Stephen Carr (soccer player)

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Stephen Carr
Stephen Carr.jpg
Stephen Carr (2007)
Personnel
birthday August 29, 1976
place of birth Dublin ,  Ireland
size 175 cm
position Full-back (right)
Juniors
Years station
Stella Maris
1991-1993 Tottenham Hotspur
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1993-2004 Tottenham Hotspur 226 (7)
2004-2008 Newcastle United 78 (1)
2009-2013 Birmingham City 106 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
Ireland U-21 12 (?)
1999-2007 Ireland 44 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Stephen Carr (born August 29, 1976 in Dublin ) is a former Irish football player . The 44-time Irish national team player , who was mostly on the right full-back position, became known for his long service from 1991 to 2004 at Tottenham Hotspur , where he was used in a total of 226 league games. After four years at follow-up club Newcastle United , he initially found no employment in professional football after the 2007/08 season, but two months after he had already announced his departure from active sport, he celebrated a comeback in February 2009 at Birmingham City .

Professional career

In the club

Tottenham Hotspur (1993-2004)

Carr grew up about ten kilometers northeast of Dublin city center in Donaghmede and learned to play football with the Trinity Boys, at St. Kevin's School and later two years with a small club called Stella Maris. At the age of 15, he successfully completed a trial training session at North London club Tottenham Hotspur and was henceforth part of the youth department at the "Spurs". Although Carr played mostly at a young age to midfield positions and always Bryan Robson had emulated, the instructors saw in him early in the capabilities of a full-back .

Shortly after his 17th birthday, the then Argentinian coach Osvaldo Ardiles took him under contract and on September 29, 1993 Carr made his debut in a Premier League game against Ipswich Town for the senior team. However, it should take until the 1996/97 season before Carr could have more missions follow. There the just 1.75 meters tall Irishman was then in the so-called wing-back position as a very offensive full-back in 26 league games and showed strengths in terms of endurance, speed and doggedness in duels. In the following season 1997/98 Carr consolidated his regular place on the right side of the defense. He was on the field in all 38 league games for Spurs and increasingly reminded of his compatriot Denis Irwin, who was successful on the left at Manchester United , with his offensive advances . What was still missing was the first competitive match, which then followed in the 1996/97 season in the league cup against Brentford FC . Carr had shown constant performance in defense and midfield even under the new coach George Graham ; special highlights for him were the goalless draw at Arsenal and the 1-0 final win in the League Cup against Leicester City - his first major trophy in professional football.

Equipped with increasing self-confidence, Carr now increasingly developed into a key player who sometimes posed major problems to opposing midfield and defensive rows, especially due to his speed runs. In addition, there was a new goal threat expressed in three league goals - including a “Goal of the Month” against Mark Bosnich from Manchester United. He also opened the 2000/01 season against Ipswich Town (3: 1) with a goal and although groin problems temporarily put him out of action, his colleagues from the PFA players' union voted him into the team of the season at the end of the round (“PFA Team of the Year ").

This steady positive development came to a temporary end in the summer of 2001, when Carr had to undergo an operation due to severe knee problems and as a result had to pause the entire 2001/02 season. When he made his comeback in August 2002, he suffered a thigh injury in the first half and only came back regularly after another regeneration phase in October. In doing so, he continued the good performance before the long break with almost no problems, which resulted in a second nomination for the Premier League team of the past season. The 2003/04 season was Carr's last season for Tottenham Hotspur. In this he completed again 39 competitive games and then said goodbye to Newcastle United , which was coached by Bobby Robson and had expressed interest for some time. For a transfer fee of two million pounds, Tottenham's new coach Jacques Santini Carr finally let go.

Newcastle United (2004-2008)

In Newcastle, Carr signed a four-year contract and under the new sporting director Graeme Souness - Robson was released shortly after Carr's engagement - he was an instant fixture in the four-man defense chain of the "Magpies". He played his first match on August 14, 2004 against Middlesbrough FC ; later he injured his knee, paused for three months and then, due to the general lack of injuries after his return, he played more often in the central defensive midfield. Notable successes in his first season were the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup and reaching the FA Cup semi-finals . Disappointing, however, was 14th place in the Premier League , whereby coach Souness came under pressure and was replaced by Glenn Roeder in January 2006 . Further groin problems plagued him in the 2005/06 season and he recovered from it only slowly. He had to break off a comeback in the FA Cup against Mansfield Town after 45 minutes and later undergo a second operation. Only after this intervention did he show himself to be on the defensive again in the cup quarter-finals against Chelsea .

