Graham Carr
Encyclopedia
William Graham Carr is an English
former professional footballer and football club manager. He is currently Head Scout at Newcastle United
.
in August 1962 and captained their reserve side before breaking into their first team. He played 27 times in Northampton's only season in the First Division. He moved to York City
in June 1968 and then to Bradford Park Avenue
in July 1969 where he was a regular in their final season in the Football League.
After leaving Bradford he moved into non-league football with Altrincham
and Telford United
, with whom he won an FA Trophy
winners medal in 1971. He later played for Poole Town and Dartford
, with whom he won the Southern League
and gained an FA Trophy
runners-up medal in 1974.
. He briefly left management to play for Tonbridge and Weymouth
before being appointed player-manager of Weymouth in January 1977.
He resigned in 1978 to manage Dartford and later managed Nuneaton Borough until 1985 when he left to become manager of his first club Northampton Town
. He led the Cobblers to the Fourth Division title in the 1986–87 season. However, the title winning side's leadings scorer Richard Hill was sold to Watford
and his strike partner Trevor Morley
to Manchester City
and Carr's subsequent sides struggled for goals and went from being a free-scoring attacking side to a negative one relying on the offside trap.
He was sacked from Northampton in May 1990 after their relegation back to the Fourth Division, taking over at Blackpool
, who had been relegated along with Northampton, the following month. He had a torrid time at Blackpool, where he was never popular with the home fans, who took to spitting on the dugout during home games, especially after letting the previous season's player of the year, Colin Methven
, sign for Walsall
, saying he was neither good enough nor quick enough for Fourth Division football. He was sacked in November 1990 after Blackpool were beaten 4–0 away to Tranmere Rovers
in the Football League Trophy
. He remains Blackpool's shortest-serving manager, with just sixteen Football League matches in charge.
In February 1991 Carr was appointed as manager of Maidstone United
, who had just sacked Keith Peacock
following a run of poor results. Carr's time at Maidstone was also unhappy; a series of poor signings and baffling tactical decisions saw the team slump towards the foot of the table, and the Maidstone fans chanting for the board to sack him, which they did in October 1991, less than a year before the Kent
side were forced to resign from the Football League.
Carr took over as manager of Kettering Town
in September 1992, with the club in administration and under the threat of a winding-up order. Despite these off the field problems, Carr led the club to mid-table safety in the Football Conference
. Kettering came out of administration in the summer of 1993 and Carr built on the relative success of the previous season, taking the side to within three points of the Conference title. He left Kettering at the end of the 1994–95 season after losing the fans' support, despite Kettering finishing sixth in the Conference.
He was not out of work for long, returning to Weymouth as manager on 12 May 1995, but resigned in September the same year.
working under David Pleat
, and since Manchester City
and Notts County
both places working under Sven-Göran Eriksson
. In February 2010 he joined Newcastle United
as their chief scout following the reign of Dennis Wise
.
, is a comedian who is most well-known for co-presenting The Friday Night Project
and hosting his own chat show called Alan Carr: Chatty Man
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
former professional footballer and football club manager. He is currently Head Scout at Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
.
Club career
Carr, a half-back, joined his first professional club, Northampton TownNorthampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...
in August 1962 and captained their reserve side before breaking into their first team. He played 27 times in Northampton's only season in the First Division. He moved to York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
in June 1968 and then to Bradford Park Avenue
Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.
Bradford Association Football Club, previously also known as Bradford and since its reformation in the 1970s now referred to as Bradford Park Avenue, is a football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England...
in July 1969 where he was a regular in their final season in the Football League.
After leaving Bradford he moved into non-league football with Altrincham
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is an English association football club from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Conference North, having been relegated from the Conference National at the end of the 2010–11 season.-History:...
and Telford United
Telford United F.C.
Telford United F.C. was an English football club based in Telford, Shropshire.The club existed under various names for a total of 132 years from its formation in 1872. The club was founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979 and played at this level for 25 years before being wound up in...
, with whom he won an FA Trophy
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...
winners medal in 1971. He later played for Poole Town and Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
, with whom he won the Southern League
Southern League
Southern League may mean:*Southern League , a United States minor league baseball league**Southern Association, a United States minor league baseball league, was known as the Southern League from 1901–1919...
and gained an FA Trophy
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams...
runners-up medal in 1974.
Coaching career
Carr's first job in management was as player-manager at DartfordDartford F.C.
