AFTER 504 games in a professional career spanning 28 years, one more game was not out of the question.
Ex-Rangers goalkeeper Roy Carroll turned the tables on his retirement plans and made a shock New Year comeback.
Ross McDairmantHe played one competitive game for Rangers – but turned out against Chelsea in a pre-season friendly[/caption]
Keith Campbell – The Sun GlasgowHe faced his former club in a Linfield v Rangers friendly.[/caption]
The former Northern Ireland international kicked off 2023 with a surprise appearance, turning out for Ballinamallard in their NIFL Championship meeting with Annagh.
That is despite his decision to quit football 18 months ago.
He hung up his gloves at the end of season 2020-21, retiring from Dungannon Swifts and moving into coaching roles with the Northern Irish national team.
But the step back in time to one of his first clubs – at the ripe old age of 45 – proved to be just a cameo and didn’t go to plan for the veteran.
Not only did his side fall to a heavy 4-0 defeat – Carroll was also forced off injured before the half-time interval of his fairytale comeback with the score 1-0.
It is still a remarkable postscript on the goalkeeper’s career which includes 45 caps for his country and spells with Manchester United, Rangers and West Ham.
He had started his career with Fivemiletown United and the County Fermanagh club before moving into the English football senior ranks.
Carroll is perhaps most famously remembered for a bizarre ‘ghost goal’ while playing at Old Trafford.
Future Rangers midfielder Pedro Mendes’ long-range drive spun over the line and was scooped out by the despairing lunge of the goalkeeper – and not counted.
He later moved to the Hammers before a free transfer to Walter Smith’s Rangers in 2007.
Carroll was a regular on the bench and failed to dislodge Allan McGregor from the Ibrox number one spot. He played just once – a 4-0 League Cup win over East Fife at New Bayview.
Northern Ireland under-17 manager – where Carroll is a coach – told BBC Sportsound: “Nothing surprises me from Roy.”
Carroll dropped Pedro Mendes’s 55 yard lob several feet over the goal line – but it wouldn’t count.Sky
He added: “He is a maniac and mad.
“It’s unbelievable, and he will get some stick. He has come in and then had to go off.”
Carroll also counts Linfield amongst his former clubs where he played under ex-Rangers striker and Northern Ireland team-mate David Healy.
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