Willie Carr

Infobox Football biography
playername = Willie Carr


fullname = Willam McInanny Carr
height =
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1950|1|6
cityofbirth = Glasgow
countryofbirth = Scotland
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1967–1975
1975–1982
1982–1983
clubs = Coventry City
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Millwall
caps(goals) = 252 (33)
237 (21)
008 0(1)
nationalyears =
1970–1972
nationalteam = Scotland U21
Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 004 0 (-)
006 0(0)

William McInanny Carr (born 6 January 1950 in Glasgow) is a former Scottish international footballer.

Career

Carr was born in Glasgow but spent part of his formative teenage years in Cambridge, where his family relocated in 1963.cite book | last = Lamming | first = Douglas | title = A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who’s Who, 1872-1986 | format = Hardback | publisher = Hutton Press | year = 1987 | id = (ISBN 0-907033-47-4) ] He is famed for the "donkey kick" goal scored for Coventry City against Everton in October 1970, when he took a free kick by gripping the ball between his ankles and flicking it up for Ernie Hunt to volley home. The move gained widespread fame as the match was televised on Match of the Day, and moved the authorities to ban such a skill at the end of the season.

The midfielder had joined Coventry in 1967 as an apprentice and made his debut as a substitute against Arsenal that year. He remained at Highfield Road until 1975, scoring 37 goals in 292 games in all competitions for the "Sky Blues". During his time with the club, he won 6 caps for Scotland, between 1970 and 1972. His international debut came on 18 April 1970 in a 1-0 win in Northern Ireland.

Carr struggled with a knee injury (suffered against Liverpool in April 1973), before moving on to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £80,000 in March 1975 and made his debut against Chelsea in the same month, scoring once in a memorable 7-1 victory. Here, he was a first-choice player and helped his new side to win the 1976-77 Second Division title and the 1980 League Cup. He finally left Wolves in Summer 1982 shortly after they were relegated from the top flight. In total, he made 289 appearances for the club, scoring 26 times.

He joined Millwall, but lasted just six months at the London club before returning to the Midlands and drifting out of the professional game. He had spells at fc|Worcester City, fc|Willenhall Town and fc|Stourbridge in the non-league before calling time on his playing career in 1988.

Today, he is a rep for an engineering supplies firm in the Birmingham area.

References