By Newcastle United reporter
It is a journey Michael Carrick will not forget.
The Geordie was driving up to the North East in January when he was offered the Manchester United job until the end of the season. He did not make that moment about himself, attending a family event with close friend Chris Hood among others.
“It doesn’t shock me, but nothing was mentioned,” Hood said. “Not one of us knew even though it was bandied around and there were plenty of people around him who were thinking: ‘Will it be him?’ But Michael was there for his family and to see his friends. He was there to make the most of that precious time.”
Time is now in short supply. Carrick is very much a Manchester United man as he prepares to take his side to St James’ Park for the first time as a manager. Yet the boyhood Newcastle United supporter has not forgotten his roots.
“He understands he is what he is because of what made him,” Hood added.
Wallsend Boys Club was central to that upbringing. Carrick followed in the footsteps of Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley and Steve Bruce as one of 97 players from the club to become professionals. The ‘Boyza’, where Carrick spent countless hours honing his skills, was demolished in 2012 after wind damage, denying a generation the indoor facility Carrick once used.
Carrick’s foundation provided funding that enabled the club to employ a general manager, John Percival, who helped raise capital for a new community hub completed in 2023. Chairman Steve Dale said the tangible legacy shows how Carrick credits the boys’ club with much of the positive influence in his childhood. Carrick used proceeds from his testimonial to create his foundation to give youngsters a safe place to meet, be challenged and fall in love with football as he did.
Carrick’s passion for the game was clear when he appeared on the BBC’s Live & Kicking in 1995, seated in a Newcastle shirt and surrounded by posters of his idols. Newcastle tried to persuade him to join — Peter Beardsley presented him with a cake on his 13th birthday at St James’ Park and he was invited to play in the Milk Cup a year early. A regrettable incident on that trip, when some players ‘borrowed’ a Mini and drove it around a car park, left a poor impression.
After touring several clubs, Carrick felt more comfortable at West Ham, a long way from home, where a clear pathway and a reserve setup existed. Newcastle at the time did not even have a reserve side. Carrick went on to play for West Ham and Tottenham before joining Manchester United, where he won 18 trophies, including five Premier League titles and the Champions League.
Newcastle’s landscape has changed since Carrick’s youth. Sean Longstaff, Elliot Anderson and Lewis Miley are recent midfield products of the club’s academy. Longstaff made 214 appearances before moving to Leeds United, while Anderson was sold to Nottingham Forest in 2024 amid the club’s need to raise funds to meet profitability and sustainability rules. Miley, 19, remains the academy’s standout prospect and was symbolically handed the captain’s armband by Kieran Trippier in the club’s win against PSV Eindhoven. Head coach Eddie Howe has praised Miley as having “all the talent in the world.”
Howe also stressed the need for continued investment and continuity at academy level. “The facilities have dramatically improved,” he said. “In my visits to the academy now it’s unrecognisable from the building we first saw, so that in itself will help the players, who are now being looked after much better than they were. They have had different managers there with the 23s, which has been a little stop-start, but hopefully we can get some continuity for them in that sense. We need to expose them to the best coaching possible because I’m a big believer in their development through coaching. They then need opportunities ultimately, but I can only give opportunities to players that I think are good enough and raising the level of player is a long-term project there.”
Meanwhile Carrick arrives back on Tyneside as a figure who still values the place that helped shape him — and as a manager enjoying an excellent start, having picked up 23 points from his first nine Premier League games.
