{"id":292449,"date":"2023-10-20T16:24:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T16:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=292449"},"modified":"2023-10-20T16:24:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T16:24:13","slug":"exclusive-carroll-speaks-on-his-new-life-in-frances-second-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/exclusive-carroll-speaks-on-his-new-life-in-frances-second-division\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Carroll speaks on his new life in France&apos;s second division"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Andy Carroll speaks on his new life in France&#8217;s second division, wasting cash on a bengal cat, eating roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on matchdays and buying Sir Rod Stewart&#8217;s Essex mansion<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Andy Carroll moved abroad this summer when\u00a0he joined\u00a0French side Amiens<\/b><\/li>\n<li><strong>The former England striker is loving life in the sleepy town in northern France<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is approaching midnight in Amiens, a sleepy town in northern France, and Andy Carroll is taking aim at a dartboard. \u2018I\u2019m going for 180,\u2019 he says, extending his long limbs towards the target. He falls well short. The forfeit? A tray of drinks.<\/p>\n<p>No one bats an eyelid. That\u2019s why he likes it here. He feels at home.<\/p>\n<p>Quite how this barnstorming traditional English centre forward ended up wearing number 99 and playing in the French second division, 75 miles north of Paris, needs some explaining. It\u2019s one of the reasons why we ended up staying overnight at his apartment. There\u2019s lots for him to say.<\/p>\n<p>Moving into Rod Stewart\u2019s house, a Bengal cat costing \u00a31,000 (it lasted two weeks), fake allegations about drug taking, eating full roast pre-match dinners at Newcastle and a transfer that should never have happened \u2013 the big, expensive one &#8211; to Liverpool, are all part of Carroll\u2019s story. Buying too many hats too. &#8216;I don\u2019t even like hats.&#8217; More of that to come.<\/p>\n<p>Now playing here as a free transfer signing, at the Stade de la Licorne, the \u2018Unicorn Stadium\u2019, with its tiny 12,000 capacity, Carroll \u2013 still only 34 \u2013 feels it is time to open up.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/15\/76803109-12653925-image-a-26_1697810449146.jpg\" height=\"441\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Andy Carroll moved abroad this summer for the first time when he joined French side Amiens<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/15\/76803115-12653925-image-a-27_1697810451624.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Carroll spoke to Mail Sport about how he is loving life in the sleepy town in northern France<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/15\/76805589-12653925-He_also_explained_how_a_barnstorming_traditional_English_centre_-a-31_1697813469205.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He also explained how a barnstorming traditional English centre forward &#8211; who won nine caps for his country &#8211; ended up wearing number 99 and playing in the French second division<\/p>\n<p>In that strong Geordie accent, he explains. \u2018I was at Newcastle from seven years old,\u2019 he explains. \u2018I made my debut at 17. I just thought, \u201cYou know what, if I don\u2019t go (abroad) now then I\u2019ll never go\u201d. I had another season at Reading. I wasn\u2019t playing and I spoke to the manager. He wanted legs up top which is something I don\u2019t have. I was going to say \u201canymore\u201d but I don\u2019t think I ever had them!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I wanted a challenge. A challenge in a completely different country. A fresh start. I spoke to my agent and said, \u201cGet me a club abroad\u201d. I came here and it was the one. It\u2019s a one and half hour drive to Calais and I can get the shuttle back to Epping (the family home).<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Here I can take my kids to the zoo here and they\u2019re not saying, \u201cCome on dad\u201d because people are asking for photos or autographs. There\u2019s a little pub around the corner where me and a couple of the boys went to watch Newcastle beat PSG the other week. What a game! No one said a word to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Normality is something he left behind a long time ago. Those days when football was just a hobby \u2013 the pure joy that he felt when he practised headers in their council house garden in Gateshead. Over our dinner, a margherita pizza, a smile beams across his face as he reminisces about those early days.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018There\u2019s a picture at home of me just born, first day in the house, lying there as a one-day old baby with a bottle of Brown Ale on one side and a football on the other. That was my dad. My mam says, \u201cLook at this picture! The idiot done this when you were one day old!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He worked in a steel factory, building parts for ships, and me mam worked as a cook in an old people\u2019s home. Dad came home, about 5 o clock, and straight away, we spent an hour or two in the garden before dinner. Throwing balls up, saying \u201cBoth feet \u2013 left, right, left right\u201d and I was just like, \u201cThrow it up and let me head it!\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Everywhere I went I had a ball under my arm. My dad can\u2019t drive so me mam took me to all the games. Travelling to Scotland, Manchester, everywhere. There was no sat navs back then. A lot of dead ends, wrong ways and screaming over the map!