Carlo Nash was a record-setter at Preston North End, making just under 100 appearances between 2005 and 2007 but recording a ton of clean sheets. That was quite an elevation for a goalie who had stepped away from football as a teenager due to the shock of a car accident, but he eventually left the team in a rather controversial and mysterious manner.
But post-Preston North End, Nash would ultimately play just a handful more times – although he did pick up a couple of FA Cup runner-up medals. He spoke to The Nose Bag fanzine recently where he talks about what he’s doing now, his exit from the club and his regrets in football.
TNB: You’re a case of having played football at the very top but didn’t come through an academy. Tell us about how you started at Rossendale United and ended up at none other than Crystal Palace?
CN: When I was 14 I was playing for several teams as a goalkeeper including school, Sunday league, Bolton Town team and Manchester Utd School Of Excellence.
Unfortunately, all this came to an abrupt end after a car accident. Although not physically injured, the mental scars of being trapped in a car with my Mum and sister completely decimated my confidence and subsequently my performances suffered massively. I focused on my studies from this point and went on to do my A-levels. At 19 I started work for a sign company in Bacup as a screen printer making motorway signs and a work colleague asked me if I wanted to join a local pub team in the Burnley Premier League. I started to get my confidence back as a goalkeeper and got invited to trials at Rossendale Utd.
After spending a season at Dark Lane, I got a call from Clitheroe asked me to join them for the next season. I ended up signing a two-year contract. My first season there went extremely well, not just for me personally with good performances but also North West Counties League and just missed out on promotion.
We also got to the final of the FA Vase which was played at Wembley. This was a dream come true for me and little did I know then that it would be my last game as a non-league player.
A week after the final I had a call from the Clitheroe chairman at the time, (Steve Rush), who explained that Crystal Palace wanted to buy me for £35,000. And the rest as they say is history.
TNB:Â What team were you supporting as a youngster?
CN: One of my neighbour’s brothers was an Everton player and he used to take me to Goodison from when I was nine. I became an instant Everton supporter and more importantly for me as a goalkeeper; a Neville Southall fan. He was the one who inspired me to become a goalkeeper.
TNB: You’d sign for us from Middlesborough for Billy Davies, quite a coup really. How did the move come around and was it an easy decision?
CN: I joined Middlesbrough from Man City knowing I’d have my work cut out to displace their number one, Mark Schwarzer.
But the main reason for leaving City was I knew IÂ wanted to improve as a goalkeeper to compete at the highest level. Paul Barron was the GK coach at Middlesbrough and I knew I would learn a hell of a lot from him. Working with him on a daily basis and also alongside Mark, the improvements I made were there for all to see.
There came a point where I knew I wasn’t going to get a look in at Middlesbrough and when Billy Davies came calling there were no hesitations from me to make the switch to Preston. I knew the great history of the club and was desperate to help the club achieve greatness and get into the Premier League.
TNB:Â Billy Davies is a bit of a legend in our parts, what was it like to work under Billy?
CN: Billy is an amazing manager whose attention to detail was paramount. He built an amazing squad of players during his tenure at PNE and maybe, just maybe if he’d have been given a little more support when it mattered we would have taken the club to the next level.
TNB:Â What was your pre match grub and music choice?
CN: It probably sounds a bit cheesy to some people but prior to a game I often used to listen to an excerpt from Al Pacino from the film Any Given Sunday. Very emotive and got me firing all cylinders for games. As far as pre-match meals go, pasta and chicken with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I guess that’s a bit of my Italian heritage coming out in me.
TNB:Â Favourite moment as a Lilywhite?
CN: I can’t just pick one moment. Walking out and playing the play off final at the Millennium Stadium in front of the PNE army. Beating the club record for number of clean sheets in a season (24).
TNB:Â Worst moment as a Lilywhite?
CN:Â Leaving the club the way I did. I heard a lot of stories in the press regarding this but the real events and what actually went on during that period were never reported.
