Inside Andy Carroll’s French journey – together with jaw-dropping new WAG
Andy Carroll has found a home and new lease of life in France after moving away from the Football League to take on a fresh challenge on the other side of the Channel
Andy Carroll is loving life in France after leaving behind the Football League to take on a new challenge in the lower reaches of the French football pyramid.
The former Newcastle United and Liverpool striker gained an unwanted reputation as a troublemaker and an uncompromising striker, to say the least on the pitch, while a string of personal life issues, investigations and court cases marred his off-field reputation.
Carroll, who turned 36 this week, activated a clause in his Reading contract to become a free agent early in order to force through a move to Ligue 2 side SC Amiens in 2023. The move provided a fresh start for the Geordie striker, with him thriving in front of goal and becoming a fan favourite.
The £35m Anfield flop joined the Ligue 2 club last summer and helped Amiens to an 8th place finish, although his season was curtailed due to a knee injury sustained in the final run-in.
Despite spending just a year in the Hauts-de-France, Carroll revelled in his new journey and revealed how he’s been able to enjoy a return to normality since leaving England.
“I can go into a bakery and buy a pain au chocolat without anyone saying to me, ‘How was the match? Can I have a photo’?” Carroll said during his time at Amiens.
“I feel like I’m normal. I just wanted to go out and be free, be me. Here, I can take my children to the zoo and they don’t say ‘come dad’ while people ask for photos or autographs.
“There’s a little pub around the corner where I went with other boys to watch a PSG match! What a game! Nobody said anything to me.”
Carroll has also found new love since heading to France. The 6ft 4in striker split from his TOWIE wife Billi Mucklow after 11 years and three children together.
Carroll was seen cosying up to his new girlfriend Lou Teasdale on a romantic trip to Mallorca in October last year with him since going public beside his new flame.
He and Billi announced they were separating just a month before the former Prem ace jetted off to the Mediterranean with Lou. “Billi and I have privately separated earlier this year and we are under way with our divorce proceedings.
“It has been a hard few months for our family and we continue to move forward amicably for our children.”
Carroll’s split came as he embarks on one of the biggest challenges of his career, attempting to return Bordeaux back up the football ladder after they dropped to the fourth-tier due to administration less than two decades after winning their last top-flight title.
The nine-time England international joined Bordeaux in September in a deal reportedly worth €1,614 (£1,344) per month. Carroll scored a brace on his debut in a 2-2 draw before he followed up his debut heroics with another brace in a 2-1 win against Saumur to endear himself to the hearts of Les Girondins fans.
In his nine league games to date, Carroll has seven goals in nine games with Bordeaux fifth in the league and chasing promotion.
“With my salary, I can’t even pay the rent. If I moved to Bordeaux, it wasn’t because of the money,” Carroll admitted to L’Equipe about his salary.
“I thought about it [moving to Bordeaux], and I said to myself that I loved living in France, but I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted at Amiens even if I had a really nice time at the club.
“I received a lot of messages which said: ‘You could still play in England at a very good level’. But I want to thrive playing football in a nice environment, and that is exactly what I am doing now.
“The people I met at Amiens or Bordeaux treat me like a person, not like a footballer. In England, people perceive me as an aggressive personality because of my image of being a big player. I am not like that in my everyday life, but in my country, only my family and friends know this.”
