Anthony John Carss (born 31 March 1976) is an English football coach and former professional player, who currently works for

Aston Villa Academy The Aston Villa Under-21s, formerly known as Aston Villa Reserves and Aston Villa Under-23s, are the most senior youth development team of Aston Villa and compete in Premier League 2 (Division 2) of the Professional Development League, the Pr ...

as Emerging Talent Programme Manager. Carss started his career with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

, and went on to

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

. After retiring from playing in 2006, Carss has also coached at Huddersfield Town Academy and Blackburn Rovers F.C. Academy.

Career

Playing career

Carss signed his first professional contract with

in 1994, after finishing an apprenticeship with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. However, his playing career was punctuated by injury, and he left Blackburn having never played a league game. After spells at

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

and

– in 2003 Carss joined

, winning promotion via the Division Three play off final in 2004. And scoring a goal that some have said was one of the best goals in Huddersfield's history in a league game against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on 11 October 2003.

Coaching career

After being released by Huddersfield, Carss called an end to his playing career, expressing a desire to one day become a coach. However, he initially retrained to become a sports journalist, stating that his goal was still to try to transition into coaching, but that this was another way to stay in the football industry. He graduated from

Staffordshire University , mottoeng = Dare to know , type = Public , endowment = £70 million (2015) , administrative_staff = 1,375 , chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford , vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones , ...

with a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting in summer of 2008. At the same time, Carss worked as a coach for Huddersfield Town U18s. In 2017, Carss moved to Blackburn Rovers to take the role as their Head of Coaching. In June 2018, Carss achieved his

UEFA Pro Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are iss ...

, graduating alongside

Nemanja Vidić Nemanja Vidić ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Видић, ; born 21 October 1981) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is best known for his time at Manchester United, was part of the Serbia national team, and is ...

David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to: Performers *David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre *David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...

and

Nicky Butt Nicholas Butt (born 21 January 1975) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently the head of first-team development at Manchester United. He is also a co-owner and chief executive officer of Salford City. He played prof ...

. On 14 June 2022, Blackburn Rovers announced that Carss would leave his role later in that month, in order to take up a role at a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club, which was later announced to be the role of Aston Villa Under-21s manager. On 20 July 2023, after the appointment of

Iñigo Idiakez Iñigo Idiakez Barkaiztegi (born 8 November 1973) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a midfielder or forward, and is a manager. Beginning his career at Real Sociedad, he appeared in 254 official matches during his tenure while compet ...

as U21 Coach at Aston Villa, Carss was moved to the new role of Emerging Talent Programme Manager.

Honours

As a player

Football League Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

Play-Off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

runner-up: 1995–96

winner: 2003–04

References

External links

* 1976 births Living people People from Alnwick Footballers from Northumberland English men's footballers Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff English Football League players Alumni of Staffordshire University Men's association football midfielders Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches {{England-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub