Andy Carroll has recalled Jamie Carragher's warning to stay away from a Liverpool pub after joining the Reds from Newcastle United. The striker was a marquee £35million signing in January 2011 and was quickly forced to adapt to his new surroundings.
Deadline Day Move to Anfield
Liverpool snapped up promising centre-forward Carroll on deadline day as the club responded to Fernando Torres joining Chelsea. The former Newcastle United ace arrived on the same day as Luis Suarez, with recently appointed manager Kenny Dalglish ushering in a new strikeforce.
It was a high-profile move for Carroll, whose 11 goals in 19 league games for newly-promoted Newcastle convinced Liverpool to splash out a record fee for a British player. The then-22-year-old failed to replicate that same form at Anfield, ending the campaign with two goals in nine games for Dalglish's side.
Pub Visit Turns Into a Bar Brawl
Away from the pitch, Carroll soon realised that he had gone from being a hometown hero in Newcastle to a star name for the red half of the city. In his new autobiography, Owning It, the 37-year-old recalled how, during a trip to a Liverpool pub with his former Newcastle teammate Kevin Nolan, taking photos with fans descended into a bar fight.
“It quickly became clear that half were Liverpool, half were Everton, and the next thing I knew, a Wild West bar brawl had broken out,” Caroll wrote in his autobiography. “It went from people laughing and joking to people whacking each other over the head with chairs in about three minutes.”
“And when more lunatics pulled up in cars and started piling in, a kindly barwoman led me out the back and I managed to escape in my car. I wasn't even home when I got an angry call from Jamie Carragher.”
Carragher's Stern Warning
As Carroll writes in his book, after saying he had just left the bar, the Liverpool legend responded: “'Are you stupid or something? You can't go there! It's one of the roughest pubs in Liverpool!'”
After explaining that the pub was local to Nolan, Carroll remembers Carragher telling him: “'If he invites you again, say no! Unless you want to get stabbed or shot!'”
The Reds defender was subsequently keen to emphasise the point to the new signing, as Carroll explained: “The following day, Carra pulled me aside at training and explained that I could no longer be the Andy Carroll I'd been in Newcastle. That's when I realised my life had completely changed.”
The former England forward ultimately struggled to live up to his hefty price tag, unlike Suarez. Carroll scored nine in 47 appearances and won the League Cup during his only full season at Anfield, with West Ham United swooping in to bring his 18-month stint to an end.
Liverpool sold the striker to the Hammers permanently for £15m in 2013, where he would remain for several seasons until rejoining Newcastle in 2019. The veteran forward is currently playing in the National League South for Dagenham and Redbridge, with the number nine also serving as assistant manager and a club shareholder.
