Andy Carroll reveals he was sexually assaulted at his home in 2021

Former England forward Andy Carroll has said in his autobiography that he was sexually assaulted at his home in 2021 during a second spell at Newcastle. The 37-year-old made the disclosure in his book Owning It.

Carroll, who is now a player/co-owner of the National League South club Dagenham & Redbridge, included the incident in Owning It and, as a victim of sexual assault, was automatically granted anonymity. He is a former Liverpool and West Ham striker.

Carroll wrote that the assault occurred while he was sleeping and that the offender was a friend of his former partner who was staying away at the time. He said he threw the man out of the house and later knocked him unconscious when the man attempted to get back inside.

The attacker was found guilty of sexual offences, was jailed for three years and was placed on the sex offenders register after Carroll testified in court. Carroll described giving evidence as "humiliating and embarrassing and absolutely horrendous".

On including the episode in his book Carroll wrote: "I was sexually assaulted, there I said it. Scary to even think about and only a few people knew about it before now." He added: "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."

Carroll addressed the incident’s effect on his life in the book, writing: "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 also wrote: "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 said he had decided to include the incident in the book "at the very last minute" after discussing it with his partner, Lou Teasdale.