Andy Carroll to Dagenham and Redbridge: Players You Didn't Know are Still Playing in Non-League

In one of the more surprising transfers this summer, former England international Andy Carroll was confirmed to have joined non-league side Dagenham and Redbridge on 12 July.

The 36 year-old from Gateshead spent his prime for multiple clubs in the Premier League, including Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham.

He was well known for his physicality and heading ability, scoring 54 goals in 248 Premier League appearances.

Carroll's performances early on in his career, for his boyhood club Newcastle United, earnt him a move to Liverpool for £35 million. He was the most expensive British Player ever at the time.

He struggled for goals at Liverpool, and was subsequently loaned to West Ham, he joined them permanently in 2013. The majority of his years at West Ham were riddled with injuries, and this has plagued his career for the last decade.

After a few years of bouncing around multiple Championship clubs, he made the move to France in 2023, playing in the second division of French football.

The season after, he moved to financially impacted Bordeaux , opting to get paid less than minimum wage to help the club. He was well liked, scoring 11 goals for the club.

Now, he has opted to play in London for The Daggers, in the sixth tier of English football.

With that being said, we're going to look which other high profile players are now playing in non-league.

Jordan Ibe

Ibe came up through Wycombe Wanderers' academy, and earned himself a move to Liverpool in 2012, and made his Premier League debut in 2013, he was a tidy squad player for the reds in his first few years.

He was bought by Bournemouth in 2016 for a club record £15 million fee. He struggled under Eddie Howe and was rather inconsistent for the Cherries in his four year spell. He only scored 3 goals in that time.

He then went onto join Derby County, but only made one appearance. He later said he was struggling with his mental health.

He then move to Adanasport in Turkey, but failed to make an appearance.

Since 2023, he has now moved back to England, playing for Ebbsfleet United and Hayes & Yeading United, in the non-league.

He now plays for Hungerford Town in the Southern League Premier Division South.

It's some fall from grace for Ibe, having dropped down to the non-league in over a decade since making his debut for Liverpool.

Leroy Lita

The journeyman forward; who is most well-known for playing for Bristol City, Reading and Middlesbrough.

He's played in 10 different levels of football in England, Greece and Thailand. Since 2018, he's been playing non-league football for nine different times.

Lita is currently playing for Barwell in the Southern League Premier Division Central, at the age of 40.

Grant Holt

Another English League journeyman like Lita, Grant Holt has played for a host of big clubs during his career. Norwich City, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa to name a few.

He is most known for his time at Norwich, where he scored 68 goals in 154 appearances. He helped The Canaries to back-to-back promotions in 2009/10 and 2010/11, going from League One to the Premier League.

He now plays for Dereham Town in the ninth tier of English football, having spent the last eight years for multiple non-league clubs.

13 years ago today, we beat Aston Villa 2-0 thanks to goals from Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson! 🔰

It would turn out to be Paul Lambert's final game for the club #NCFC pic.twitter.com/e9uaSux483

— 🔰 TheYellows 🔰 (@TheYellows_com) May 13, 2025

Gary Hooper

Another player who made plenty of appearances for Norwich City, the 37 year-old striker is now playing for Maldon & Tiptree in the Isthmian League North Division.

Hooper has impressively scored in 20 different competitions, including the Premier League, Scottish Premier League, Champions League and Europa League.

The 37 year-old from Harlow, is still scoring goals and enjoying his career at a lower level.

3340. Gary HOOPER

Forward - 26.01.88 - ENG

Prem Debut:
21/09/2013 (NORWICH CITY vs. Aston Villa, L 1-0 - sub 63 mins)

Prem Clubs:
Norwich City (13-14 & 15-16)

Prem Apps: 34
Prem Goals: 6 pic.twitter.com/WzMd59CL1Z

— Premier League Players (@premlgeplayers) May 17, 2025

Marvin Sordell

The former Watford, Bolton and Burnley striker is also playing in the non-league.

He scored 27 goals in 81 appearances for Watford, between 2009 and 2012. This earnt him a move to Bolton for £3 million who were in the Premier League at the time.

Sordell then played again in the Premier League for Burnley in the 2014/15, but meandered across the lower tiers from that point.

He retired from football at 28, after terminating his contract at Burton Albion in 2019. He cited mental health as his reason to retire.

He then came out of retirement to play for Southern League Premier Division Central side Kettering Town in 2024.

He now plays for Rayners Lane in Southern League Division One Central.

Lukasz Piszczek

One of the most notable Polish players of this generation, Piszczek is known for his 11 years at German giant Borussia Dortmund between 2010 and 2021.

He made 382 appearances for Dortmund, providing 83 goal contributions from the right-back position.

He returned to his boyhood Polish lower league side Goczalkowice-Zdroj after he left Dortmund in 2021. He became player-manager in 2023.

He then retired in 2024 and joined Nuri Sahin's coaching staff at Borussia Dortmund. When Sahin was sacked in February 2025, Piszczek again returned to Goczalkowice-Zdroj as player-manager.

The club are currently in the fourth tier of Polish football.

Harry Arter

Harry Arter was a key cog in the Bournemouth machine that managed multiple promotions in such a short space of time.

The midfielder made 232 appearances for the Cherries, playing in the Premier League, Championship and League One during his time there.

At the age of 35, Arter is now playing in the United Arab Emirates Second Division for Precision FC. He joined in September 2024 and has played 6 times for the club.

No doubt he is earning a decent wage during the twilight of his career.

3644. Harry ARTER

Midfielder - 28.12.89 - IRE (17/0)

Prem Debut:
01/11/2015 (Southampton vs. AFC BOURNEMOUTH, L 2-0)

Prem Clubs:
AFC Bournemouth (15-20), Cardiff City (18-19)

Prem Apps: 94
Prem Goals: 3 pic.twitter.com/tk0PEjBzud

— Premier League Players (@premlgeplayers) April 10, 2021

Ravel Morrison

The one that was proposed by many to be the next big English talent.

Morrison has had a career which has never really got going. He started at the Manchester United Academy, where he was spotted by Sir Alex Ferguson at the age of 14.

He then moved to West Ham United in 2012, where he failed to make an impact.

His career has been plagued by disciplinary and legal issues.

Coming to the latter stages of his career, he has been seen as a journeyman, like many others on this list. He has played for 15 clubs in his professional career.

Like Harry Arter, he now plays for Emirati second division club Precision FC. He has now played 20 times for the club, scoring nine goals.

Danny Fox

The centre-back who spent his youth career at Everton, who was most well known for his time at Walsall and Nottingham Forest, is another who is currently playing non-league level football.

Fox played for the Scotland National team a handful of times and was seen as a steady, solid defender in the lower levels of English football.

He surprisingly spent a year for Indian club, East Bengal FC in 2020. He retired at the end of the season.

However, he came out of retirement to play for his local club Winsford Town FC in Cheshire. They are currently at the 11th level of the English football pyramid.

A photo of mine in today’s The Sun showing the red card Forest defender Danny Fox received at the Reading v Nottingham Forest game yesterday. Image taken working for @ProSportsImages pic.twitter.com/4nGTSQZlH3

— Nigel Keene (@keene_nigel) January 13, 2019