Carson's long career took him across Europe but its most successful years came in two appearances over six years at Manchester City.
Header Image: From Manchester City FC Facebook
Leonard Nimoy, best known as Spock from Star Trek, makes a famous cameo at the end of a famous episode of The Simpsons. After Homer prevents the monorail from crashing on its maiden voyage, Nimoy turns to the camera and says, “My work here is done.” When Barney Gumble challenges him, arguing that he did not do anything, Nimoy laughs and replies, “Didn’t I?” before disappearing into thin air.
After six years, two appearances and 12 major honours, Manchester City have announced that Scott Carson will leave the club this summer when his contract expires. It ends an association which is glorious and puzzling in equal measure, as the experienced shot stopper became the totem of a new role in modern football squads.
Pundit Micah Richards was once mocked for claiming to have burst onto the scene, but Carson can rightfully claim to have done so as he made his debut for Leeds United in the dim and distant past of 2004. Carson helped a soon-to-be relegated Leeds to an unexpected point at Old Trafford and established a reputation as one of the most sought-after young talents in the country in the process.
A move to Liverpool followed, before Carson was thrust into the limelight with England, a light which was cruelly extinguished by his involvement in the infamous “Wally with the Brolley” match against Croatia in 2008 when England failed to qualify for that summer’s European Championships under Steve McLaren.
What followed was the typical career of a good professional. Strong loan spells with Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa earned Carson a move to West Brom, where he established himself as number one, featuring 110 times. He then spent time at Bursaspor and Wigan before a move to Derby, where he was again number one, winning the club’s Player of the Year in the 2016/17 Championship.
At this stage, few could have predicted what came next. Carson appeared to be destined to follow the well-trodden path down the leagues, before retiring after a strong career with only a minor tinge of regret over the way his move to Liverpool and England experience worked out.
However, fans scanning the transfer gossip columns in the summer of 2019 could be forgiven for refusing to believe their eyes when reading the news. That summer, Carson joined Manchester City on loan as cover for Ederson and Claudio Bravo.
This is where the introduction becomes relevant, as the more cynical football fan would view his involvement in Manchester City’s golden age over the last six years as minimal. From a playing perspective, this is certainly true.
Carson’s most significant contribution was a penalty save against Newcastle in 2021, in his first Premier League start for a decade, which was made moot by Joe Willock scoring the rebound. He also kept a clean sheet in his first European match in 17 years when coming off the bench against Sporting Lisbon 10 months later.
But with the best will in the world, Manchester City did not sign Carson to be a genuine contender to start. The modern football dressing room is a delicate ecosystem, and Carson was brought in as a safe pair of hands and a calming voice within the goalkeeping group. During his time with the club, he has received praise from the club’s goalkeeping coaches and Guardiola for his influence on their all-conquering team.
Carson also managed to secure his own piece of history while at the club. By appearing as an unused substitute in City’s Champions League final win over Inter Milan, at the same stadium where he won the 2005 Champions League final with Liverpool, he equalled the record for the longest gap between European Cup titles, matching Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta’s 18-year gap.
Time, tide, and the relentless process of building a squad capable of competing for European honours wait for no man, and Man City have already replaced Carson ahead of next season. In Marcus Bettinelli they have brought in the closest thing to Carson available on the market.
An England Under-21 international who has enjoyed first-team football in the Premier League and Football League during spells with Fulham, Middlesbrough and Accrington Stanley before settling for life as a specialist third-choice keeper at Chelsea.
On Bettinelli’s Wikipedia, it states that he enjoys golf, video games and watching Netflix in his spare time. Again, the cynical fan would suggest he will have plenty of time to do this in his new gig, but those within the inner sanctum know that his role is more involved than it appears from the outside.
At the time of writing, Carson’s next move is unclear. He could elect to ride off into the sunset, finally calling time on a thoroughly modern career, bookended by European Cup triumphs in which he watched from the substitutes' bench.
Or like David Carradine’s Kwai Chang Caine in the 70’s TV series Kung Fu, he could walk the earth in search of the next club that needs an experienced head to mentor their regular goalkeepers. Who knows, he could even return to newly promoted Leeds United for one final season to close the loop of his meandering career.
Whatever happens next, the latter years of Carson’s career should not be underestimated. In an era where squads are getting bigger, Profit and Sustainability rules are becoming increasingly influential, and the restrictions around the number of home-grown players in a Premier League squad are getting tighter, the “good pro” third-choice goalkeeper is only going to become more common.
Few could have predicted the way that Carson’s career would have gone when he made his mark for Leeds at Old Trafford 21 years ago. There was a risk he could have faded into obscurity when a sodden ball evaded his grasp on that fateful night at Wembley. But he ends his time in Manchester having played an important, if not immediately visible, role in a team of serial winners. Therefore, when Carson leaves the gates of Manchester City for the final time declaring that his work here is done, no one in the inner sanctum will reply like Barney Gumble.
