It was announced yesterday that Tony Carr MBE has left West Ham United. While few may know of him outside of the club, he is regarded as a club legend by all within, despite making no appearances as a player in a two-year spell at the Hammers. So why is he regarded so highly by all?
Carr was the Academy Director at West Ham for over four decades, during which time the maxim “The Academy of Football” became associated with the club. While he was head of youth development, Carr oversaw the advancement of no less than four future England Captains and at one point, seven players in the England team had been under his tutelage in their youth. As a developer of young talent, he is rightly regarded as not just one of the most successful and influential coaches in the UK, but in the world.
A quick list of the talent he has nurtured reads like this:
Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Paul Ince (all England captains).
Glen Johnson, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Mark Noble, Tony Cottee, Jermaine Defoe, Paul Allen, Bobby Barnes, Alan Dickens. Jimmy Bullard. The list can go on.
He has also overseen West Ham’s current batch of academy stars, among them likely future England players Reece Oxford, Sam Howes and Reece Burke. Not to mention other internationals such as Ireland’s Jamie Cullen.
His development of players has made the club over £60 million in transfer fees which, at lower times in the club’s history, has been required to help the club when it was in financial trouble. This one man, in four decades of service, has done as much for West Ham United as any other individual has done, if not more.
In 2009, Carr was given a testimonial by the club – one of the only coaches to be given one – and five years later, he was amicably replaced as Academy Director by Terry Westley (a fantastic replacement), with Carr becoming an ambassador for the club in the process.
However, it appears now that the club feels they no longer require the services of this club legend and have such made him redundant. While this is already bad enough, rumour has it that Carr has only been offered a payout of £14,000. That’s a grand total of £311.11 for each year he was at West Ham, not to mention the tens of millions of pounds his coaching made for the club.
While we at ReadWestHam do not like to believe rumours until they have been proven, this is simply shocking and is no way for a legend of the club to be treated. While it’s a shame to see such a fantastic career end in such a negative way, farewell Tony Carr and thank you for your service.
