The infamous target man Andy Carroll is bagging braces in local parks for French giant’s Bordeaux, but how did he get there, and what happened to Bordeaux? Tyler Hinton considers Carroll’s journey to France and tackles the tragic story of Bordeaux that has led to one of the most unique situations the football world has ever seen.
Andy Carroll’s career:
Andy Carroll burst onto the Barclay’s scene back in the early 2000’s, experiencing relegation with his beloved Newcastle. A season in the Championship followed where Carroll blasted in 17 goals to send his side immediately back to the Premier League. Carroll was becoming a consistent goal scorer, and his arial threat wasn’t going unnoticed.
Deadline day of 2011 saw Carroll move from Newcastle to Liverpool, for a British record fee of £35m. The big man struggled to find any form in Merseyside and was sent to West Ham on loan after his debut season. Following a successful loan spell, Carroll joined the Hammers permanently. East London was his home for 6 years, but his tenure, despite its length – was spent in and out of the injury room.
In 2019, aged 30, Carroll was released by West Ham. A fairy tale comeback to his boyhood club Newcastle followed, but the two years he spent back in Tyneside wasn’t quite as magical as fans had hoped. Carroll only managed to score one goal in two seasons.
Coming to what seemingly was the end of his career, Carroll joined Championship outfit, Reading. Six months later, he joined West Brom. Six months after that, he was back at Reading. The instability of his Championship career seemed an accurate representation of his playing career on a whole.
On the 1st of September 2023, Andy Carroll joined French second division side Amiens. His first time playing outside of England and his first time playing in France. His time was up with Amiens but he wasn’t ready to leave France. Andy Carroll joined Bordeaux in September 2024, and the rest, could soon, be history.
Bordeaux’s fall from grace:
FC Girondins de Bordeaux, a club etched in the history books, rich with culture and success. Six First Division Championships, four Coup de France victories, three Coup de la Ligue cups and three-time Trophée des Champions winners. A giant of the game since its formation as a football club in 1920. However, Bordeaux in recent times have encountered extreme difficulties. Since 2019, issues with finances caused ownership to change three times. In the summer of 2024, the club filed for bankruptcy after a sale to the FSG Group fell through.
July 25th, 2024, Bordeaux officially informed the French Football Federation that they were filing for bankruptcy, in turn forfeiting their professional status. Current player contracts were terminated. The training centre was closed. The youth academy, that produced greats of the game like Zinedine Zidane – ceased to exist. The club hoped to rebuild in the second division of French football, but that hope was extinguished on the 1st of August after an intervention by the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion. A French football controlling body, that put the club into administration and forcibly relegated them to the fourth division of French football, the Championnat National 2.
Playing in the Championnat National 2 in group B is a strange place to see Bordeaux. It feels like some sort of fever dream, to see such a colossal club playing on such a small stage. The most bizarre thing about this however may be Bordeaux’s number 12 – Andy Carroll.
Andy Carroll and Bordeaux’s blossoming relationship:
“I’ve been at the top level where people are on hundreds of thousands of pounds a week, and then you come to France and the lads are on nowhere near that. It’s a complete different way of life.”
Andy Carroll talking to BBC Sport
The situation makes no sense, yet perfect sense. It’s an arrangement that was unexpected, unprecedented but somehow completely understandable. The Geordie Jesus had risen from the dead to resurrect Bordeaux.
Andy Carroll has played at a sold-out St James’ Park, scored in front of the Anfield Kop and scored an overhead kick that sent the London Stadium into meltdown. Now he plays in local parks. “I was an England international, but now it costs me money to play.”
“It’s exactly what I wanted and exactly what I needed in my life.”
Andy Carroll has had a career of ups and downs. Media controversies and years plagued with injuries had fans awaiting his early retirement. That thought is now just a distant memory. Carroll’s children have asked him when he will be a manager, but the striker’s kids will have to wait a few more years. Now 35, Carroll doesn’t think about his retirement, he wants to keep going and keep giving to the beautiful game. His dedication and love of the sport is dizzying.
In a football world dominated by cash-hungry-egomaniacs there is none humbler than Andy Carroll. A refreshing and heart-warming story that’s only in it’s first chapter.
Andy Carroll and Bordeaux have already made history separately, but now it’s time for them to do it together.
