Liverpool's great one-club defender was named after two Everton men
Jamie Carragher's father, an Everton fan, gave him the middle names Lee and Duncan after manager Gordon Lee and forward Duncan McKenzie. On the very day Jamie was born, Lee got rid of McKenzie. The boy grew up turning up to Liverpool training in an Everton kit, then played 737 games for Liverpool.
Born in Bootle on 28 January 1978, Carragher joined Liverpool's youth set-up in 1988, spent a year at Everton's academy at 11, and returned because he rated Liverpool's coaching under Steve Heighway more highly. Small as a youngster, he started as a striker before being moved back into midfield. He made his first-team debut in January 1997 and spent his early years as a utility man, filling in at centre-half, full-back and defensive midfield.
Titles came in bunches. In 2000–01 he played 58 of 63 matches as Liverpool won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. The turning point came in 2004 when Rafael Benítez moved him permanently into central defence, where he found his best form. In the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan he made two desperate interceptions in extra time while suffering from cramp, and Liverpool went on to lift the trophy. He was nominated for the Ballon d'Or that year.
Not everything went smoothly. Two own goals in a home defeat to Manchester United got him banished to right-back for years, he scored another own goal in the 2006 FA Cup final before Liverpool won on penalties, and by 2010 he had seven own goals in the Premier League. In his 2010 testimonial against Everton, he neatly scored for both sides. In February 2011 he set a British record of 137 appearances in European competition.
He won 38 England caps, retiring from international football in 2007 before briefly returning for the 2010 World Cup. After his final Liverpool game on 19 May 2013, the second-highest appearance tally in the club's history, he became a pundit on Sky Sports.
Source: Jamie Carragher
