Carter was that rare being, a magnificent maker and taker
of goals, and were he playing today his transfer valuation would surely be
astronomical. During his peak years and beyond, when his black hair had turned
prematurely to a distinguished silver, he cut an imperious figure, radiating
self-confidence as he strutted around the pitch, invariably dictating the course
of a game. Some would (and did) call him arrogant, but there was no denying the
Carter class. He shot thunderously with either foot, especially his left; his
ball control was impeccable and his body-swerve little short of sublime; and,
crucially, he possessed the intelligence to put these natural gifts to maximum
use.
He could roll immaculate passes through the tiniest of
gaps, sometimes seeming to shred defences at will, and much of his work
alongside Stanley Matthews, when the two formed a right-wing pair for England,
was breathtaking. Indeed, few men appreciated the footballing needs of 'The
Wizard of Dribble' as Carter did, and, certainly from this distance, the
reluctance of the selection committee (this was well before the days of the
all-powerful team boss) to use them in tandem more regularly appears
incomprehensible.
The Wearsider Raich, the son of a professional footballer,
exuded all-round sporting ability from an early age, his magnificent athleticism
making light of a lack of physical stature. By 1927 he was playing for England
Schoolboys and in 1930 he joined Leicester City on trial, only to be released
because he was 'too small'.
His home town club, Sunderland, had no such qualms, and
earlier thoughts of an engineering career were jettisoned as he progressed
rapidly to first-team status. Thereafter Carter's rise became positively
meteoric. In 1934 he made his full England debut, against Scotland at Wembley;
two years on he inspired an essentially ordinary Sunderland team to the League
championship, becoming the youngest title-winning skipper in the process; in
1937 he was the star turn as the Rokerites beat Preston North End to lift the FA
Cup. Thus, at 23, Raich Carter had won every honour then available to a
footballer.
Nevertheless, his international appearances were spasmodic
and it was not until 1943, when that other splendid inside-forward Wilf Mannion
was drafted into the army, that Carter was recalled to the England side on
anything like a regular basis.
Having joined the RAF and been stationed at a pilot
rehabilitation centre at Loughborough, it was convenient for Carter to guest for
nearby Derby County while the conflict continued, and when peace resumed the
Rams had seen enough of him to make the arrangement permanent. Accordingly they
paid some pounds 8,000 for his services, a transaction of which Carter, not a
man renowned for false modesty, remarked later: 'Sunderland were silly to sell
me and Derby were lucky to get me.'
At the Baseball Ground, he linked up with the brilliant
Irishman Peter Doherty, and together they helped Derby win the first post-war FA
Cup Final. That same year, 1946, Carter furnished further proof of his all-round
prowess by appearing in three first-class cricket matches for Derbyshire and
might have flourished in the summer game but for his football commitments.
As it was, having won his last cap in 1947 at the age of
33, he moved to comparatively humble Hull City for a pounds 6,000 fee in 1948,
initially as player/assistant boss but within a month as fully fledged
player/manager. A year later, while still taking an active part on the pitch -
'I am determined to play on as long as I can raise a gallop,' he said - he led
his charges to the Third Division (North) championship, and what seemed likely
to be a successful management career was underway.
Carter upset some followers when he declared: 'My aim is to
play high-class football and let the result take care of itself.' But his
acquisition of high-quality performers such as Neil Franklin and Don Revie
signalled that he would not be content to linger idealistically in the Second
Division. However, having not achieved the promotion he had expected, Carter
ever the perfectionist, resigned in September 1951. He returned for the second
half of the season as a player only, showing much of his old flair, and when he
made his final Football League appearance that spring he had scored 216 goals in
451 outings. Those creative feet were still itchy, however, and in 1953, his
40th year, he spent half a season with Cork Athletic, helping them to win the
Irish equivalent of the FA Cup.
Clearly Carter had more to contribute and later that year
he took over the reins of Leeds United, guiding them to promotion to the top
flight in 1956. Nevertheless, his intolerance of lesser talents rustled plenty
of feathers at Elland Road and after his best player, John Charles, had departed
for Italy, results declined and he was dismissed.
Come 1960 Carter was back in circulation as manager of
Mansfield Town, whom he led out of the Fourth Division in 1963, after he which
he moved up to Middlesbrough. Sadly, at Ayresome Park he experienced the leanest
time of his life in soccer and with the club on the brink of relegation to the
Third Division, he was sacked in 1966.
Thereafter Carter worked in the sports department of a Hull
store and then ran a business in the town before retiring to nearby Willerby,
suffering a severe stroke last year. During his latter years he was disdainful
of modern trends in the game, but once, looking back, he admitted there could be
no finer life than a footballer's. He could have added, with truth, that there
had been few finer footballers than he. -
England
Football Online
,%20Raich.jpg)
Has
a sports centre named in his honour in his hometown of Hendon, opened by
Sir Trevor Brooking. After being sacked as Middlesbrough manager, Carter
returned to Hull where he worked in the sports department of a store, and
then ran a business before retiring, and suffering a stroke in 1993. -
An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who.
Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.59/60.,%20Raich.jpg)
RAICH CARTER, 'The Great Horatio', was by
common consent the finest English inside-forward of his generation. But
for the Second World War which sliced his footballing career in two, he
would have won many more than his 13 full international caps, though
that relatively meagre total - relative, that is, to his immense talent
- might have had a bit to do with an impatient, abrasive side to his
character.