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Stopping to re-tie his trademark pony tail that has come loose, he discusses how he would have applied to the army if football had not worked out having completed a week\u2019s trial at the age of 16, though a first contract from Newcastle put an end to that idea. The money followed.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s hard, really hard. It was just coming in my bank and going straight back out, even though me mam and dad were telling me not to. You\u2019re 17 years old and getting all this money. All your friends haven\u2019t got anything so you take them with you.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/15\/76803179-12653925-image-a-34_1697813536728.jpg\" height=\"433\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Carroll was out-of-favour at Reading and told his agent he wanted a new challenge abroad<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/16\/76806413-12653925-Carroll_pictured_with_wife_Billi_Mucklow_-a-41_1697814315127.jpg\" height=\"794\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Carroll with wife Billi Mucklow at the Notre-Dame Cathedral this month. They married in 2022<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I wasted money on stupid things. I\u2019d go to Harrods in London and spend five-grand on rubbish. I\u2019d have nothing to show for it. Just gone. In the dressing room everyone\u2019s walking round with Lamborghinis or designer clothes. I\u2019ve got money and I\u2019m thinking \u201cThey\u2019re doing it\u2026 I\u2019ll do it as well\u201d. I wanted an exotic cat. Found this Bengal and got it. Like a thousand pound. I had it for two weeks (he gave it to his parents).<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Thinking back, it\u2019s mad. There are so many things I know now that I wish I knew then. The young kids are getting their money and driving around in a brand-new car. Next minute it\u2019ll be gone and he won\u2019t have a house or anything. There has to be a foundation or a trust where they tell these guys what to do. Something\u2019s got to happen. You get a lump of money at 17 and it just goes.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Carroll picks out 2010 as the best year of his football life, although there was a big shock coming. He scored 19 goals as Newcastle won promotion and took ownership of the city\u2019s iconic No9 jersey. And then he was sold.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019d just bought my dream house in Newcastle. I was about to sign a new contract and then it gets pulled away from me and you\u2019re gone. To be honest, I didn\u2019t really know what was going on. I didn\u2019t really want to go but you\u2019re being told you have to go.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It came up on Sky Sports News saying \u00a330million for Andy Carroll from Tottenham rejected. Then it says Liverpool \u00a335million accepted. I went in to see the manager, he rang the owner and the owner says, \u201cYeah, you\u2019re gone\u201d. There was loads of media outside the training ground so I jumped in the back of Kevin Nolan\u2019s car, left my car in the training ground and we\u2019re sitting there in his cinema room and all the news was about me.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m sitting there thinking, \u201cWhat is going on?\u201d I\u2019m getting loads of calls from my parents, my friends saying, \u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d I didn\u2019t know what was happening and then I get a phone call off my agent saying, \u201cThe helicopter\u2019s there, we need to go\u201d. I had no clothes, no bag, no nothing. That was me. In less than an hour I was gone. I\u2019d just bought a house. Spent a week doing it out. Didn\u2019t even live in it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a change in more ways than one. \u2018I\u2019ll tell you this\u2026 now you eat with the team but back then at Newcastle we would just meet at 1.30 for a 3pm kick off. I will never forget, I used to go to this little pub around the corner, The White Swan. It was like a Toby Carvery. Meat, Yorkshire puddings, loads of gravy. I would eat a full roast, full Newcastle tracksuit, and then I would just go to the game and play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis one time (team-mate) Kevin Nolan rang me up and said, \u201cWill you pick me up cos my car\u2019s not working\u2026 where are you?\u201d I said I\u2019m just having a Sunday roast and he went mental, screamed at me on the phone, \u201cAre you joking?\u201d and I told him I\u2019d done that forever.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When I went to Liverpool, everything changed professionally. We went to a hotel before the game, home and away, and had your pasta and your nice fruit. I\u2019d been eating Yorkshire puddings and gravy. Now everyone\u2019s telling you what to eat and when to eat. It was mental. Suited and booted, in a hotel the night before a game, eating right with the lads. On a Friday night in Newcastle I was out with my mam and dad or my friends.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/15\/76803209-12653925-image-a-37_1697813729476.jpg\" height=\"409\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Carroll picks out 2010 as the best year of his football life when he was on fire at Newcastle<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/16\/76806431-12653925-image-a-38_1697814158841.