Product Description

Jamie Carragher is one of the most charismatic footballers of his generation. Adored by the fans, he was recently voted the most popular player in the entire Liverpool squad. Yet the young Carra came to Liverpool as an Everton fan, from an Everton family and with Everton friends. Packed with great anecdotes, controversial opinions and large helpings of his trademark humour, this is his story...Born in January 1978 in Bootle, Merseyside, Carragher signed professional terms with Liverpool in 1996, having served a successful apprenticeship, won the FA Youth Cup and played for England Under-21s. He scored a goal in his first full league game for the senior team - pretty good for a defender and very unusual for him - and his versatility was to ensure a permanent place in the starting line up before long and he is now vice-captain. In fact he is so integral to the Liverpool squad, the Kop chants 'we all dream of a team of Carraghers' to the tune of 'Yellow Submarine'. Raw, funny and down-to-earth, his book is an antidote to the anodyne sports autobiography. It takes you behind the scenes of all of Liverpool and England's greatest triumphs and disasters in the company of a player who never fails to be intelligent, controversial or just downright hilarious.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40147 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From the Inside Flap
For the Anfield faithful, Jamie Carragher represents everything that is great about Liverpool Football Club, prompting the Kop to sing 'we all dream of a team of Carraghers'. The club's vice captain, longest-serving player and one of a select band of players to have made more than 500 appearances for the Reds, Carra never gives less than 100 per cent for the cause. Never was this more true than in Liverpool's stunning Champions League triumph in Istanbul in 2005. He is the embodiment of old-fashioned football values– a rarity in the modern game – honest and uncompromising.

In Carra: My Autobiography, the Liverpool defender takes us deep into the heart of Anfield, into the club's past glories and its uncertain future. In his typically down-to-earth style, Carra reveals what made him discard his blue Evertonian roots to become a fully fledged Red, how he mended his wild ways to become a true professional and a multiple trophy-winner, and the truth about a succession of managers – Evans, Houllier, Benitez – in the hottest seat in football. A scouser through and through, Carra also has some forthright views on the England team, and tells why he rejected calls from both Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello to return to the international fold.

Full of sensational stories and controversial opinions, of glory and heartbreak on and off the pitch, Carra: My Autobiography is a football book unlike any other. The authentic voice of Anfield, Carra is one of the Bootroom Boys in true Liverpool tradition, and is as committed on the page as in every game he has ever played.

About the Author
Now vice-captain and Liverpool's longest serving player - one of a select band of players to have made more than 500 appearances for the club - Jamie Carragher signed professional terms with the Reds aged 18 in October 1996. His first team debut came at Middlesbrough on 8 January 1997 as a substitute and he made his first start against Aston Villa ten days later. Carra's passion, enthusiasm and incredible versatility soon ensured regular starts from then on, whether at right-back, left-back, centre-half or in defensive midfield. Carra was part of Gerard Houllier's Treble-winning side of 2001, playing most of the season at left-back. His solid displays earned him a full England debut against Holland in August 2001. Sadly, like teammate Steven Gerrard, injury ruled him out of the 2002 World Cup, and there was more heartbreak a year later when a broken leg forced him to miss six months of the 2003-04 campaign. While Carra had always been a first-team regular at Anfield, he'd somehow struggled to get the recognition he deserved. Each new signing was seen as a threat to his place. The arrival of new boss Rafa Benitez changed all this, with Mr Versatile getting the permanent centre-back slot he'd always craved. The Bootle boy was soon being labelled the most underrated defender in the country, not least for his heroics in the unforgettable Champions League final in 2005, and was voted Liverpoolfc.tv's Player of the Year. In July 2005, the defender signed a new four-year deal at Anfield. His loyalty was rewarded a month later when, in the absence of the injured Steven Gerrard, Carra lifted the European Super Cup. There was more silverware at the end of the season despite an own goal in the FA Cup final against West Ham. It was the defender's 10th final in as many years - and what better way to prepare for the World Cup, even though it was to end in crushing disappointment. In August 2006 Carra captained the club in the Community Shield against champions Chelsea, jointly holding the silver dish aloft with injured skipper Gerrard.

Customer Reviews

The best Footballers Autobiography in years
This is a great read. It paints a picture of the man off the field just as he appears on the field. It comes across as being totally honest, does not seem to shirk any sensitive issues and was a great read. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is a sports fan and anyone who wants to know more about the mindset of successful sports stars.