Dartford F.C. are an English football club based in Dartford, Kent. After finishing as champions of the Isthmian League Division One North in the 2007–08 season, they compete in the Isthmian League Premier Division. They finished in 8th position in their first season...
. He briefly left management to play for Tonbridge and Weymouth
Weymouth F.C.
Weymouth F.C. are an English football club based in the town of Weymouth, who currently play in the Southern League Premier Division.-History:Weymouth Football Club were founded in 1890 and played their first game on 24 September of that year...
before being appointed player-manager of Weymouth in January 1977.
He resigned in 1978 to manage Dartford and later managed Nuneaton Borough until 1985 when he left to become manager of his first club Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...
. He led the Cobblers to the Fourth Division title in the 1986–87 season. However, the title winning side's leadings scorer Richard Hill was sold to Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
and his strike partner Trevor Morley
Trevor Morley
Trevor Morley is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.-Playing career:Morley played for Northampton Town, having previously seen non-league football with Corby Town and Nuneaton Borough...
to Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and Carr's subsequent sides struggled for goals and went from being a free-scoring attacking side to a negative one relying on the offside trap.
He was sacked from Northampton in May 1990 after their relegation back to the Fourth Division, taking over at Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
, who had been relegated along with Northampton, the following month. He had a torrid time at Blackpool, where he was never popular with the home fans, who took to spitting on the dugout during home games, especially after letting the previous season's player of the year, Colin Methven
Colin Methven
Colin John Methven is an Indian-born Scottish former professional footballer.A centre-half, Methven began his career with East Fife in 1974, whilst also working as a mineworker...
, sign for Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
, saying he was neither good enough nor quick enough for Fourth Division football. He was sacked in November 1990 after Blackpool were beaten 4–0 away to Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers F.C.
Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...
in the Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
. He remains Blackpool's shortest-serving manager, with just sixteen Football League matches in charge.
In February 1991 Carr was appointed as manager of Maidstone United
Maidstone United F.C.
Maidstone United Football Club is an English football team from Maidstone, Kent.The current club is a continuation of the old Maidstone United, which was a member of the Football League between 1989 and 1992. The club was forced out of the league by financial ruin but the youth squad formed the...
, who had just sacked Keith Peacock
Keith Peacock
Keith Peacock is an English former footballer and manager.-Playing career:Peacock played his entire professional career for Charlton Athletic, making over 500 Football League appearances between 1962 and 1979...
following a run of poor results. Carr's time at Maidstone was also unhappy; a series of poor signings and baffling tactical decisions saw the team slump towards the foot of the table, and the Maidstone fans chanting for the board to sack him, which they did in October 1991, less than a year before the Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
side were forced to resign from the Football League.
Carr took over as manager of Kettering Town
Kettering Town F.C.
Kettering Town Football Club are a football club originating in Kettering, Northamptonshire but currently based in the nearby village of Irthlingborough. The club play in the Conference National after winning the Conference North in 2007–08...
in September 1992, with the club in administration and under the threat of a winding-up order. Despite these off the field problems, Carr led the club to mid-table safety in the Football Conference
Football Conference
The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...
. Kettering came out of administration in the summer of 1993 and Carr built on the relative success of the previous season, taking the side to within three points of the Conference title. He left Kettering at the end of the 1994–95 season after losing the fans' support, despite Kettering finishing sixth in the Conference.
He was not out of work for long, returning to Weymouth as manager on 12 May 1995, but resigned in September the same year.
Scouting career
In more recent times, he has built a good reputation as a scout for Tottenham HotspurTottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
working under David Pleat
David Pleat
David John Pleat is an English football player turned manager and sports commentator.He is remembered by his contemporaries primarily for his career as manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Luton Town football clubs, and for an oft-televised clip of him running onto the pitch in 1983 to celebrate after...
, and since Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
both places working under Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
. In February 2010 he joined Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
as their chief scout following the reign of Dennis Wise
Dennis Wise
Dennis Frank Wise is an English former football manager and player, and former Executive Director at Newcastle United....
.
Family
His son Alan CarrAlan Carr
Alan Carr is an English comedian and television personality. Born in Weymouth, he was raised in Northampton before moving to Manchester during his early 20's....
, is a comedian who is most well-known for co-presenting The Friday Night Project
The Friday Night Project
The Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
and hosting his own chat show called Alan Carr: Chatty Man
Alan Carr: Chatty Man
Alan Carr: Chatty Man is a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Alan Carr. The award-winning show is on Channel 4. The show features interviews with celebrity guests, sketches, topical chat and music....
.