Interview ~ Dave Carroll

And Jesus Spoke to His Disciples...

As of the Bristol City game Dave has now played Five Hundred and Sixty Six senior games for Wycombe scoring 97 goals. He currently stands third in the all time playing record listings only behind John Maskell (played 616) and Tony Horseman (played 749).

WWISC: As a boy, was it always football you were interested in or were there other sports?

It was always football, Schoolboys and the District League in Ealing after I came down from Scotland when I was seven. Then some friends and a few parents started a Saturday side and it went on from there. Football was the only thing I was really in to, every time I had the opportunity to kick a ball, I did.

WWISC: How did you progress into Non League Football?

Well I was at Chelsea at 14 but I think everyone was there then! I trained there twice a week while still playing for the school side then went on to Fulham at 17. I never trained, just turned up for the reserves on a Saturday. I played for the England under 18`s and then went to California on a Football scholarship. It was a choice between becoming a pro at Fulham or giving it a go in America. Trouble was I never liked it there, got homesick and came back home. There was another guy called Paul McCarthy with me who went on to be a sports journalist and I think he now writes for the Mail or Express.
After I came back from the States I'd had enough of football so I went to work at Safeway’s in the Off License Department filling shelves at night. Then a mate got me in at Crystal Palace where I played a trial game, Ian Wright played in the same game as he had just joined them from Dulwich Hamlet. Palace didn’t want to pursue me so I ended up playing for Wembley reserves and won the league with them that year. I never made the first team because as I worked nights I could never train. After that I moved on to Ruislip Manor and that’s where Jim Kelman picked me up for Wycombe.

WWISC: You are now approaching your 12th anniversary at Wycombe, how does it feel to be the elder statesman of the team?

It’s all right, it’s got its pro’s and cons, sometimes you go out and feel your age but so far so good. It’s not something that any one comments on, there’s me, Brownie and Keith all around the same age so it’s not really an issue. The only thing you lose as you get older is your pace and as I haven’t got any it’s never a problem!! If you’ve got the skill, that’s the important thing.

WWISC: How do the younger players relate to you?

I think we get on ok! Saying that, they probably call me an old b@#t@#d!! I think they respect the amount of games that I’ve played and the people I’ve played under. I always say people might not like the way I play but every manager who has come in has always played me. There’s a bit of banter but it’s all in good fun.

WWISC: How do you feel about players getting stick from the crowd?

We were talking about this the other day, about the stick that Simmo was getting from some of the fans and I told him about the time in my second season at Wycombe playing against Enfield. Martin decided to take me off, I was at the bottom of the hill at Loakes Park and I thought "oops here we go" and as I started walking across, I’d had a bad game anyway, the fans started cheering because I was being subbed. I thought that was a bit off so I made a gesture to them and I remember getting in the changing room after the game and Martin having a go, saying "don’t lower yourself to that level", but it was just a kind of reaction to what was going on. The person slagging you off one minute is jumping up and down the next minute when you score a goal. I remember at Bournemouth someone shouting out "you’re crap Carroll", I can’t just leave it so I said tongue in cheek "well you paid to watch this crap" but at the end of the day people pay their money and they can say what they want.

WWISC: Can you give us some comments about some of the Managers you have played under?

Well, Martin O’Neill was very intense on Match days, we used to have a bit of a laugh and a joke in the changing room before the game, but as soon as Martin walked through the door it was deathly quiet. People stopped reading programs because he hated that before the game. He wanted people to be totally focused. He was never one for having a pop at people from the touchline, I mean you could see him jumping up and down pulling his hair out, but you never knew who he was on about. Smithy was totally different, I mean I never had a problem with him, I got on with him all right but he did put some of the lad’s backs up. I remember the first training session at Bisham Abbey when he said "don’t kid yourselves, you’ve done nothing yet, you didn’t even get promotion automatically, you had to do it through the play offs". So everybody looked at each other thinking what kind of bloke’s this, we couldn’t believe what he said and he lost a lot of face over that. Plus Smithy got a lot of people’s backs up because he tried to bring in players to replace existing players and that’s when the problem began with the wage structure. All the non league lads were on pretty much the same money then suddenly he was bringing in people like John Williams and Dave Farrell and after a couple of months they were not playing because the lads who had been there years were keeping them out of the side. So everyone `s thinking something’s not right here I am working hard every week and their having it easy. John Gregory came in and done pretty much the same thing, bringing in new players like John Cornforth and Simmo and in the end he had to bite his tongue and play us. One thing that happened under Gregory was the formation of groups within a group; we had the Derby boys, the Hayes boys and the Birmingham boys which didn’t do a lot for the atmosphere, especially as we weren’t doing very well. His whistling used to get on people’s nerves as well if only because when you heard it on the pitch you all looked over to see who he was whistling at. The trouble with Neil Smillie was that we all knew him too well and things did get on top of him, especially near the end. Some of the lads had arguments with Neil because he used to say the Derby boys trained harder than we did just because they used to stay on a bit longer. We used to say to him it’s all right producing it on the training ground but you’ve got to do it on a Saturday as well. I mean he used to say to me and Jason all you want to do is get off down to the betting shop after training and we used to say well we produce the goods on the Saturday so what’s the problem? He made some signings but seemed to have a pop at the players that had been there for a while. I remember one time he said in the paper that the people he was relying on were letting him down, which I thought was a bit harsh. He said to me after I'd had a bad game would Martin O’Neill put up with you playing like that? All I could think of saying was yes he probably would!

