James Wood Carstairs (born 29 January 1971) is a Scottish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Stockport County and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Arsenal

Growing up in

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the London U ...

, Carstairs began his career as a schoolboy at West Ham United and then served an apprenticeship at First Division club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. During the 1987–88 season, he was a part of the youth team which defeated Doncaster Rovers over two legs to win the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

. Despite signing a two-year professional contract, Carstairs failed to force his way into the first team picture. Carstairs joined

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club

on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

in February 1991, in an attempt to fill the club's problematic

position. His loan was extended for a second month and he made 11 appearances before returning to Highbury after his loan expired in April. Carstairs joined

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club Cambridge United on loan in July 1991, but failed to make a league appearance. Following another loan during the first half of the 1991–92 season, Carstairs departed Arsenal on a permanent transfer.

Stockport County

Carstairs moved to Third Division club Stockport County on loan in November 1991. After seven appearances, he signed a permanent contract and made a total of 24 appearances during the 1991–92 season, though Stockport were denied promotion to the second-tier after defeat to Peterborough United in the 1992 Third Division play-off final. Carstairs made 23 appearances during the 1992–93 season and scored two goals. He largely failed to figure during the 1993–94 season, making just one

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

appearance. Carstairs departed the club during the season, having made 48 appearances and scored two goals during his time at Edgeley Park.

Enfield

After his departure from Stockport County, Carstairs returned to North London to drop into

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

and sign for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division club Enfield in 1994. He had four successful years with the club, winning the division title in his first season and finishing runner-up in 1995–96 and 1996–97. He departed the club at the end of the 1997–98 season.

St Albans City

Carstairs had a short spell at Isthmian League Premier Division club St Albans City towards the end of the 1998–99 season and made 11 appearances.

Personal life

As of 1998, Carstairs was working as a sports development officer.

Career statistics

Honours

Enfield *

Premier Division: 1994–95

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carstairs, Jim 1971 births Living people Footballers from Fife Scottish men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Arsenal F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Stockport County F.C. players Enfield F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Isthmian League players Sportspeople from St Andrews