Andy Carroll reveals he was a victim of sexual assault

Former England striker Andy Carroll writes in his new autobiography that he was the victim of a sexual assault in 2021, revealing the episode for the first time publicly and describing how it has affected him since.

Carroll, 37, sets out the incident in Owning It and says that because he was the victim he was entitled to anonymity during the criminal process. He reports the assault took place at his home while he was in his second spell at Newcastle United; the attacker was a friend of his then-partner and she was not at the house at the time. The man was later sentenced to three years in prison after Carroll gave evidence against him at trial.

From the pitch to a private trauma

The former Liverpool and West Ham forward, who is now a player and co-owner of Dagenham & Redbridge of the National League South, recounts that the assault began while he was asleep. According to Carroll, he ejected the man from his house once he realised what was happening and then knocked him out when the man tried to return.

Carroll writes: "I became the victim of a sexual assault — there, I've said it. It's terrifying even to speak about it, and until now only a few people knew what happened to me." He says he and his partner Lou Tisdale debated whether to include the episode in the book and that he delayed informing his publisher until the last moment.

He adds: "I've had long conversations with Lou about whether to mention this in the book at all. I avoided the publisher for so long they probably thought I'd given up at the last moment." Carroll explains that, despite the difficulty of speaking about the ordeal, he decided to include it because it shaped who he is and might help others.

Describing the court process, Carroll calls giving evidence "humiliating, uncomfortable and absolutely awful." He concludes: "What happened to me affected every part of my life. I thought about it every day and found it hard to concentrate on anything else, even football… The trauma from what happened still hasn't gone away."

Photo: press material from the event