WWISC: Were you surprised that Martin has done so well?

No, not really, he has got terrific drive and his best attribute is man management, he gets the best out of players who are maybe just average and not as good as top class players. When he was with us we never went out fearing anybody, we very seldom talked about other teams. He might on occasion mention, "he’s not too bad", but he would never say this is how they play, he used to let them worry about us. I think he thought that whatever they had, we had better. He knew just what to say to each player, like for instance Gupps, who if you shouted at would have a bad game so Martin used to pump him up even if he wasn’t playing that well.

WWISC: In the Conference there seem to be more of a team spirit on and off the field than we seem to have now...

It was different, mainly because we all lived reasonably local so could go out as a group more. We would come back on the coach from an away game and it would be all "where’s everyone going tonight," where as now the players are more spread out. As we were a big group I think a lot of our success was based on the team spirit generated. Many times we came off the pitch after hardly getting a kick but still pulling off a 1-0 win and it was purely down to that team spirit.

WWISC: Do you watch any Conference Football?

I went recently and saw Hayes play and thought the standard had fallen terribly. I know it was only one game but I wasn’t that impressed. Mind you it might be different with teams like Rushden who are full time.

WWISC: Have any clubs come in for you over the years?

Well, there have been a few rumours but the closest was when Pullis of Gillingham rang me up to see if he could sign me, but I had just agreed a new Contract with Wycombe at the time. I rang him back and told him what the score was and that if he wanted to take it further he would have to get in touch with Smithy. As I never heard anything afterwards, I presumed Smithy said no. There was talk about me going on loan to Leicester, I was thirty at the time and wouldn’t have minded giving it a go but as I never heard anything from Martin himself, I don’t know the truth of it.

WWISC: Were you surprised that more players in the Conference winning side did not go on to bigger and better things?

I was a bit, as at the time everybody was playing out of their skins. There were always lots of scouts and managers coming down to watch us. You could always tell who was in the stand by the complimentary tickets that were left in the office for them.

WWISC: Do you see yourself having a future in football as a Coach, Manager etc.?

I don’t fancy coaching, that’s never interested me having to get the FA badges and all that. I do fancy doing the Manager bit though, I quite like the idea of that, but that’s in the future, I’m not really thinking about that at the moment.

WWISC: You have another year left on your Contract at Wycombe, how do you see things after that?

I don’t know, it all depends on how I am playing, obviously you always hope for another Contract, but I will see what happens at the time. I can see myself stepping down into the Conference if I finish at Wycombe. I `d like to play as long as possible providing I can steer clear of injury.

WWISC: What was it like at Carlisle for Wycombe’s first game in the League?

It was great, a feeling of having arrived, but also worrying about getting stuffed, whether we were ready for it or not. I remember it was a lot harder, the tackling was harder and it made me think, I don’t know if this is for me. But you settle down and get on with it. At the time Martin was a bit worried that I would be injury prone but if you look back I didn’t miss many games.

WWISC: Is there a team or player you don’t like playing against?

There’s no player in particular, the one thing I don’t like is players that launch themselves into you. On a good day you can get out of the way but if you’re having a bad day it can get a bit scary. I don’t mind playing any team and actually like playing against Colchester because it’s always a good atmosphere whether it’s at their place or ours. Some of the grounds we go to, the fans are so far away from the pitch there’s no atmosphere. One ground I don’t like is Bournemouth; I don’t know why, I just find it difficult to get going there, I always feel a bit lethargic and tired. I could go down there the week before the game and still feel the same way.

WWISC: Are you interested in the Constitution Issue?

Well, yes, anything that affects the future of the club you take a bit of an interest in. I wouldn’t say I was an expert on the subject but I’ve read the bits in the program and the local paper. On a personal note it makes me a bit apprehensive because if big money comes into the club then it obviously means new players so I could be out of a job.

WWISC: We heard a lot about Alan Smiths training regime, what was it like?

Smithy came in and it was the first time we’d had a fitness coach and dietician, we were getting timed while running, we were getting measured for how high we could jump plus a lot of other stuff I thought was irrelevant. Then of course, we had the pasta thing. It was pasta all the time until we got fed up with it and gave it a miss. We went to Cattarick Army Camp pre-season and were split into two groups. The athletes and the rest. We had to stay in separate rooms and that didn’t do a lot for team spirit. I think sometimes too much emphasis is put on the fitness side of things. It’s out on the park where you can do your talking.

WWISC: Most memorable game?

Most people think it would be Preston at Wembley but I think you have to go some to beat Lincoln last season. Of all the things we have achieved over the years that was the first time we were in danger of going down. I remember Brownie coming on as sub and saying "come on, we’ve got to win it now" and it suddenly dawned on us what we had to do. Thankfully we got the win and we’re still in Division 2. After the game everybody just sat in the dressing room totally drained, so that one sticks in your mind.

WWISC: How do you look after yourself football wise?

Well I don’t do a lot of training these days; I haven’t really changed a lot over the years. I don’t keep to a diet or anything like that and still eat what I want basically. I try to sneak a full English breakfast at away games, trouble is the physio is down before us and warns the waitress, so I end up with tea and toast until the pre-match meal. Generally though, I don’t bother to eat a lot before a game.

This interview was conducted in the Carpenters Arms, Hayes End by Bob Officer and Les Deighton while watching the Tottenham Middlesbrough game. Many thanks to Dave for giving us a full and frank interview. (The uncensored version is available by mail order in a brown unidentifiable envelope) plus thanks also to Steve Maguire for Dave’s playing stats.