Former England star Andy Carroll returns to non-professional football

At an age when others are negotiating a final contract that will ensure a golden football retirement in a foreign land, former England international Andy Carroll travels by coach with the Girondins de Bordeaux, a team historically relegated to the French fourth division.

A choice that involves going up against unprofessional rivals and a handsome face with a ponytail explaining his “love of football”.

With two doubles in his first two games, the former Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham tower has already won the hearts of local fans.

And few were betting on the former Premier League star’s success in his latest adventure, aged 35, in a defunct historic French football club that was under legal administration .

Andy, who is more motivated than ever to enjoy himself on the pitch after years of suffering through injuries, seems to be experiencing a second youth.

“I wasn’t afraid of the situation, of the risk of the club disappearing. I knew it, I had confidence,” Carroll told AFP.

“It suits my lifestyle and my way of enjoying football, it was a very good choice for me,” he continues, aware that the decision may have surprised him. It was an easy decision for me.”

– Very good –

At Girondins de Bordeaux (14th in National 2 with two games less), the former Three Lions international (9 games, 2 goals) is earning much less than he could be earning , for example in the Persian Gulf, but he says he is ruled by “The love of football, which never dies”.

Thinking about the seven-hour bus journey to play a game across half of France, Carroll laughs: “I’m used to it. I already had experience last season in the French Cup with Amiens. And when I was a child that was it. it was done by the academy.”

His start with the Girondins at individual level has been a dream: two doubles in a row – which he had never achieved in 248 games in the Premier League – “but it would have been more better if we had won the first one (2-2). “

“The team is really good, the fans were great in the two games I played. I’m happy to be immersed in this project,” points out Carroll, who has come a long way at the club and in the city.

Midfielder Adrien Louveau highlights his impact on the team’s mentality. “Besides his goals, he is always encouraging us, helping his teammates.

His physical presence (1.93 m), his ability to match central defenders and his header make him one of the standards of the historic club.

“When you have a leader with pressure, who sets an example, the others around him want to keep up with him,” supports the coach Bruno Irlès.

– The goal of the ‘pink bush’ –

It was in the European summer of 2023 when Andy Carroll decided to try abroad by signing for Amiens, from the French second division.

“Leaving England was one of the things I wanted to do. I wanted a new challenge, to write a new chapter,” he explains.

“I don’t know if life in France has changed me, but it has changed my life,” and “the flight is not too long to see my family and friends again.”

Of course, Great Britain is not far away, and it is not strange to see the press or tabloids of their country at the team’s training center, interested in seeing one of their former stars and the famous ‘plays in French amateur football.

“I didn’t expect them to talk about me like that,” Carroll admits, just three days after a romantic trip to Mallorca with hitman Lou Teasdale discovered by the Daily Mail.

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