| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Lee Carragher [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 11 November 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.92 m) [2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Wigan Athletic | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2017 | Liverpool | ||
| 2017–2021 | Wigan Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021– | Wigan Athletic | 35 | (2) |
| 2022–2023 | → Oldham Athletic (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2024 | → Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2025– | Malta | 4 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:47, 9 August 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:20, 10 June 2025 (UTC) | |||
James Lee Carragher (born 11 November 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL League One club Wigan Athletic. Born in England, he plays for the Malta national team.
James Lee Carragher was born on 11 November 2002 in Liverpool, Merseyside. [2] He is the son of the former Liverpool and England footballer Jamie Carragher. [3] He is of Maltese and Irish descent through his paternal grandparents. [4]
In February 2025, Carragher and his father received citizenship of Malta. He was entitled to the nationality through descent from Paul Vassallo of Qormi, his father's maternal grandfather. [5]
After Carragher began playing football with Liverpool as an under-8 in 2011, [6] he joined the youth academy of Wigan Athletic in 2017. [7] Carragher captained Wigan's under-18s as they won the U18 Professional Development League in the 2020–21 season. He signed his first professional contract with Wigan on 4 August 2021. [8] He made his debut with Wigan Athletic in a penalty shoot-out win over Hull City in the EFL Cup on 10 August 2021. [9] He signed a new two-year contract with Wigan on 27 April 2023. [10]
Carragher joined National League club Oldham Athletic on 16 September 2022 on loan until 1 January 2023. [11] He made 6 appearances in all competitions during his loan spell. [2] On 10 January 2024, Carragher joined Scottish Championship side Inverness Caledonian Thistle on loan until the end of the season. [12] He made his competitive debut two days later in a 1–0 loss at home to Dundee United. [13] He made a total of 20 appearances in all competitions as the club were relegated via the play-offs. [2]
Carragher made his league debut for Wigan against Crawley Town on 24 August 2024. [14] He scored his first professional career goal on 25 January 2025, heading in Wigan's opener in their 2–0 win against Bristol Rovers. [15]
After Carragher obtained Maltese nationality in February 2025, Malta Football Association president Bjorn Vassallo said that they were considering the player for the national team. [5] On 14 March 2025, Malta called Carragher up for their World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Poland. [16] [17]
On 21 March 2025, Carragher made his debut for Malta against Finland in a World Cup qualifying match, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 loss. [18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup [a] | League cup [b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Wigan Athletic | 2021–22 [19] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 [c] | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2022–23 [20] | Championship | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 [21] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 [c] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024–25 [22] | League One | 33 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 [c] | 0 | 40 | 2 | |
| Total | 33 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 46 | 2 | ||
| Oldham Athletic (loan) | 2022–23 [2] | National League | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) | 2023–24 [2] | Scottish Championship | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 [d] | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Career total | 52 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 72 | 2 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malta | 2025 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |