Jamie Carragher is a Liverpool legend but grew up supporting their arch rivals Everton
Few Liverpudlians cross the Goodison Park divide to Anfield – let alone go on to become a Liverpool legend. But that’s exactly what happened to Jamie Carragher who spent a year at Everton in his youth and grew up a die hard Toffee.
The former Reds defender, who went on to make 737 appearances for Liverpool, is the second longest serving player in their history and has made the most appearances for the club in Europe. But his career could have been very different.
Carragher has revealed he was told by his Liverpool coaches to play down his Everton allegiances, before signalling to his dad in the middle of a game. The Reds defender was warming up at half-time at The Riverside for Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Middlesbrough.
The scores were being announced on the PA system, with Everton two goals to the good against Newcastle, with Carragher signalling the result to his Toffees’ supporting father in the crowd. Carragher says his dad told him it had to stop if he were to make it at Anfield.
“When I was in the Liverpool first team,” Carragher told The Overlap when asked how old he was when he stopped supporting the Toffees. “I was still a fan in the youth team.
“We won the Youth Cup, and the next season it went from three to five subs. The first game of the season, Liverpool were away at Middlesbrough – the day that Fabrizio Ravanelli got a hat trick on his debut for Middlesbrough, and I was on the bench.
“It was also Alan Shearer’s first game for Newcastle that day – but it was at Goodison Park. Everton were winning 2-0 at half time. I was warming up at half-time, I saw my dad in the crowd, so I signalled ‘It’s 2-0!’ Even my dad said that after that it had to stop.
“Before that, Ronnie Moran had pulled me and the youth coaches. We were playing for Liverpool reserves, and Everton were playing a replay against Stockport in the FA Cup. Stockport score, and everyone went ‘Get in’, and then Everton scored, and I went ‘Get in’. Even the youth team coaches pulled me and told me to calm down.
“I went to Everton for a year, when I was about 12. They knew I was a massive fan, and they played on it. My dad didn’t want me to go, even though he’s a massive Everton fan, because Liverpool were the best team and had won everything.
“I got there, and after a month I knew I had made a massive mistake. The coaches, the training, everything. We asked if we could leave at Christmas, but you had a 12-month contract. So I did a year at Everton, but I knew [it wasn’t for me] straight away.
“How could I possibly still be an Everton fan if I was playing for Liverpool? What Liverpool have done for me and my life – my family, the trips, the memories – how can I not be a Liverpool fan?
“Being an Everton fan came from my family. We were massive Everton fans, went home and away. My middle name is Lee Duncan – Gordon Lee was the Everton manager in 1978, and Duncan McKenzie was Everton’s best player – that’s what my name was.”
