Carragher - Carra my autobiography

I was determined to ensure when the time came for me to tell mystory it reflected how I play: completely honest. That's why Iimagined I'd wait until I'd played my last game before puttingpen to paper. In normal circumstances it's difficult for players toexpress how they really feel until they've retired. But as Iapproached my thirtieth birthday I suppose I hit that age whereI had so much to get off my chest I couldn't keep it in any more.My wife, Nicola, thinks I've got grumpy old man syndrome fortyyears too early, so with so much to be said about my life, careerand Liverpool FC there was no way I could have waited anotherfour or five years to do this book. Besides, no one might be sointerested after I pack it in!

As an avid reader of sporting autobiographies, I couldn't waitto get started. On the Liverpool coach heading to an away game,on a flight to Europe or just lounging around a hotel awaitingkick-off, I'm usually hiding behind the latest football book to hitthe shelves, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I tookthe plunge. I've often felt I had more of interest to say than thoseI was reading about; and in some cases I was so impressed by thestory I felt inspired to follow suit.

I had a fair idea in my mind what makes a good read. Withoutwishing to sound big-headed at all, I often find myself inundatedby interview requests during the course of a season. It made sensefor me to present my story and my views in my own way ratherthan see myself plastered across different newspapers from oneweek to the next, with little or no control over how I comeacross. That's why I instructed my agent of the past ten years,Struan Marshall, to accept an offer from the publishersTransworld, and work on Carra began.

As well as my family and close friends, to whom I've dedicatedthis book, I'd like to thank Struan, his assistant Kathryn Taylorand Andy Sterling for all their help with this autobiography andthroughout my career. Thanks also to the Transworld team,including Giles Elliott and copy-editor Daniel Balado, and finallythanks to writer Chris Bascombe for piecing together my storyand putting up with my attention to detail and constant changes.Jamie Carragher, July 2008

In the summer of 2007, Jamie and I met in the reception of theGrand Hyatt Hotel in Hong Kong to begin work on this book.

Pre-season is a time when the line between optimism and delusionis unavoidably blurred. Liverpool's Far East summer tourwas enhancing the same expectations we'd both grown accustomedto across the previous decade Jamie as a player and meas a Kop season ticket holder and LFC newspaper correspondent.As Jamie handed me his notes, mapping the journey he'dtake through his memories, he left suitable gaps for the successesin the months to come.

A year in the writing, Carra was intended to conclude triumphantlyin May 2008 with Liverpool's elusive nineteenthLeague title or sixth Champions League win. But just tenminutes after our first meeting I conducted my second interviewof the day, this time on behalf of my former employers at theLiverpool Echo, and assistant manager Pako Ayesteran succeededin bursting the bubbles I'd been inflating moments earlier,painting the picture of a football club in turmoil behind thescenes which was still far from ready to capture its 'holy grail'.

'This club is not ready to win the title,' Ayesteran stated.

His words were scarily prophetic, but I doubt even he foresawthe extent of the imminent disturbance. Within three monthsAyesteran had left Liverpool, Rafa Benitez's position wasunder threat, and the recent American takeover was creatingone dramatic headline after another. As Carra reviewed plans forthe book, there was a growing realization the finale would notbe one of triumph but of painful reflection on a traumaticseason.

Jamie always intended this to be far more than a traditional,clichd footballer's autobiography, and the background againstwhich it has been written underlines why. It's a record of a turbulentyet triumphant time in the club's history, as the modernLiverpool Football Club has fought a continuous battle with theghosts of its past. The paradox is, while Liverpool has beengripped by uncertainty and instability, Jamie has been a permanentsymbol of what it used to be, what through players like himit quite often still is, and what it eternally aspires to be. Withouthim, Anfield would have been a far grimmer place over the lastten years. It's his efforts as much as any which have ensured regularhonours for Liverpool, and safeguarded a place among theEuropean elite.