Trevor Carson has shared the dramatic tale of his nearly completed transfer to Celtic back in January 2018, an opportunity he described as life-changing.
During a conversation on the Open Goal podcast, Carson revealed that everything was in place for him to move from Motherwell to Celtic, providing him with a financial boost and the chance to compete for titles under then-manager Brendan Rodgers.
The deal, however, fell apart in the eleventh hour due to a chain reaction of goalkeeper injuries and transfers elsewhere. Carson detailed how Motherwell had agreed on the transfer fee with Celtic and were set to bring in Freddie Woodman from Newcastle as his replacement. Unexpectedly, Aberdeen’s need for Woodman after an injury to their first-choice keeper Joe Lewis led Woodman to choose Aberdeen over Motherwell.
This left Motherwell’s manager Stephen Robinson and CEO Alan Burrows in a position where they couldn’t afford to let Carson go, fearing relegation without their starting goalkeeper. The situation concluded with Scott Bain signing for the Hoops.
Trevor Carson, now at Dundee, opened up on the deadline day on the Open Goal podcast, he said:
“At one point everything was agreed, it was done.
“I think me and the missus played a game of ‘let’s see what we could have bought’ after.
“It would have been life-changing, it was a four-year deal. It was a chance to go and win trophies.
“It starts probably three or four days before the window shuts. I remember Hinchy, the goalie coach at the time because he was pally with Stevie Woods.
“The morning of training he said ‘Celtic are going to come in for you with a bid’… ‘F*** off, no they’re not.’
“But then obviously it happened. My agent had said all along ‘they’re going to get there with the fee’. It was just playing a bit of hardball with Motherwell for the fee but we knew they would get there.
“Then when they finally did, Motherwell were signing the boy Freddie Woodman on loan from Newcastle. Freddie was getting ready to come up and Joe Lewis got injured at Aberdeen training that day, this was the day before the window shut.
“Aberdeen come in for him [Woodman] and he picks Aberdeen over Motherwell. I’m in the office with Stephen Robinson and Alan Burrows and Robbo is like ‘you can’t sell him, I’m resigning if you sell him’.
“Listen, we got to a cup final but in the league, we weren’t doing great, we certainly weren’t safe from relegation. Robbo’s point was ‘Trevor is my number one, we can’t sell him’. The window was shut that night.
“In my mind, it was all done. We played Hibs that night, I came out and had a few missed calls and I knew something was up. Scott Bain was supposed to be on the bench against us for Hibs but they pulled him out and he signed for Celtic because mine had fallen through.
“Brendan rang me the next day and I spoke to him for about 40 minutes. That felt even worse because it was the first time.
“He was adamant he was coming back in for me in the summer, but obviously circumstances…Scott Bain signed and did really well after making his debut in the Old Firm six weeks later. Look at him now.”
That’s absolutely heartbreaking for the keeper, who by no fault of his own, saw a life-changing move to Celtic fall through.
