022, scoring three goals in fifteen appearances between then and the end of the season, when he was released. On 16 September he agreed a short term deal to rejoin Reading, raising eyebrows by taking the number two jersey, explaining it was his daughter's second birthday. He scored nine times although Reading were relegated to League One. Carroll initially remained with the Royals but made a surprise move to French second division side, Amiens, on 1 September 2023 when he triggered a release clause. He featured in every game for which he was available, scoring four league goals in 28 appearance, of which fifteen were as a substitute.

Carroll featured in all of Amiens first four games of 2024/25. However he then surprisingly dropped two divisions to join Bordeaux, the fallen giants who had been administratively relegated. He scored 11 goals in 21 appearances as they finished fourth in the table. He then chose to return to England to be closer to his children, with the club paying tribute on its website, saying "Andy brought his experience, physical impact, and professionalism to his role on a daily basis." Carroll then agreed a three year deal with Dagenham & Redbridge of the National League South, telling Sky Sports News "It doesn't matter the level, or anything, as long as I get on the pitch and play football, that's all that matters. Coming here and showing people I am just playing for the love of football rather than the money and the level is something I wanted to do. This is something which could be fantastic. We have a project to get them out of non-league and back up the leagues."