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>However, he admitted he struggled to settle and perform at Liverpool after his \u00a335m move<\/p>\n<p>\u2018At Liverpool it was, it was elite. That was hard for me, thinking two weeks ago I was sitting in the pub eating food before a game and now I\u2019m doing this in a suit. Obviously it\u2019s easy to get on with it and deal with it but the change and those little details were massive.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I could walk down the street in Newcastle and I was fine. Suddenly, I couldn\u2019t walk down the street, had people outside my house, had security outside my house 24 hours a day because people were coming. I couldn\u2019t do anything. Loads of different emotions. The football was different, my lifestyle was different. I was 21, I was a baby. Just me by myself. It was hard.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The kid became the commodity. The most expensive British transfer in history.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When I signed at Liverpool I was injured. My timing was completely different to the lads that were training. For the first six weeks I never got to train with them or socialise with them. For six weeks, I never really bonded with anyone.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I\u2019m disappointed that I didn\u2019t really grasp Liverpool. I kind of took it for granted. I came out of school, went into Newcastle reserves, went into the first team, signed for Liverpool, played for England. Everything I touched turned to gold. Maybe it went to my head a little bit. I could do no wrong, that sort of thing. I don\u2019t really know what went wrong. Maybe I wasn\u2019t good enough\u2026 I don\u2019t know. I just wish I\u2019d grabbed it a little bit more.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>As the evening pushes on, the drinks begin to flow. Carroll insists on paying his way. Says he dad brought him up to always pay for your round. He is full of anecdotes. Engaging and down-to-earth, shattering any preconceived ideas.<\/p>\n<p>We head back to his apartment in the town centre, overlooking the cathedral, and he offers a bed for the night. The stories continue. Flying to Ibiza on a private jet with Joe Hart, going backstage at the boxing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Brook v Golovkin) and how he ended up buying Rod Stewart\u2019s mansion after leaving Liverpool for West Ham.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The day I bought it, my parents came down and my dad couldn\u2019t believe it was Rod Stewart\u2019s house. He\u2019s sitting there just imagining who\u2019s been in that bar.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I watched a documentary and Rod was writing Maggie May in my living room! When I bought it off him he\u2019s got a full-size football pitch with home and away dressing rooms that were signed by players who had played there. Rangers players, Celtic players, Liverpool, Newcastle. There were beer taps down in the bar. He used to have parties there, the lads would play football and he would sing. It\u2019s a mad thing, really.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Property is one of Carroll\u2019s passions. He talks about his investment company \u2013 3 Property NE \u2013 and explains that when he eventually stops playing (although there are no plans to yet) then he would rather spend time with his five kids than go into football management.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually we call it a night and Carroll asks to pick up the interview in the morning. \u2018I\u2019ve got a bit more that I\u2019d like to say.\u2019 He cancels his 10am French lesson, throws on a baseball cap at the front door and we head to Starbucks for a coffee and a croissant. The conversation turns to West Ham \u2013 a place he called home &#8211; and he opens up about the challenges that make him think twice about whether he would encourage his children to go into professional football.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/15\/76803117-12653925-image-a-36_1697813636247.jpg\" height=\"459\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The striker insisted he is embracing being a normal guy where he isn&#8217;t approached for photos<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/16\/76806769-12653925-image-a-43_1697814649972.jpg\" height=\"408\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He was the hometown hero at Newcastle but revealed he used to have a roast dinner pre-game<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I was settled at West Ham. I loved my time there, living with my wife and my kids. The last two years maybe got a bit stale because I was injured and nothing really went my way, but at West Ham I was happy.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I did my knee. Chris Smalling smashed me, Man United at Old Trafford, and I was gone. I couldn\u2019t walk but we had no more subs. I was hobbling. For 20 minutes I carried on thinking, \u201cI am here for the team and I\u2019m playing on no matter what\u201d. I was jumping up for headers when my knee had gone. I had surgery on my ACL. I was out for months.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve had six surgeries on my ankle, kept on re-fracturing. I got a phone call from Sam Allardyce saying, \u201cCome into my office, we need to have a conversation\u201d. I knew I was in trouble but I didn\u2019t know what I\u2019d done. He says, \u201cWhen was the last time you played table tennis?\u201d Six months ago\u2026 I dunno. He says, \u201cWere you not playing on Saturday night? I\u2019ve been told you were drunk, playing table tennis, you won, jumped on the table and rolled your ankle\u201d. He starts laughing.