A former Premier League footballer losing money to play in the fourth tier of French football for a club on its knees sounds like the work of a Hollywood script writer.
But Andy Carroll has well and truly created one of the most remarkable football stories of the year as the one-time Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham striker now pulls on the boots for bankrupt FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the fourth-tier Championnat National 2.
The 35-year-old Englishman is earning a modest €3,500 per month and even admitted to French online sports news outlet RMC Sports that “it’s even costing me money to come and play for Bordeaux”.
It is a far cry from when he was taking home £80,000 ($AU154,000) per week during his time at Liverpool and West Ham but the centre-forward renowned for his heading ability is earning the admiration of the football world for showcasing his love for the game.
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WHY IS CARROLL PLAYING FOR BORDEAUX?
The former England international simply wants to play football after an injury-riddled career to date.
Carroll suffered repeat ankle fractures at West Ham as well as dealing with knee and groin issues at various stages and his lack of availability made him a whipping boy among fans.
They were dazzled by his talents – like when he scored one of the best acrobatic goals in Premier League with a bicycle kick that rocketed into the top corner while playing for West Ham against Crystal Palace in 2017 – but he developed a reputation for being a player who was happy to stay on the sidelines and cash in his sizeable pay cheque.
Carroll insists that “frustrating” stigma was not the truth and being at Bordeaux is part of reshaping his image.
He wants to help a once mighty club – who was home to French legend Zinedine Zidane, boasts a trophy cabinet many would be envious of and featured regularly in the Champions League – reinstate some of its former glory.
“The project going forward is to try for back-to-back promotions, to be part of a massive club and to carve out my place in their history,” Carroll said.
“It’s an opportunity too great to pass up.”
Carroll is in his second year playing in France having previously lined-up for Ligue 2 side Amiens and he has already taken a liking to Bordeaux’s 42,000 seat stadium scoring both his team’s goals in their two-all draw with Voltigeurs de Châteaubriant on debut.
He is completely rejuvenated by the change of scenery and suggested that he could even play “another five years, until I’m 40”.
“I haven’t really focused on finishing yet, so I can’t even think about what I’m going to do afterwards,” Carroll said.
“If I wasn’t a professional footballer, I’d be playing it as a hobby.
“So, I’m just fortunate that I’m still playing at my age at the level where I’m enjoying it and getting paid for it.
“When I signed for Amiens, it was just a different way of life – just quiet and relaxed. Walking down the street was fine.
“I’ve been at the top level where people are on £100,000-a-week, and then you come to France and the lads are on nowhere near that, and they’re coming in every day, working hard and with a smile on their face. And we’re going home, having barbecues and stuff like that.
“It’s just a completely different way of life and it’s just brilliant. It’s just exactly what I wanted and exactly what I needed in my life.”
WHAT HAPPENED TO BORDEAUX?
Bordeaux has a proud 143-year history including six Ligue 1 titles and four French Cup crowns, but it is arguably best-known around the globe for French legend Zinedine Zidane plying his trade there in the 1990s.
Zidane was one of several exciting young talents who made a name for themselves at Bordeaux as the club emerged from administrative problems during the late 80s and early 90s to make the final of the UEFA Cup – which was a precursor to the current day Europa League – against Bayern Munich in 1996.
Success continued with league titles in the French top division in 1998/99 and 2008/09 as well making the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2009/10, but financial woes decimated the club off the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Owners King Street, an American investment firm, announced in 2021 that they could no longer financially support the club, and the navy and whites finished last in Ligue 1 in the season of 2021/22.
They were relegated to Ligue 2 but shortly after were plummeted to the Championnat National because they were administratively relegated before winning an appeal to stay in Ligue 2.
Their relief was short-lived however as in August this year they were forcibly relegated to Championnat National 2 and put into financial administration due to bankruptcy after a failed attempt to have Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group take over the club.
Things got so dire at Bordeaux that they even closed their training facility and gave up their status as a professional football club.
HOW HAVE THE FOOTBALL WORLD REACTED?
There has been mockery of Carroll playing at a lower standard than previously by media outlets and football fans on social media.
Football news website goal.com labelled him an ‘ex-Liverpool flop’ while UK tabloid The Sun ran with the headline ‘Not Bord Yet?’ to make light of the fact Carroll is still playing on a low wage amid getting a divorce from British TV personality Billi Mucklow.
The 193cm striker has received plenty of support from fans and the media, however, with several fan pages of his former clubs wishing him well and praising his class for taking on the challenge.
Meanwhile podcaster Marcus Speller calling out the criticism of Carroll on The Football Ramble podcast.
“We mentioned this when a particular tabloid were quite sneery that he’d dropped down the divisions in France, and we were like ‘hang on, what have you done?” Speller said.
“He’s playing football, he’s scoring goals and he’s living in Bordeaux. Oh d—head.”
French football journalist and broadcaster Julien Laurens expressed similar sentiment on The Totally Football Show podcast declaring Carroll scoring two goals his “moment of the week”.
As for the club itself, football writer for The Athletic Tom Burrows spoke to a fan who said their club’s demise was “like the Titanic”.
But Burrows wrote that “there are glimmers of hope” in the form of Carroll along with three former players returning to help the club.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR CARROLL AND BORDEAUX?
As mentioned earlier, Carroll wants to play until he is 40 and he wants to take that a step further by playing his children.
Carroll regularly travels to and from London to visit his children, while he also continues to operate a property business in the northeast of England, and every time he visits it spurs him onto keep playing football.
“My sons keep saying, ‘oh, you should go into management’,” he said.
“But I’ll keep saying well, ‘hopefully, one day, you’re old enough that you can join me and be my strike partner in the same team playing with each other’.
“They are really good players. So that’s probably more my dream than retiring and doing something else.”
Bordeaux currently sits winless in 15th place in Group B of the Championnat National 2 with three draws and a loss from their four matches so far this season.
They face an uphill battle to turn their fortunes around but in a 30-match season, they have plenty of time to do so.
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