Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has opened up on his support for Everton before joining the Reds as a youngster
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Jamie Carragher
Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has made the surprising admission that he turned up to his Liverpool trial in an Everton kit, citing pure desperation as the reason behind his choice. The well-known former Blue, who along with his family supported Everton growing up, eventually found his home at Anfield.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast in October, where he joined football greats Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Ian Wright, and Paul Scholes, the 46-year-old discussed his journey in football. Carragher, who also played for England, reminisced about his early days as a fervent Everton fan, attending both home and away matches before signing with Liverpool at the tender age of nine.
Despite the switch, his loyalty to the Toffees didn't waver. He openly recounted the story behind wearing an Everton kit to his Liverpool trial, clarifying that it was out of necessity rather than choice.
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Carragher explained: "The first team I played for was my school's football team Bootle boys. The scouts would come and watch Bootle boys, Liverpool boys, Wirral boys and the best players would get picked to play for Liverpool. I can still picture it now we were in the dressing room of a school in Bootle on Friday.
"Four of us went down to Liverpool but I was a massive Everton fan! When people ask why I wore my Everton kit it was the only kit I had! I didn't have another kit. Everyone wore their own stuff and threw bibs on."
During a candid chat with Neville, Carragher explained how his boyhood love for Everton started to fade when he broke into the Liverpool first team in 1996. He revealed: "[On when he stopped being an Everton fan] When I was in the Liverpool first team. 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 scored a hat trick on his debut for Middlesbrough, and I was on the bench."
He went on to share a memorable incident involving his father: "It was also Alan Shearer's first game for Newcastle that day but it was at Goodison Park. Everton were leading 2-0 at half time. I was warming up at half-time, I spotted my dad in the crowd, so I signalled 'It's 2-0! ' Even my dad agreed that after that it had to stop."
A pointed comment from a pivotal figure among the Reds' ranks sparked a shift in Carragher’s allegiance: "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 cheered 'Get in', and then Everton scored, and I shouted 'Get in'. Even the youth team coaches pulled me aside and told me to calm down. 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?"