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018People were making up stories about me and the media were getting hold of it. It was coming on me all the time. This happened, this happened and then it\u2019s, \u201cAndy Carroll\u2019s on drugs\u201d and they\u2019re singing a song about me. The people close to me know that I don\u2019t take drugs and never took drugs.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I wasn\u2019t injured because I wanted to be injured! At West Ham I had a moment where I just fell out of love with everything. I was so depressed. I didn\u2019t leave the house, had to wear a hat if I did. Wouldn\u2019t go out for dinner, lunch, anything. I just hated everything and everyone. I was getting abuse for being injured. It all come together and I\u2019d had enough. I had to speak to people. I still speak to them now, if I\u2019m honest. I went through mad times in my head. Thought about quitting, I was done with it all.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Everywhere I went I had a hat on. I wouldn\u2019t go anywhere without a hat. I\u2019ve got so many hats in my house and I don\u2019t even like wearing hats! I\u2019ve probably got one for every day of the year. I must have seven or eight in my car, just there.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018All these doors have opened up for me through football and I\u2019m grateful for that but it has challenges. People see the money but not the sacrifices. Even sitting having a conversation with my friends and family, if there\u2019s someone new there, you\u2019re always wary of where it\u2019s going to go. That\u2019s the biggest thing: trust. My missus has been in the limelight. I\u2019ve been in the limelight. My kids were just born into our life and it\u2019s hard for them. For me, that\u2019s the struggle more than anything.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>At some point, when he has found a suitable house and schooling, his family will join him in France. His life has been one move after another but now, at 34, he feels settled in his mind. Before we go our separate ways, waving us off at the train station, we come back to the opening question: why is he here? This time he has had a night to sleep on it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I say a lot to Billi, my wife, that I wish I could just walk down the street and be me. No one really sees me. I\u2019m always keeping up appearances. The only sanctuary I have is at home. That\u2019s the only place I can be me. You\u2019re always reserved, you\u2019re always working, you\u2019re always wary. It\u2019s not really a way to live, is it?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I live in Epping and I walk down the street and I\u2019m fine because everyone\u2019s seen me there. But still, I\u2019ve still been papped walking the dogs, with the kids, having dinner in a restaurant. Someone takes a picture of me and Billi having a glass of wine in one of the restaurants. You\u2019re always worried.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/16\/76803121-12653925-image-a-42_1697814568445.jpg\" height=\"452\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Carroll, 34, admitted he made mistakes in his younger years but is enjoying life in France<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/20\/16\/76806415-12653925-image-a-45_1697814702166.jpg\" height=\"793\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>At some point, when he has found a suitable house and schooling, his family will join him in France but they did come out to visit him and watch him play for Amiens earlier this month<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Joe Cole said to me that going to America was the best thing he\u2019s ever done because he\u2019d walk down the beach in his shorts and flip-flops and play volleyball with the locals. He was just \u201cEnglish Joe\u201d. He was relaxed. He loved it. That\u2019s what life should be.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve signed two years here and I\u2019ve got no plans of stopping. I just love playing football to be honest. It doesn\u2019t matter what level it is. I left school and have basically been getting paid to do my hobby. If I\u2019d only done it one time at Newcastle and never done it again then I\u2019d have been happy. Unless you\u2019ve stepped foot on a pitch and had that support around you, I can\u2019t even express how it feels. If I was working any other job I\u2019d have been playing football at any chance I got, anyway. I\u2019m lucky that I\u2019m getting paid to do something that I love doing.<\/p>\n<p>\u2019I\u2019m content. For the last few years, I just feel I know who I am and I\u2019m comfortable. No one can put me back where I was. You could throw anything at me now and I feel safe in myself. I\u2019m comfortable. Here I can walk into the bakery and get a pain au chocolate and no one\u2019s saying, \u201cHow was the game? Can I get a picture?\u201d Here I feel like I\u2019m normal. I just wanted to get out. Be free. Be me.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>This free transfer is a free man in France.\u00a0English Andy, blending in with the locals.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12653925\/Andy-Carroll-France-Rod-Stewart-Essex.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Andy Carroll speaks on his new life in France&#8217;s second division, wasting cash on a bengal cat, eating roast beef and Yorkshire pudding <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/exclusive-carroll-speaks-on-his-new-life-in-frances-second-division\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: Carroll speaks on his new life in France&amp;apos;s second division\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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