“I enjoyed all sports at school and was pretty good at tennis, table tennis and badminton as well as football. I played for local clubs and for schools teams but I always seemed to be let down when I hoped someone would give me my chance at football.”
Carl always saw himself as a forward but also chose to play in midfield to try to improve his skills and ability on the ball. His first big break came with Kingstonian, who were then a Conference club with an academy.
“Martin Strong, their youth team manager, though I might get a chance in the first team and I always believed I was good enough, but they hit a bad spell and it is not easy for a youngster when that happens.”
Carl’s next opportunity came with his invitation to travel to Ireland where he played under-21 football for Mullinger in West Meath. He matched his skills with the young players of leading Irish sides like Shelbourne and Bohemians and he enjoyed the experience before suffering a couple of injuries.
“I came back in March 2003 and it was difficult to get matches before the end of the season. Then I met my agents Tony Finnigan and Uben Gray and they helped me in the summer, recommending me to Steve Coppell who was then manager at Brighton.
