William McInanny Carr (born 6 January 1950) is a Scottish former

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

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. During his time with Coventry, Carr played in six full international matches for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He later played in non-league football for

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

, Willenhall Town,

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

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 ...

and

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

Background

Carr was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He spent part of his formative teenage years in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where his family relocated in 1963.

Playing career

Coventry City

The midfielder had joined

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

in 1967 as an apprentice debuting as a substitute against

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 ...

that year. Along with

Ernie Hunt Roger Patrick "Ernie" Hunt (17 March 1943 – 20 June 2018) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Swindon Town, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Coventry City, Doncaster Rovers and Bristol City, and for the Los Angel ...

and the likes of

Neil Martin Neil Martin (born 20 October 1940) is a Scottish former football player, who scored 100 league goals in both Scotland and England and won three full international caps for Scotland in the 1960s and 1970s. Known for his strength, power, bravery ...

and

Dennis Mortimer Dennis George Mortimer (born 5 April 1952) is an English former footballer and captain of Aston Villa. He made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League playing for Coventry City, Aston Villa, Sheffield United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Bir ...

he was part of the Coventry side that achieved the club's highest ever league finish – sixth in 1970, meriting a place in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

the season after. He is famed for the ''donkey kick'' goal scored for

against Everton in October 1970. He took a free kick by gripping the ball between his ankles and flicking it up for

to volley home. The move gained widespread fame as the match was televised on

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary L ...

, and moved the authorities to ban the technique at the end of the season. Carr struggled with a knee injury (suffered against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in April 1973), before leaving for £80,000 in March 1975. He scored 37 goals in 292 games in all competitions for the ''Sky Blues''.

Scotland

During his time with Coventry he won 6

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

between 1970 and 1972. His international debut came on 18 April 1970 in a 1–0 win in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers

He joined

debuting against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the same month, scoring once in a memorable 7–1 victory. He was a first-choice player and helped his new side to win the 1976–77 Football League Second Division and the

1980 Football League Cup Final The 1980 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the 1979–80 Football League Cup, the 20th season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in The Football League. The match was played at Wembley Stadium ...

. He finally left Wolves in Summer 1982 shortly after they were relegated from the top flight. In total, he made 289 appearances for the club, scoring 26 times.

Millwall & non-league

He next joined

. He stayed for only six months at the London club before returning to the Midlands. He had spells at

, Willenhall Town and

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 ...

before calling time on his playing career in 1988.

After football

He became a rep for an engineering supplies firm in the Birmingham area.

Honours

* Coventry City F.C. Hall of Fame Wolverhampton Wanderers Football League Second Division Championship :1976-1977 Football League Cup: 1979-80

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Willie 1950 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers English Football League players Association football midfielders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Scotland under-23 international footballers Worcester City F.C. players Willenhall Town F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Stourbridge F.C. players Anglo-Scots