Matthew Carragher (14 January 1976 – 28 December 2016) was an English footballer who played 362 league games over twelve years 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 ...

. He was a versatile defender and was described as "a natural leader". He began his career with Wigan Athletic in 1993. He made 119 league appearances in four years at the club, helping the "Latics" to the

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 ...

title in 1996–97. He then switched to Port Vale. He was later made club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and led the "Valiants" to victory in the Football League Trophy in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. Despite 194 games for the club, he was released in May 2003. Following a brief spell at

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

, he spent two years with Macclesfield Town before retiring in 2005.

Career

Carragher started his career at Wigan Athletic after coming through the ranks at the Latics School of Excellence and made his debut in a 6–3 win over Chester City in October 1993.

Kenny Swain Kenneth Swain (born 28 January 1952) is an English former footballer who played in numerous positions, including striker, midfielder and full back. Playing career Swain began his professional career with Londoners Chelsea, signing from Wycombe ...

's "Latics" then finished the 1993–94 campaign fourth from bottom of the

. New boss Graham Barrow then led the Springfield Park club to 14th in 1994–95, before he was replaced by John Deehan. Wigan finished 10th in 1995–96, two points behind Colchester United in the play-off zone. Carragher made 16 appearances in 1996–97, as Wigan were crowned of the Third Division, finishing above

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. He moved on to Port Vale in 1997 after John Rudge judged Carragher to be a potential replacement for the ageing

Dean Glover Dean Victor Glover (born 29 December 1963) is an English former football player and manager. A cultured and stylish defender, he had the ball control skills of a midfielder. He played 457 league games in a seventeen-year career in the English ...

and

Neil Aspin Neil Aspin (born 12 April 1965) is an English football manager and former player. A solid defender who could play at centre-back and right-back, he was a good marker and an adept tackler. He made his debut in the English Football League for ...

. He made 25 First Division appearances in 1997–98, helping the "Valiants" to beat Huddersfield Town 4–0 on the final day of the season to avoid relegation by one point, at the expense of

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and Potteries derby rivals

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. However, he featured just 12 times in 1998–99, and was not selected once by new boss Brian Horton. He scored his first goal at Vale Park on 25 September 1999, in a 2–0 win over Swindon Town, and went on to play 39 games as Vale were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the 1999–2000 season. He played 56 of the club's 57 games in 2000–01, playing as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xanth ...

in a defence of Michael Walsh,

Sagi Burton Osagyefo Lenin Ernesto Burton-Godwin (born 25 November 1977), known commonly as Sagi Burton, is an English-born former Kittitian international football defender. In a fourteen-year professional career in English football he made 344 appearance ...

, Allen Tankard, and goalkeeper Mark Goodlad. He also

ed the "Valiants" at the Football League Trophy final at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

, which finished as a 2–1 win over

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 ...

. He continued to lead the back line in 2001–02, making 47 appearances. He scored only his second goal for the club on 22 October 2002, in a 3–1 home win over Hull City in the Football League Trophy. Despite making 40 appearances in 2002–03, being one of only three settled defenders (the others being Sam Collins and

Ian Brightwell Ian Robert Brightwell (born 9 April 1968) is an English former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a defender from 1986 to 2006 and who played 468 league games in a 20-year career the Football League and Premier League. H ...

), he was surprisingly released by Horton in May 2003. Following his release from Vale, he joined

on non- contract terms, playing eight Southern League games, whilst Burton Albion boss Nigel Clough considered whether or not to make him an offer. Instead he signed for Macclesfield Town in November 2003. He played 18 games in 2003–04, as the "Silkmen" avoided relegation into the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

by three places and seven points. Ironically, manager

John Askey John Colin Askey (born 4 November 1964) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club York City. He is the son of former Port Vale player Colin Askey. Able to play as a winger or as ...

was replaced by Brian Horton in April 2004. He played 39 games in 2004–05 and featured in the play-off semi-final defeat to Lincoln City, but Horton released him from his contract at Moss Rose in May 2005.

Style of play

Carragher was a versatile defender who could play as a left-back, right-back or sweeper. He was described as "a natural leader".

Personal life and death

His father was a semi-professional footballer. He had three older sisters. Carragher married childhood sweetheart Louise Morgan in 2001. Carragher died of cancer on 29 December 2016 at the age of 40. Former teammate

Tony Naylor Anthony Joseph Naylor (born 29 March 1967) is an English former footballer. He is best known for his spells at Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra in the 1990s. He moved to Dario Gradi's Crewe from non-league Droylsden in 1990, turning professional ...

paid tribute to him as a "a cheeky chappie, a typical Scouse lad, confident and a nice guy with it".

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Wigan Athletic * Football League Third Division: 1996–97 Port Vale * Football League Trophy: 2000–01

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carragher, Matt 1976 births 2016 deaths Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Wigan Athletic F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Deaths from cancer in England