Top 10 reasons why Carra is a Liverpool legend

By David Maddock in Mirror Football Blog

Published 17:15 03/09/10

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Jamie Carragher is an Anfield legend who deserves to go down in history alongside the all-time greats such as Ian Callaghan, Tommy Smith, Kenny Dalglish and Billy Liddell.

Here, as he prepares for his testimonial game at Anfield on Saturday which hopes to raise more than £1million for charities, David Maddock looks at his incredible Liverpool career.

1) Born in Bootle on January 28 1978, Jamie Lee Duncan Carragher has played 636 games for Liverpool, despite supporting Everton as a kid, and attending the Anfield centre of excellence wearing a Blues shirt.

2) He currently stands at seventh in the all-time appearances list for Liverpool, but by the end of this season will lie second, behind only Callaghan, the longest-serving player in the club’s history.

3) He actually started as a striker as a 12 year old attending the academy, before dropping back into central midfield – where he won a cap for England, incidentally -  before eventually settling in defence.

4) Carra was a member of the triumphant 1996 FA Youth Cup winning side, alongside Michael Owen and David Thompson, and broke into the first team soon after, when he played in Jan Molby’s testimonial.

5) He made his debut for the Reds on January 8, 1997, as a substitute for Rob Jones in a Coca-Cola Cup tie away to Middlesbrough and marked his full Anfield debut, against Aston Villa on January 18, 1997, with a goal at the Kop End in a 3-0 win.

6) It was a rare strike though, because in almost 650 more games for the club since then, he has managed only four more goals, and has actually scored an equal number of own goals!

7) Carragher played as a defensive midfielder under Roy Evans, before being converted into a full back by Gerard Houllier, and played at left back in the 2001 treble-winning side.

8) His performance in the 2005 Champions’ League final has gone down in club folklore, and earned him, the club’s Player of the Year award, as well as accolades around the world.

9) He already holds Liverpool’s all-time record for European appearances, breaking the previous mark held by Callaghan when he made his 90th European appearance in the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea in May 2007.

10) He is married to childhood sweetheart Nicola, and has two children James – who is currently enroled in the Liverpool centre of excellence – and Mia, and he owns a restaurant in Liverpool city centre. He is also the patron of the 23 Foundation, a charitable organisation set up to help good causes in the Merseyside area, and he hopes to donate millions of pound through his work during his testimonial year and beyond.

'If Steven Gerrard is the heart of Liverpool, then Carra is the soul' - Liverpool legends pay tribute to Jamie Carragher  

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