3/1 To Win
Dumped on a random doorstep with no money and only a smattering of clothes in the middle of an unfamiliar location, many aspiring footballers in their teenage years would have thrown in the towel there and then.
Just how did a boy from the streets of Birmingham, by the name of Lee Carsley, end up in the middle of Alvaston in 1992?
It remains a mystery, but it’s fair to say the three or four hours of thinking time he had surveying passing cars, hoping and praying it was his new digs family, only enhanced his desire to become a professional footballer at Derby County.
“There was a scout in Birmingham who was really good and he was working for Derby,” Carsley recalled in his RamsTV Meets interview.
“I had quite a bit of interest from other midlands clubs and for some reason, my dad was adamant he wanted me out of Birmingham and wanted me to go and leave home to try somewhere else.
“Eventually I signed for Derby when I was 15. The scout dropped me off at my digs on the day. I had no money, just a bag of clothes, boots and trainers and I knocked on the door and nobody was in.
“The scout wanted to get back to Birmingham so he told me he was going to get off and left me there. Three or four hours later, I was still sat there, and the family hadn’t turned up!
“There were no mobile phones and no coins to put in the phone box, but they eventually got back and it didn’t turn out too bad in the end, thankfully.”
Moving away from home, especially at a young age, is very daunting.
Leaving friends and family behind, fending for yourself becomes the only option, which without him knowing at the time, helped Carsley become the footballer he was.
Whilst there were several Brummies in the team, including Dean Sturridge, Carsley worked hard through his scholarship programme and eventually earned his first professional contract under Roy McFarland.
He made his debut against Swindon Town in 1994 and then scored twice in as many games at Bristol City and at home to Oldham Athletic.
“I remember Roy calling me in and saying ‘you’ve got to keep this goalscoring form up because you are doing really great’ - and then I didn’t score for 150 games!” Carsley laughed.
“I couldn’t score or handle the pressure of scoring, I guess, but it was a good impact from me. I then cemented myself in the team and then I went from there.”
However, in the summer of 1995, Derby decided to relieve McFarland of his services with his contract running out, a decision Carsley didn’t take well at the time.
The arrival of the late Jim Smith, as it turned out, was a turning point for both Derby and Carsley.
Carsley was a regular in the team as automatic promotion was clinched in 1995/96 and he remained a key component in the side in the Premier League over the course of the following seasons.
“It knocked me for six when Roy left because he’d been at the club since I was 15,” he commented. “I couldn’t get my head around why he had been sacked because the club was heading in the right direction.
“The first time I met his replacement Jim Smith was in the home team dressing room at the Baseball Ground and I had just finished a session after being out injured.
“He said that an enquiry had been made by Sheffield Wednesday who were in the Premier League and he asked me my thoughts about leaving. This was the first time I’d even spoken to him!
“I was like ‘no chance; why would I leave Derby?’. I’d just bought a house and I was settled in Littleover, so I didn’t want to go.
“Fortunately, I started that season, albeit at right wing back, and Jim coming in was a real turning point in not only my career but the club’s as well.”
Premier League status was secured and then the Rams then swapped the Baseball Ground for Pride Park Stadium. Carsley was thriving and remained in the team despite big names walking through the door.
He eventually called time on his Rams career in 1999, joining Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £3.4 million.
“I just picked up my boots and after nine years at Derby, that was it,” he recalled.
A low-key ending to his time at Derby, however, his career had just taken off.
As well as Blackburn he went on to play for Coventry City, Everton, Birmingham City and Coventry for a second spell, as well as winning 40 caps for the Republic of Ireland, before transitioning into coaching at a handful of clubs.
He managed Brentford and Birmingham briefly and has been working with the Football Association as a specialist coach in the England youth set up.
It’s been a whirlwind ride for Carsley since first pitching up in Alvaston, but he wouldn’t change a minute of it.
Lee Carsley’s interview looking back on his playing
career, Derby’s promotion to the top-flight and life under the late Jim Smith is
available in full on RamsTV.
