ANDY CARROLL REVEALS HE WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED IN 2021

Former Liverpool and Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll has revealed he was sexually assaulted by a man in 2021. He disclosed the attack in his autobiography, Owning It, released on Thursday. Carroll wrote that the attacker, a friend of his former partner Billi Mucklow, was convicted of sexual offences. He said he included the assault in the book "at the last minute" after discussing it with his girlfriend, Lou Teasdale.

The assault took place at Carroll's home hours after he had played for Newcastle United, during his second spell there. He wrote that the man, a friend of Mucklow's, came to watch a boxing match while she was away and made him feel uncomfortable. Carroll said he went to bed after a few drinks and later wondered whether he had been drugged. He said he woke to find the man attempting to perform oral sex on him and threw him out of the house. When the man tried to re-enter, Carroll said he punched him unconscious before calling the police, "sobbing".

The man denied sexual assault and stood trial, where Carroll gave evidence, describing the process as "humiliating and embarrassing and absolutely horrendous". He was convicted, jailed for three years and placed on the Sex Offender Register. Carroll wrote that the man was also barred from entering the village where the footballer lived. Carroll said he thought about the assault every day and that "the trauma of what happened to me hasn't gone away". He said talking about it publicly had been "scary" but that he hoped it might help others. Carroll now plays for and co-owns National League South club Dagenham and Redbridge, having previously managed the side.