Tony Carr

Tony Carr (born 1950) is the current Director of Youth Development at West Ham United FC. Carr was born in Bow, East London and was a West Ham youth player in the late 1960s, cleaning the boots of the famous World Cup players Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters. He ceased playing through injury early in his career, although he has admitted that he did not have the ability to play at the highest level.

In 1973 he was appointed as the Director of Youth Development at West Ham. Since then he has overseen the development of many talented players at what has become known within the game as The Academy of Football.

As a developer of young talent Carr may be among the most successful and influential coaches in the land, but he modestly argues differently: "No way is it all down to me. It's very difficult to say why we've been so successful in youth terms; I suppose it's down to a number of factors but, most importantly, our recruitment area of east London and Essex is really fertile." ("Daily Telegraph" interview, 14/6/2004) He is aided in his task by Chief Scout Jimmy Hampson, who is considered among the best talent-spotters in the United Kingdom.

For over thirty years Carr has arguably been the single most important member of West Ham's coaching staff. Since his original appointment in 1973, the club have had eight managers of the first team squad,- nine if you include Trevor Brooking - but Tony Carr remains at his post developing the players of the future.