He felt confident he was on a fast track to success with the Baggies who were then flying high in the English Championship under manager Tony Mowbray. In his first season at the Hawthorns, Carlin made an immediate impact for the reserves, moving up to third-choice goalkeeper at the club. At 16, he made the decision to join Albion where he quickly learned the ropes by training with the first team under the coaching tutelage of goalkeeping legend Joe Corrigan. After trials at Chelsea, Charlton Athletic and Manchester City, he was persuaded to make a choice between Leicester City and West Brom for a better chance of gaining more playing time and moving up through the system. He was in the one percent of footballers who were able to get away from Ireland to England and land a professional contract. Prior to that, Carlin was one of the lucky ones. When Gavin Carlin, a promising young goalkeeper for West Bromwich Albion and the Republic of Ireland U-17 team, made the long journey to southern Turkey to prepare for the U17 UEFA European Championship in 2008, little did he know that his life would be turned upside down after he picked up an unfortunate injury on a rocky pitch.
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