TNB: What’s your proudest moment in football?
CN:Â I was very fortunate to have a lot of proud moments during my career. If I were to pick one it would be winning the play-off final with Crystal Palace at Wembley a year after playing there with Clitheroe in the FA Vase final. I was very proud of what I achieved in a relatively short space of time.
TNB:Â Biggest regret in football?
CN:Â Not getting an opportunity to play more games at the highest level.
TNB:Â The most gifted player you played with at Deepdale?
CN: We had a lot of gifted players during my time at Preston and it’s really difficult to just single one person out. I think we had a fantastic team, a forward line that could cause any team problems, a midfield that worked hard and could create opportunities and a defence that was absolutely rock solid and was a pleasure to direct and work with.
TNB: And the most gifted you played with OR against in your career?
CN:Â There is one player above all that stands out for me and unfortunately, he was against me. Thierry Henry. He had everything in his locker.
TNB:Â Do you keep contact with any of the lads from your time at the club?
CN: There are ex-Lilywhites who I would say I speak to on a regular basis and they’re all defenders. Youl Mawene, Graham Alexander and Chris Lucketti. I have also worked with all three of them as a coach.
TNB: After two years, 94 appearances and a record 24 clean sheets in 04/05, you’d move to Wigan in mysterious circumstances. What went on?
CN: As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t particularly proud of the way I exited PNE and now with more experience, if I could have my time again, I would like to think I would approach it in a different manner. However, the real story was never published at the time and I guess that’s what happens when a player is in dispute with a football club.
It all really started before Christmas 2006. I was coming into the last six months of my contract and I knew I had a few clubs monitoring me. It has to be noted that at no time before or after this point there were no talks about a new contract at PNE. This prompted me to have a meeting with the manager at the time. Again, no approach about a contract extension so I asked the question: If a Premier League club comes in for me in the January window, what would you want for me?
He said he would speak to the chairman and come back to me. The reply was £500K. The January window opened and Fulham were the first club to make a bid but this got turned down straight away.
I again went in to see the manager to ask why and was told that the chairman now wanted £3 million for me. At this point I was happy to stay at PNE but still was not offered anything in the way of a contract. I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place as they didn’t want me to leave but was told that they couldn’t afford to keep me either. Where do I go with this?
I was 33-years-old, I had a chance to play Premier League football on a regular basis with Fulham on a three-year deal but I had no offer of contract at Preston? We played Colchester Utd (A) on 30 January 2007 and I stayed down after the game waiting to go for a medical at Fulham. I never got the call.
The chairman had firstly agreed a deal with Fulham, signed Wayne Henderson to replace me and then tried to get more money out of Fulham. The next week I went on loan to Wigan then ended up signing permanently in the summer of 2007.
TNB: You’d finally retire at Norwich in the 2014 season and go into coaching. What do you do today to keep food on the Nash dinner table?
CN: Since my playing days, I’ve transitioned into coaching goalkeepers, the next best thing to playing and love watching the GK’s I’ve coached go on to succeed. I started as head of goalkeeping at Oldham, spent four years at Salford City and almost two years at Port Vale.
I’m currently working with Accrington Stanley as interim GK coach while Andy Dibble recovers from knee surgery. I also have our private goalkeeping coaching business, Premier Goalkeeping Academy.
TNB: While researching, I read that you can speak French, German, Italian, Spanish and even Chinese after sharing room with Sun Jihai at City. Any other totally random facts about you, Carlo?
CN: Mandarin (Chinese) is so difficult! Italian is my second language but a random fact people don’t know about me is that I’ve performed in a band in front of 1000 people at Preston Guild Hall.
TNB: Thank you so much for taking these questions, is there anything you wish to say to the PNE faithful?
CN:Â Thank you for all your support during my time at Deepdale. We shared some amazing moments and times during my time there and you will always be a club I hold close to my heart. Thanks for the good times
