Richard Carey

Club career
Richard Carey was born on the 13th of December 1976 in Reading. Little is known about his early life until 1987, when he enrolled to Wallingford School, where he excelled at football. In 1994, his last year, he was noticed by multiple local clubs and initially was on track to sign with local side Reading Town. However dissagreements regarding wages led to him stalling on signing. This drama was noticed by scouts at Reading Football Club, the only professional club in Berkshire, who swooped in 1996 and promised him a first place in the first team. Carey eventually signed as a free transfer in 1997, just before the season could end.

Carey's contract initially only ran for one season to see how he would perform in Division One and the answer was he excelled, scoring 21 goals in 39 appearances. His contract was renewed for next season in the last minute and Carey played another 20 games for Reading, scoring 10 goals.

Chelsea, who had been a constant midtable finisher in the Premier League was keen on Carey, and bid 4,200,000 pounds for him during the winter months. The manager and Carey himself wanted to stay but the board approved the transfer, due to the fear of a lower fee at the eventual tribunal. Carey once again proved himself fit for the job in the Premier League, scoring 14 goals in a strong 11th place finish. The next season saw more improvement, with more goals and a stronger 9th place finish. The next season was a heavy slump with a 13th place finish despite Carey's 23 goals that season.

His discomfort at Chelsea's regression led to a bid from Arsenal, who were in much stronger shape at the time. At the end of the season Carey left for Arsenal for 7,250,000 pounds and duly had one of the greatest individual seasons by any player in the world. Despite Arsenal's 2nd place finish, Carey scored 49 goals in 52 appearances, a record in both departments. The controversial stances of Arsenal's finish, where they were 1st on the final matchday but couldn't win the title because of a top of the table clash between Aston Villa and Liverpool led to many doubts as to whether or not Carey would stay at the club.

To make matters worse, England manager Joe Royle didn't call up Richard Carey to the national team during the 2002 World Cup in Brazil, citing his lack of trophies. A war of words between the two resulted in Carey never getting an England cap for the rest of his career.

The next season initially started excellent for Arsenal and for Carey, who scored 7 goals in the first 6 games of the new season. However behind the scenes Arsenal were working on selling Carey for 14,250,000 pounds, Arsenal's largest profit for one player to Manchester United. Although Arsenal finished 3rd, a slump compared to last season, Carey won his first ever trophy, the 2002/03 Premier League, scoring 32 goals along the way. Carey then led the team to more silverware, winning the European Cup twice in a row.

The 2006/07 season was one of the worst for Carey. During an intense derby versus Liverpool Carey broke his back and was out for 12 months. This meant not only that he would miss the entirety of the season, he would miss the beginning of next season. By the time Carey returned he was never the same, scoring 5 goals in 14 appearances, a record low for Carey. Despite his injury, he still registered gametime in the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Cup, making himself winner of those three trophies, along with the rest of Manchester United's squad.

Manchester United

 * Premier League (2): 2002/03, 2007/08
 * FA Cup: 2006/07
 * European Cup (2): 2003/04, 2004/05
 * UEFA Cup: 2006/07

Chelsea

 * Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year: 1999/00

Arsenal

 * Football Writer's Association Player of the Year: 2001/02
 * Premier League Top Scorer: 2001/02

Manchester United

 * Football Writer's Association Player of the Year: 2003/04