Editing Jamie Carragher (section)

==Early life==
James Lee Duncan Carragher was born in [[Bootle]] on 28 January 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/jamie-carragher.html|title=Jamie Carragher Profile|work=Eurosport.com|access-date=30 November 2010}}</ref><ref name="PFA 109">{{cite book|last = Hugman|first = Barry J.|title = The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005|publisher = Queen Anne Press|year = 2005|page = 109|isbn = 1-85291-665-6 }}</ref> His maternal grandfather was Maltese,<ref name="malta">{{cite news |url= https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/watch-carragher-joins-giggs-neville-in-wishing-malta-well-in-covid-19.784172  |title= Carragher joins Giggs, Neville in wishing Malta well in COVID-19 fight |work=[[Times of Malta]] |date=8 April 2020|accessdate=30 June 2021}}</ref> and his paternal grandfather was Irish.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://unherd.com/2023/10/jamie-carragher-my-warning-to-starmer/|title=Jamie Carragher: My warning to Starmer|first=Tom|last=McTague|date=10 October 2023|website=UnHerd}}</ref> He has described his mother as a "very holy" [[Catholic Church in England and Wales|Catholic]] woman who had previously suffered [[miscarriage]]s but refused to consider an abortion whilst pregnant with Carragher, despite doctors expecting him to be born with [[spina bifida]].<ref name="auto" /> He was born with [[gastroschisis]], requiring him to be immediately taken to [[Alder Hey Children's Hospital]].<ref name="auto" />

Despite the popular misconception that he grew up in poverty, Carragher clarified in his autobiography that he "grew up in a nice house in a nice area [and] had a great childhood".<ref name="auto" /> He attended St James Catholic Primary School in Bootle.<ref name="auto" /> He supported [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] while growing up like his father, who gave him his two middle names "Lee" and "Duncan" in honour of the team's manager [[Gordon Lee (footballer)|Gordon Lee]] and its player [[Duncan McKenzie]]; on the day of Carragher's birth, Lee fired McKenzie from the team.<ref>{{harvnb|Carragher|2008|p=12}}</ref> However, despite initially supporting Everton as a young boy, he later became a dedicated supporter of [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]. His support for the club grew when he joined Liverpool's youth academy  and eventually spending his entire professional career at the club.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 April 2021 |title=Jamie Carragher names the moment he knew he'd stopped being an Everton fan |url=https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/jamie-carragher-names-the-moment-he-knew-hed-stopped-being-an-everton-fan |access-date=7 March 2025 |website=FourFourTwo}}</ref>