Derby County have today completed the signing of England international goalkeeper Scott Carson.
Derby County have today completed the signing of England international goalkeeper Scott Carson.
The 29-year-old shot-stopper has put pen-to-paper on a two-year contract, with the option of a further year, and joins in an undisclosed deal from Wigan Athletic.
Carson, who has four caps to his name for his country at full international level, arrives to strengthen the goalkeeping options available to Head Coach Paul Clement.
The Whitehaven-born custodian brings a wealth of experience with him to the iPro Stadium, having made over 300 professional appearances at club level.
Speaking about the signing, Clement said: “Competition for places across the squad is important and Scott’s arrival certainly brings that to the goalkeeping department.
“We have two good goalkeepers already in Lee Grant and Kelle Roos and bringing Scott in will certainly raise the battle for the place between the posts.”
He added: “Scott is an experienced goalkeeper who has played at the highest level for a number of years and we’re looking forward to working with him.”
Carson began his career at Leeds United and progressed through their youth set-up to make his first-team bow in January 2004, as a substitute, before making his full debut in a 1-1 draw at Manchester United a month later.
Ahead of the expiry of his contract at Leeds towards the end of the 2004/05 season, Carson joined Liverpool in January 2005 and he went on to make five appearances at Anfield in the closing weeks of the campaign.
In 2005/06, Carson made four appearances for Liverpool – in the Champions League, League Cup and FA Cup - and gained further first-team experience during a loan spell at Championship side Sheffield Wednesday, appearing nine times.
He was an unused substitute as Liverpool memorably came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League Final, before lifting the trophy following a penalty shoot-out in Instanbul – in addition to also being an unused substitute in the 2005 European Super Cup Final against CSKA Moscow in August 2005.
Carson spent the entire 2006/07 season on loan at Charlton Athletic – then in the Premier League – and was awarded their Supporters’ Club Player of the Season Award following an impressive campaign between the posts that saw him appear in all but two matches.
Another loan spell followed in 2007/08, again in the Premier League, at Aston Villa. He made 36 appearances in all competitions before returning to Anfield at the end of the season.
In July 2008, Carson joined West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £3.25 million and made 39 appearances during the 2008/09 season, although the Baggies were relegated from the Premier League.
He remained at the Hawthorns as Albion returned to the top flight at the first time of asking in 2009/10 as runners-up, appearing on 47 occasions in all competitions.
Back in the top flight, 32 appearances followed in 2010/11 before he moved abroad in the next chapter of his career. In July 2011, Carson completed a move to Turkish Super Lig club Bursaspor for a fee of £2 million.
Bursaspor finished eighth in 2011/12 and runners-up in the Turkish Cup, while Carson was an ever-present between the posts. In 2012/13 Bursaspor secured a fourth place finish and to book a place in the Europa League qualifiers, with Carson appearing 29 times out of a possible 34 matches.
It was back to England for Carson in 2013 as he joined Wigan Athletic following their relegation from the Premier League. He appeared 25 times in all competitions – including the Europa League – as Wigan qualified for the Play-Off Semi-Finals after finishing fifth in the table. The side were also runners-up in the Community Shield as a result of their 2-0 defeat to Manchester United at the beginning of the campaign.
He racked up more appearances in 2014/15, 34 in total, but was unable to help Wigan avoid relegation from the Championship.
On the international stage, Carson represented England at Under 18 and Under 21 level on a regular basis before making his full international debut in 2007, having also claimed two caps for England’s B side. After being part of the England squad for the 2006 World Cup, he made his international bow against Austria in 2007 and kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory.
He made three further appearances with his last outing coming against Sweden in 2011.
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