Matthew David Carrick was born 5 December 1946, the only son of Fred and Mary Carrick.  David was brought up in Ramshaw/Evenwood and attended Ramshaw School.  Fred, for many years, was the groundsman for Evenwood Town F.C.  David enjoyed a career which took him to Football League clubs, Wolves, Wrexham, Man City and Preston North End and the semi-professional circuit in the North West before he was struck down with motor neurone disease (MND).  He died in 1989, aged 42.  He was remembered with much fondness and in 1988, Manchester City sent its first team to Witton Albion for a testimonial match in his honour.

Football Career

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1960-61 Evenwood Juniors

Having played junior football for Evenwood, David Carrick arrived at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 1963, signing professional terms in December 1964.  He played as a winger but as the “wide man” was moving out of fashion, he switched to inside forward, making “A” Team appearances alongside Peter Knowles, Phil Parkes, Alun Evans and Graham Hawkins.  His 7 goals in 17 second team games in 1965/66, weren’t enough to convince manager, Ronnie Allen, that he had a future at Molineux. 

In June 1966, he joined Wrexham, in the old 4th Division, making 24 appearances, scoring 9 goals in his 2 seasons at the Racecourse Ground.  He then joined Altrincham for a few months and then 4th Division Port Vale, for the rest of the 1968-69 season. 

A spell with Cheshire County League side Stalybridge Celtic followed before Witton Albion’s manager Ken Barnes snapped him up for the 1969/70 season.  David enjoyed 4 successful seasons, from 1969 to 1973, making 235 appearances, scoring 98 goals for the Nantwich side.  During the 1970/71 season, he was invited for trails at Manchester City but didn’t get offered a contract so returned to Witton Albion.  While at Manchester City, David met his future wife, Carole, where it is understood that she was manager, Joe Mercer’s secretary.

In October 1973, none other than Bobby Charlton, manager of Second Division Preston North End signed David.  The squad included Manchester United old boys – World Cup winner Nobby Stiles, David Sadler, Neil Young and Francis Burns.  Getting into the first team was a tall order – he made the subs bench and 2 appearances. 

David moved onto Rochdale, making 26 appearances in his 2 seasons.

Spells with Altrincham, Droylsden, where a head injury threatened his career, Middlewich Athletic, Macclesfield Town, Oswestry Town and New Mills completed his playing days.

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16 November 1976: David & Carole Carrick

27 April 1988: DAVID CARRICK TESTIMONIAL MATCH

WITTON ALBION V MANCHESTER CITY

The Man. City team included the likes of seasoned professionals John Gidman, Andy Hinchcliffe, Neil McNab, Trevor Morley, Paul Simpson (presently manager of Carlisle United), Paul Stewart and Imre Viradi.  Peter Barnes, son of Witton’s manager Ken Barnes, formerly of Manchester City and an England international (20 caps, 4 goals), hoped to make a guest appearance.

WOLVES HEROES WEBSITE

An interesting article was posted on the Wolves Heroes website.  Les Wilson, a Vancouver based former Molineux player and old friend of David Carrick wondered whether David was related to Michael Carrick, (formerly of West Ham, Man. Utd. and England, currently manager of Middlesbrough) since they had a similar appearance and running style.  Alas, it seems that there is no family link.  Les commented:

“I shared digs for over a year with David Carrick in Wombourne, where we were well looked after by the Williams family.  David was a good man in so many ways and had a very nice temperament.  He and I used to hang out together with the Williams son, Gwyn.  David went on to have a Football League career despite not making the first team at Wolves.”

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Summer 1964, Young Wolves lads at Blackpool – left to right: Gwyn Williams, David Carrick, Fred Kemp, Peter Knowles, Paddy Buckley, seated Barry Keating.

The article continues:

“He left the League in 1975 for the third time with close on 70 appearances to his name and returned to Altrincham.  Carrick, like John Barnwell, Dave Clements, Jim Barron, Peter Knowles, Emlyn Hughes and Mike Bailey were named at various times in the late 1960’s in the top ten good-lookers list, as voted on by female readers in the Football League Review magazine.”

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30 September 1967: Football League Review Top Ten: David Carrick at No.8

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

John & Janice Weir

Witton Albion F.C.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carrick

Wolves Heroes website