sports champions players: June 2011

James Lee Duncan "Jamie" Carragher (born 28 January 1978) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League side Liverpool. He is the current vice-captain and is one of the club's longest-serving players; he made his 666th appearance for Liverpool in all competitions on the 9th May 2011.

Carragher started his career with the Liverpool youth team. He made his professional debut in the 1996–97 season and became a first team regular the following season. He gained his first senior honours in 2001, winning a cup treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. Having initially played as a full back, the arrival of manager Rafael Benítez in 2004 saw Carragher move to the centre back position and that season he won his greatest honour to date—the UEFA Champions League. In the next season, he won the FA Cup and was selected in the PFA Team of the Year. Carragher set a record for the most appearances in European competition for Liverpool in 2007.

Internationally, Carragher held the national record for most caps at under-21 level and earned his senior debut in 1999. Although he competed at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, he failed to pin down a first team place in the England national team. Carragher decided to retire from international football in 2007, with 34 senior England caps, and released his autobiography, Carra, in 2008. However, he came out of retirement after being selected for the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.
Club career
Born James Lee Carragher in Bootle, Merseyside, Carragher attended the former FA school of excellence in Lilleshall in his youth.[5] Although a childhood Everton supporter he chose to join Merseyside rivals Liverpool and in 1996 was a member of their FA Youth Cup winning team along with his friend Michael Owen. He signed a professional contract in October 1996 and then made his first team debut under Roy Evans' management three months later in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough, coming on as a substitute for Rob Jones. Next came his Premiership debut, again coming on as a substitute, against West Ham United. He then started the next game against Aston Villa and marked the occasion with his first goal (a header in front of the Kop) in a 3–0 win to temporarily take the side to the top of the table, but Liverpool finished the season in fourth place. In the 1997–98 season, Carragher broke into the first team, making twenty Premier League appearances. The following season he cemented his place in the first-team squad, missing just four league games all season, and Kevin Keegan awarded him his first full international cap. He has also cemented himself as one of Liverpool's greatest players.

Throughout his early years he was essentially used as a utility player spending time as a centre-half, right and left full-back and defensive midfield in a squad that was often negatively labelled the "Spice Boys". Carragher, young and caught up with the negative media reputations of that squad initially, learned to shun the spotlight and focus on football as new coach Gerard Houllier used him consistently in a new continental side focused on discipline and a new era. Carragher's versatility meant he would be deployed to fill in wherever there was a hole, but ironically harmed his ability to hold down a first team position of his own. In 1999–2000 he played mainly as a right-back, this season saw one of Carragher's darkest Liverpool moments as he scored two own goals in 3–2 home defeat to Manchester United, then in 2000–01 he made the left-back position his own. 2001 also saw Carragher gain his first senior trophies: the FA Cup, UEFA Cup, League Cup (scoring in the shootout in the final against Birmingham), Community Shield and European Super Cup.

He hit the headlines in January 2002 during an FA Cup tie against Arsenal, when he threw a coin back into the stands that had been tossed at him, Carragher earned a red card. He escaped an FA misconduct charge after apologising, but did receive a formal police warning about the incident.