Jamie Carragher once gave his honest opinion on whether England or Liverpool meant more to him

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The club versus country debate in football has been raging on for years, especially in Liverpool.Fans of the club have always been engaged in the debate, given the city’s very strong cultural identity and the love and pride the people of the city have for their club over the country.But it still splits the country, whether one takes precedence over another, and Jamie Carragher is one of those who had strong views on the subject.The Scouser has been a Liverpool fan ever since joining the club in 1988 as a youth and went on to have a successful career, winning the Champions League and other accolades with the Merseyside club.His love and admiration for the club that gave him his start are evident in that he has only ever played for Liverpool in his career.This was also backed up by his recent accolade from Athletic Club, who awarded him the One Club Man award in 2025.Photo by Michael Regan/Getty ImagesJamie Carragher said Liverpool are more important than EnglandCarragher has always held the club in high regard over anything else, even switching from being an Everton fan as a teenager because he did not want to impact his future position at the club.His England career was not as successful as his at Liverpool, with 38 caps for his national side, and he represented the country for three tournaments, including two World Cups.In March 2020, the Euros were supposed to take place in the summer, but were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Carragher was asked by Geoff Shreeves about whether it was more important to represent your club or country.READ MORE: Jamie Carragher says Liverpool had two players who were even better than Luis Suarez technicallySpeaking on the Sky Sports clip, the former Reds defender said: “I would not say I think about it a lot but I actually think from possibly a Liverpool point of view I think Liverpool have a few players and that I think the position Liverpool in the league and maybe still in the Champions League, City as well, I don’t think they should be thinking about it.“I never thought about England at all, really, to be honest, but I mean going into the tournament, I wouldn’t be thinking now England or looking after myself.“I used to listen to other people in the press, and they would be talking about the World Cup months before and I used to find it strange. I find it disrespectful to the clubs they were playing at.“I always thought, I mean, the biggest thing that used to wind me up was the fact that when Sven-Göran Eriksson became England manager, he did a tour of the country.

I remember, he was in different stadiums, he was getting clapped in him, and Tord Grip people knew where he was going to be before the game.“You would have players in the press saying Sven’s coming, I want to impress, but I’m like, no, impress your own manager. Make sure you are in your team next week.

It was all this thing, and maybe that’s why I didn’t have a good England career.“My England career was average really, I’m proud of what I did, but I could have done more, I think, really, if I look back at it, and maybe it was because I wasn’t like the be-all and end-all England. Club was much more important to me no doubt about that.”Jamie Carragher said there was only one thing supporters thought about international dutyCarragher believed that there was a North vs South divide, with many of the players from London or down South more excited to play for their country than those in the North.But how supporters in Liverpool felt about international breaks and duties on both the Red and Blue sides of the city, the Scouser felt they all shared one feeling in common.In the interview with Shreeves, he said: “Certainly, supporters growing up of this club (Everton) or Liverpool, when your players went on international duty, you did not want them to play well, you just did not want them to get injured.“That is all you thought about.”It may be a feeling shared by some but not by others, but Carragher’s view is interesting given his perspective as a player who experienced this exact situation.