My earliest memory in terms of playing football is at the boys club when I was about five I think, four and a half maybe.
It was a Saturday night and it was sort of an all-comers session really. Anyone could just turn up and have a kick-around. You were put into teams and played, and I just remember my dad and grandad taking me along.
I can actually remember the first time I went on the pitch and it seemed like such a big deal. I think I cried the first time I went on, just because of the way it was set up, because there was a little balcony and then stairs going down. It seemed a bit like an arena, everyone watching so it was a bit intimidating at first.
But then dad took us on the pitch and that was it after that. But that’s my first memory of going there on a Saturday.
Just having the buzz really of playing and thinking it was the best thing ever and getting in a team. It wasn’t about skills or knowing the game or anything, it was just about running around and having fun.
Nearly every lad in the town went to the boys’ club. It was the thing to do. We’d go there, I’m guessing like three or four times a week, just to hang out among the other lads to play.
They’d have a blackboard and the coach Bob would sit you down with teams of five. It seemed like it was packed full of kids and there were about 20 teams.
He’d have a blackboard and he’d go down and write your name on and he’d be like: "You’re Brazil" and everyone would be buzzing, or "you’re England".
It was basic stuff but it just got you so buzzing that it was like a free-for-all. The league started from when I was nine-years-old but then I still played in the five-a-side league all the way through. I was still playing there when I left for West Ham when I was 15.
Everyone seemed to go to the boys club and take an interest in the five-a-side. We talked about it at school, like "Who’s playing tonight?" or "They’ve got them tonight, it’s a big game".
People would turn up to watch this game of five-a-side. I wouldn’t say it got heated but it was competitive, especially if there were a couple of teams who were quite near the top of the league.
It was quite serious but it was fun at the same time. There was the element of winning because it was a league and you wanted to win, but really it was just playing against your mates.
It was just the freedom really.
Read the full feature with Carrick, including the accounts of his parents and brother, in the Boot Room where you can also find coaching interviews with the likes of Gareth Southgate, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez, Brendan Rodgers, Graham Potter, Phil Neville and more.
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