West Ham striker Andy Carroll turns 28 today, and we at Shoot! would like to wish the England international a very happy birthday!

The forward started his professional career all the way back in 2006 with Newcastle United, and went on to score 33 goals in 91 appearances for the Magpies, including 17 in their Championship promotion-winning campaign back in 2009/10.

Carroll then earned a £35 million move to Liverpool after an excellent start to the 2010/11 Premier League season, although he struggled at Anfield, netting just 11 times in 58 games for the Reds, although he did win the League Cup with the Merseyside club in 2012.

A successful loan spell at West Ham followed in the 2012/13 campaign, and the 28-year-old then secured a permanent move to East London in that summer, although recurrent injuries has thwarted his progress at the London Stadium.

Carroll has also earned nine England caps in his career, the last of which coming in the European Championships in 2012, although if he can stay injury-free over the next few months, he could well put himself back into the England reckoning in the near future.

And, with the striker celebrating his 28th birthday today, we at Shoot! thought we’d go through Carroll’s career thus far in pictures…

First Newcastle goal

Carroll made his debut for Newcastle all the way back in November 2006, when he was just 17 years of age, in a UEFA Cup clash against Palermo, but it took him a further three and a bit years to get his first senior goal.

That came in his first home league start for the club when they drew 2-2 with West Ham on January 10 2009, and he can be seen in the above picture towering above defender Lucas Neill to power home a header.

Carroll netted twice more in the Premier League for Newcastle that season, but it didn’t prevent them avoiding relegation to the second tier for the first time since 1989.

Promotion from the Championship

Carroll remained with Newcastle in their Championship campaign of 2009/10, and did his bit to help Chris Hughton’s side return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The forward scored 17 goals in 39 league appearances that season, with one of those goals coming against Ipswich Town in their final home game of the campaign, as seen above.

The Magpies finished the season with 102 points, which is only four shy of the record set by Reading back in 2006.

Premier League success

Carroll took to the Premier League with ease in 2010/11, and netted his first senior hat-trick in their 6-0 thumping of Aston Villa on August 22.

Further goals against West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City were to follow, and he actually finished with 11 goals in just 18 starts for the Magpies in the first half of the season.

Yet, a 2-0 defeat away at Tottenham on December 28 turned out to be his last in the black and white stripes, as he then sealed a £35 million switch to Liverpool in the subsequent January transfer window.

First Liverpool goals

The striker failed to net in any of his first five Liverpool appearances, having made his debut against Manchester United on March 6, yet it was against the Red Devils’ neighbours City where the frontman finally got off the mark.

The first was a wonderful long-range strike after just 13 minutes, before he added his second and the Reds’ third ten minutes before half-time with a fine header from Raul Meireles’ cross.

Here, he can be seen battling with City captain Vincent Kompany on what was one of Carroll’s better nights in a Liverpool shirt.

League Cup title and FA Cup semi-final winner

Carroll won his first piece of silverware at Anfield in February 2012 when Liverpool beat Cardiff City on penalties in the final at Wembley, having drawn 2-2 after 120 minutes.

A reasonably barren spell followed for the striker, where he went nine games without a goal before netting a late winner at Blackburn on April 10, but it was his goal in the FA Cup semi-final four days later which really endeared him to the Liverpool faithful.

That’s because his late header not only saw the Reds into the FA Cup final, but it also got the better of their Merseyside rivals Everton, who took the lead that afternoon courtesy of Nikica Jelavic.

Carroll also netted in the final, but it was to no avail as the Reds lost 2-1 to Chelsea.

England call-up, debut, and first goals

The 28-year-old made his England debut all the way back in November 2010 against France at Wembley, and then scored his first goal for his country five months later in a 1-1 draw with Ghana.

However, it was his second, and at the moment his last, which was his most memorable, as his excellent header set England on their way to a 3-2 victory over Sweden in their second group game of Euro 2012.

Further goals from Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck secured an important win for Roy Hodgson’s men, although it was another disappointing tournament for the Three Lions, as they were knocked out in the last 16 by Italy.

Carroll has so far played nine times for his country, netting twice.

West Ham debut

After struggling at Liverpool, Carroll joined fellow Premier League outfit West Ham on loan until the end of the 2012/13 season.

The striker made his debut in their 3-0 victory over Fulham on September 1, and helped set up two goals in a comfortable win for Sam Allardyce’s men.

Carroll would go on to make 24 appearances for the Hammers that season, scoring seven Premier League goals.

Return to form

Carroll made a permanent move to West Ham in 2013, costing the Hammers £15 million, but he struggled with injury in his first two seasons at Upton Park, appearing just 32 times for the club and netting only seven goals.

However, the 2015/16 campaign saw Carroll finally find some form, scoring nine goals in 27 Premier League appearances for the Hammers, which included strikes against Chelsea, former employers Liverpool, and champions-elect Leicester, but it was his sensational hat-trick against Arsenal which was the most memorable.

Carroll scored all three goals within eight minutes in a thrilling 3-3 draw with the Gunners at Upton Park, which derailed Arsenal’s title bid, but also kept alive West Ham’s top four chances.