Stephen Carr

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Stephen Carr
Personal information
Full name	Stephen Carr
Date of birth	29 August 1976 (1976-08-29) (age 32)
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Right Back
Club information
Current club	Birmingham City
Number	2
Youth career
1991–1993	Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–2004 2004–2008 2009–	Tottenham Hotspur Newcastle United Birmingham City	226 (7) 078 (1) 013 (0)
National team2
1999–2007	Republic of Ireland	044 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:57, 15 May 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 16:57, 15 May 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Stephen Carr (born 29 August 1976 in Dublin), is an Irish footballer who plays for Birmingham City. He previously played for the Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United. He is a former International player with the Republic of Ireland. His position is right back, but had been known to deputise at left back or centre back when required.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Tottenham Hotspur 1.2 Newcastle United 1.3 After Newcastle 1.4 Birmingham City 2 International career 3 Statistics 4 Honours 4.1 Team honours 4.2 Individual honours 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Tottenham Hotspur

As a fifteen year old, Carr went on trial from Stella Maris Football Club where he played his schoolboy football to Tottenham Hotspur and was signed up by then manager Ossie Ardiles. He made his debut for the club on 29 September 1993 away to Ipswich Town in the 1993-94 Premier League season. However he had to wait until the 1996-97 season to establish himself as a regular first-team player, when he made 28 appearances that campaign.

He picked up a League Cup medal with Spurs in 1999 after contributing to a 1-0 win over Leicester City in the final. The 1999-00 Premier League season was arguably his best ever as far as his performances are concerned. As well as scoring a fantastic 35-yard screamer^{[citation needed]} against champions Manchester United.[1]

His reputation continued to grow throughout the 2000-01 Premier League season, and other clubs were beginning to show interest in signing him. However, in the summer of 2001, he began to have problems with his knee and required an operation which he underwent in September of that year. He did not make any appearances in the 2001-02 Premier League season and would also miss the World Cup 2002 finals. It wasn't until October 2002 that Carr was back in training and fully fit. As he returned to form, interest from other Premiership clubs started to resurface. Carr was linked with Manchester United, and a move to Newcastle United was on the cards.

[edit] Newcastle United

Carr signed for Newcastle United in August 2004 when then manager Bobby Robson signed him for a fee of £2 million and a contract that would last four years. Soon after he signed Bobby Robson was sacked from his managerial post by chairman Freddy Shepherd. He was replaced by Graeme Souness, who like Robson, saw Carr as a first-team player. Carr's debut for the club came in a 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough on 14 August 2004. He played in 26 league games in the 2004-05 season, scoring once. His first goal for the club came from a 30 yard strike against Southampton. He helped Newcastle reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup and the semi-final of the FA Cup. Newcastle finished 14th, which put pressure on Souness.

In the 2005-06 season, he only managed to make 19 league appearances for the club as the persistent knee injury ruled him out for two months. The team finished 7th in the league under the new management of Glenn Roeder, after Souness was sacked in January.

Carr was one of the many injury victims at Newcastle during the 2006–07 season and was out with a fractured foot for a few months. He returned for the 2-2 draw against West Ham United on 20 January 2007. However in this game he found himself filling in at an unfamiliar left-back position after impressive displays from Nolberto Solano at right-back during Carr's absence, putting question marks over Carr's future at the club. The 2007–08 season saw Carr move further back in the Newcastle pecking order, with the signings of Habib Beye and Geremi. Beye's impressive form and Carr's inability to maintain fitness resulted in Kevin Keegan deciding against renewing Carr's contract, releasing him from the club along with Peter Ramage and James Troisi.^[1]

[edit] After Newcastle

Carr had been linked with moves to Aston Villa, Everton, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic, Hertha Berlin and Bohemian. He was also on trial with League 1 side Leicester City where he would have linked up with Nigel Pearson whom he played under at Newcastle. Having failed to find a suitable club, Carr announced his retirement from all forms of football on December 1, 2008.^[2]

[edit] Birmingham City

However, in February 2009 he began training with Birmingham City with a view to coming out of retirement,^[3] and signed a one-month contract with the club on 23 February.^[4] He made his debut the following day, playing the whole of the goalless draw away to Crystal Palace.^[5] After impressing during the initial month, Carr signed an extension until the end of the season.^[6] Following Birmingham's promotion to the Premier League, Carr signed a new two-year contract with the club.^[7]

[edit] International career

Carr has represented his country at Schoolboy, Youth, Under-18, Under-21 and full international levels. He missed out on the 2002 World Cup due to injury.

Carr initially retired from the international scene after the team failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, having played 39 times for his country. However he was convinced to continue playing international football by new Ireland manager Steve Staunton. Due to injuries and the sacking of Irish manager Staunton, Carr retired from international football on 14 November 2007.^[8]

[edit] Statistics

As of 4 March 2008

Club Performance

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Newcastle United	2007–08	10	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
	2006–07	23	0	2	0	0	0	3	0	28	0
	2005–06	19	0	2	0	0	0	3	0	24	0
	2004–05	26	1	4	0	0	0	11	0	41	1
Tottenham Hotspur	2003–04	32	1	3	0	4	0	0	0	39	1
	2002–03	30	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	32	0
	2001–02	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2000–01	28	3	2	0	3	0	0	0	33	3
	1999–00	34	3	0	0	1	0	4	0	39	3
	1998–99	37	0	7	0	8	1	0	0	52	1
	1997–98	38	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	43	0
	1996–97	26	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	30	0
	1995–96	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1994–95	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1993–94	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total		304	8	27	0	22	1	21	0	374	9

[edit] Honours

[edit] Team honours

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Winner

• 1998–99 League Cup

Newcastle United F.C.

Winner

• 2006 Intertoto Cup

[edit] Individual honours

• 2002–03 PFA Premiership Team of the Season

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Stephen Carr career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Birmingham City F.C. – current squad 1 Maik Taylor · 2 Carr · 3 Murphy · 5 Martin Taylor · 6 Ridgewell · 7 Larsson · 8 O'Connor · 9 Phillips · 10 Jerome · 11 McSheffrey · 13 Doyle · 16 McFadden · 17 Mutch · 20 Queudrue · 21 Parnaby · 22 D. Johnson · 23 Bent · 24 Aydilek · 25 Wilson · 26 Carsley · 27 Pearce · 29 Sammons · 30 Fahey · 31 M. McPike · — Dann · — Espinoza · — Hart · — R. Johnson · Manager: McLeish