`And number one, is Carragher, and number two was Carragher, and number...
Jamie Carragher is one of the most popular footballers in Liverpool`s history. He is worshiped by the LFC fans, and the envy of rival back fours. His popularity was proven when he was recently voted the most popular player in the entire Liverpool squad.
The story tells how a teenage Carra came to Liverpool even though he had been brought up as an Everton fan, from an Everton family and with Everton friends. The book is well written packed with great anecdotes and stories, and he doesnt pull any punches with some controversial opinions and large helpings of his trademark humour, you cannot help but enjoy it. There has been a growing list of good books from Liverpool authors lately, `43 years with the same bird, by Brian Reade` is great, `Here we go gathering cups in may` by Nicky Alt is excellent, the `Soft Target` thrillers by Conrad Jones The 18th Brigade (Soft Target Series)(SET at Anfield) are terrifiyingly good!! There is another Carragher book due out next year, obviously written by someone else. This is the real mcoy from the horses mouth. The only thing missing is the story of how he picked up a bag full of premiership medals....but there is plenty of time yet.
So popular now he is now vice-captain. In fact he is so integral to the Liverpool squad, the Kop chants 'we all dream of a team of Carraghers' to the tune of 'Yellow Submarine'. Raw, funny and down-to-earth, his book is an antidote to the anodyne sports autobiography. It takes you behind the scenes of all of Liverpool and England's greatest triumphs and disasters in the company of a player who never fails to be intelligent, controversial or just downright hilarious.

Just like the Man Himself: Honest, Modest and Absolutely Brilliant
There has been something of a rash of books from English footballers of late and as such, seeing one from Jamie Carragher did not excite as much attention as those from his more celebrated colleagues of club and country. But with 'Carra' we get a good insight into the man who could be defined as Mr Consistency who was for so long, an unsung hero. It is honest, well written and above all else a thoroughly good read.

Firstly I must start by saying that (unlike so many band wagon jumpers) that I have always been a big fan of Carragher as a player. Long before Istanbul elevated him to hero status I had his name on the back of my shirt and would argue with anyone who cared to debate how he should be in England's starting line-up whether at right back or centre back. However, once you leave the 0151 area, his fans seem to be thin on the ground, especially at international level and as such, his story is very interesting in that it has never been properly told like this.

The first thing that Carragher gets right with this book is he avoids the trap of a moaning 'rags to riches' tale. Yes, he grew up in Bootle, a deprived area to the North of Liverpool but he freely admits that while being firmly working class, he was never wanting as a child and had two parents who looked after him well. It would have been so easy to go on at length about the poverty around him but he sidesteps this to his credit and exemplifies the spirit of Bootle; salt of the earth good people, rich in character and spirit if not in the wallet.

The next thing he gets right is the layout of the book which avoids the mundane chronological path of telling his story through the years and focuses on specific topics of interest. This works perfectly because just about any reader of this book will know that it tells the tale of someone who came through the academy, broke into the first team, played his way into fans and managers' favour, had one helluva night in Turkey in 2005 and never really found himself at home with the England team. We know all that anyway, and so he takes the smart decision to go into detail about the finer points of all of these events.

The effect is that we finally learn about his history as a diehard Evertonian and how he made that transition, we learn about what really happened with Gerard Houllier, and how he went from being such a success to a shadow of a man at the end. We learn about the difficult early days of Benitez and Carragher's strained relationship with the England team. All of these events give a wonderful insight into the life and times of one of Sefton and Liverpool FC's favourite sons.

Carra truly gives you the picture of a man who has never been allowed to get above himself. Whether it was the strict discipline of managers like Houllier and Rafa, his father throwing boots at him for ducking out of a schoolboy game to avoid the rain or his wife who seems like the anti-WAG, he always seems like what every school boy dreams of being: Just a fan being paid to play football, chasing the glory at every turn and not that interested in the gold, just the silverware. This book captures that story brilliantly.

The highlights are literally strewn throughout the book but always centre around him either pulling no punches on subjects like his real feelings on England, deliberately injuring players who mocked him or on the escapades of someone who you know is a bit of a reformed Scally. Some tales of misdemeanours are hysterically funny precisely because they have that classic air of Scouse mischief rather than villainy.

Forthright and honest, well-written and hilariously funny in places, Carra is a superb book which Liverpool fans will love and plenty of others should really enjoy simply for the great story it tells, and the wonderful way it tells it.