Andy Carroll has claimed that Ben Tozer left Newcastle United shortly after calling police on his fellow squad members. Tozer made just two senior appearances for the Magpies before leaving for Northampton Town in 2011.
Although it is unclear whether the two incidents were related, Carroll was left with the impression they were. The Dagenham and Redbridge player-assistant manager described the debacle in detail as part of his new autobiography, 'Owning It'.
Prank Tradition at Newcastle
Carroll, 37, described being pranked as a "rite of passage" for young, emerging players entering the first team. One tradition involved wrapping prospects' cars in industrial-strength cling film, but Tozer apparently took the prank to heart and called in the authorities.
"We all played pranks on each other at the Newcastle academy - hiding fish in each other's cars, cutting each other's kit up - but I didn't think that kind of stuff went on in first teams," he wrote. "To be honest, it was even worse."
"Back at the academy, we'd wrap each other's cars up in heavy-duty clingfilm, pilfered from the kitchen. It happened to everyone and no one ever complained, until one day me and a few other lads did it to Ben Tozer's new motor."
Police Called Over Criminal Damage
"I didn't think anything more of it until I came in the following morning and was told the police had been in. Ben had rung them up and accused us of criminal damage."
The incident was smoothed over in the end as Tozer stopped short of pressing charges on his team-mates. But according to Carroll, his reaction may have contributed to him moving away from St. James' Park not long after.
He continued: "As for Ben, having been persuaded not to press charges, he was sent out on loan to Northampton shortly afterwards, never to return."
Tozer's Career After Newcastle
Tozer, who retired from football at Forest Green Rovers last year, was still just 20 when he initially joined Northampton on loan in 2010. He completed a permanent move to the lower-league outfit the following year and went on to make 199 appearances for the club.
In the end, he played just twice for the Magpies, starting in an EFL Cup defeat to Peterborough before a Championship cameo against Doncaster in October 2009. Newcastle were promoted back to the Premier League that season, though Tozer hardly got a chance to revel in the achievement.
Carroll didn't last too much longer in the north-east himself and famously joined Liverpool in January 2011. However, his reputation at Newcastle was seemingly left far more intact, evidenced by the fact he rejoined the Magpies for a second spell in 2019.
Tozer enjoyed success of his own and became something of a lower-league staple, starring for Wrexham and Cheltenham Town in more recent years. However, it remains uncertain as to whether he became any more or less protective of his car over time.
