Online Reporter
FOOTBALLER Andy Carroll says he has been inundated with messages of support from male sex assault victims after telling of his own ordeal.
The former England striker, 37, said many had been in touch about their own experiences since he revealed his torment in autobiography Owning It.
And he looked relaxed yesterday as he arrived to play for non-league Dagenham & Redbridge, a club he co-owns, in a 1-0 win over Hampton & Richmond Borough.
In his book, ex-Premier League star Carroll said he was sexually assaulted while sleeping in 2021 during his second stint with Newcastle United by a “celebrity mate”, a friend of his former partner who was away at the time.
The man was convicted at what Carroll described as “humiliating and horrendous trial”. He was jailed for three years, put on the sex offender register and banned from the village Carroll lives in. As a sexual assault victim, Carroll had automatic anonymity and only decided to detail the incident in his book “at the last minute” after chats with present girlfriend Lou Teasdale, 42.
He wrote online: “It’s been incredibly hard for me to speak about what happened. I’m still navigating what I feel comfortable sharing publicly.
“Since speaking out, so many men have messaged me about their own experiences.
“That has been incredibly powerful and has reminded me just how important it is that men feel able to talk when they’re ready.”
The book describes how Carroll’s attacker invited himself into his home to watch a boxing match. He said he went to bed after feeling light-headed and was woken by the visitor sexually assaulting him.
Carroll ordered the man to leave and when he tried to come back in he hit him, knocking him out. He said: “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: “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.” —Sun.
