By Adegboyega Adeleye
Former England striker Andy Carroll has revealed that he was sexually assaulted by a man in 2021, saying the trauma continues to affect him.
The 37-year-old disclosed this in his autobiography, Owning It, released on Thursday, according to the BBC.
The incident happened at Carroll’s home during his second spell with hometown club Newcastle United and led to the perpetrator being jailed for three years.
Carroll, who was automatically granted anonymity as a victim of sexual assault, chose to make the details public in his book after discussing the decision with his girlfriend, Lou Teasdale.
He said he decided to include the incident “at the very last minute” after initially avoiding his publisher because he was unsure whether to reveal what had happened.
A friend of his former partner, who was away at the time, had come to Carroll’s home to watch a boxing match and was expected to stay overnight.
Carroll said the assault happened while he was sleeping before he threw the man out of the house and later knocked him unconscious when he attempted to return.
He called the police afterwards and was “sobbing” in the arms of his children’s nanny.
The attacker was later found guilty of sexual offences and placed on the sex offenders’ register. Carroll gave evidence during the trial, which he described as “humiliating and embarrassing and absolutely horrendous”.
Writing about the experience, Carroll said: “I was sexually assaulted, there I said it. Scary to even think about and only a few people knew about it before now.
“Me and Lou spent a lot of time discussing whether to mention it in this book or not. I avoided my publisher for so long that they probably suspected I got cold feet.
“Scary to talk about but it’s made [me] the person I am today as much as any of the good stuff. And if me talking about it helps just one person then good, it will have been worth it.”
Carroll, who won nine England caps and also played for Liverpool and West Ham, said the incident had affected every aspect of his life.
“What happened to me affected every facet of my life. I’d think about it every day, making it difficult to focus on anything else, including football… The trauma of what happened to me hasn’t gone away,” he added.
Carroll is now a player and co-owner of non-league Dagenham & Redbridge, whom he joined in July 2025.
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