The next setback followed in November 2006, when he sustained an ankle injury against Manchester City and convinced Nolberto Solano in the right-back position so much that Carr was only allowed to help out on the left defensive after his return and his prospects at the club as a whole were called into question. Further bad luck overtook him after the first three league games in the 2007/08 season, when a hamstring from the game against Middlesbrough FC put him out of action and paused until January 2008 after returning too early to the game. The fact that he initially found his way back into the team was due to the fact that the new competitor Habib Beye was staying at the African Championship in Ghana ; after his return he lost the place again and at the end of the season Newcastle United no longer offered him a new contract. Since no other professional club could be found, Carr remained unemployed for half a year and even announced his resignation on December 1, 2008.

Birmingham City (2009-2013)

Nevertheless, he trained with the second division club Birmingham City from February 2009 and agreed with the club on a one-month contract after the Blues needed urgent action on the right full-back position. On February 24, 2009 he celebrated his debut against Crystal Palace and after the one-month contract he signed until the end of the season in Birmingham, which eventually even brought promotion to the Premier League . Carr then extended for two more years and after the injury of Lee Carsley he also took over the captaincy. In terms of sport, the two following years brought great successes, such as the sovereign relegation in 2010 with 15 competitive games without defeat and the league cup win in 2011 after a surprising 2-1 final win against Arsenal , but also a serious setback, such as the renewed relegation in the 2010/11 season . The club then used an option included in the contract to extend the contract with Carr for another year.

Due to a cartilage damage in his knee, which largely put him out of action in the second half of the 2011/12 season, much boiled down to the final end of his career before he signed a new one-year contract in July 2012 under the new coach and ex-Newcastle team-mate Lee Clark . An injury in the subsequent pre-season, however, did not let him come to any further use and although Clark wanted to convince him of a job in his coaching staff, Carr left Birmingham for Spain, where he moved with his family.

Irish national team

Carr played 44 times for the Irish national football team , having previously played through all of the association's youth teams. He made his debut for the senior team in April 1999 against Sweden and from then on fought for a regular place after Denis Irwin resigned . However, due to a knee injury, Carr missed the finals of the 2002 World Cup with the Irish team. It should have been the only opportunity for him to participate in the finals, because he later missed qualifying for the Euro 2004 in Portugal and the 2006 World Cup in Germany . He then announced his resignation from the national team in October 2005, but was then persuaded by coach Steve Staunton to make a comeback. A good two years later, Carr's international career finally ended in November 2007. The reasons for this were an increasing number of injuries that put him under sportive pressure at the club and the fact that younger players like Kevin Foley were available as potential successors on his position on the Irish team.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Carr shines a light in dark days for football" (www.independent.ie)
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 978-1-85291-581-0 , pp. 51 f .
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 978-1-85291-588-9 , pp. 56 .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 978-1-85291-607-7 , pp. 56 .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 978-1-85291-626-8 , pp. 61 .
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-946531-34-9 , pp. 56 .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-85291-651-0 , pp. 80 .
  8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-85291-660-2 , pp. 74 .
  9. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-85291-662-6 , pp. 74 .
  10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006-07 . Mainstream Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4 , pp. 73 .
  11. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007-08 . Mainstream Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3 , pp. 74 .
  12. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008-09 . Mainstream Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8 , pp. 84 .
  13. ↑ The Irish Times : “Carr announces retirement” , December 1, 2008 (English)
  14. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009-10 . Mainstream Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0 , pp. 78 .
  15. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010-11 . Mainstream Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0 , pp. 77 .
  16. ↑ "Carr Gears Up" ( Memento of the original from May 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Birmingham City FC) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bcfc.com
  17. ↑ "Stephen Carr explains the reasons for signing up again with Birmingham City" (Birmingham Mail)
  18. ^ "Stephen Carr:" I will never forget that day lifting the cup. "" (Birmingham Mail)
  19. ^ "Carr calls time on International career" (RTÉ Sport)
personal data
SURNAME Carr, Stephen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin , Ireland