Carroll, an occasional scorer in Newcastle United’s reserve team, signed his first professional contract with the club in July 2006. He made his first-team debut on 2 November 2006 at the age of 17 years and 300 days in a 1–0 UEFA Cup win over Palermo, coming on as a late substitute for Nolberto Solano. In doing so, he became the youngest ever player to represent Newcastle in Europe.

He made his FA Cup debut on 17 January 2007, appearing as substitute for the last ten minutes in the 5–1 home defeat by Birmingham City. On 25 February 2007, Carroll made his Premier League debut for Newcastle, coming on as a substitute in the 87th minute in the 1–0 defeat by Wigan Athletic, almost scoring in the process; only a good save from Wigan goalkeeper John Filan prevented him from scoring his first Newcastle goal.

In 2007, he was the recipient of the Wor Jackie Milburn Trophy, awarded every year to the rising star of North-East football, chosen from among Newcastle players.

On 29 July 2007, Carroll scored his first senior goal with a left-foot shot in a 2–0 win over Juventus in a friendly match. After the match, Carroll received praise from Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who tipped Carroll to have a big future.

On 14 August 2007, Carroll began a six-month loan with Preston North End, and made his debut for them in the League Cup against Morecambe on the same day. Carroll received his first red card of his professional career playing for Preston against Scunthorpe United on 18 September. He scored his first Championship goal, and his first English league goal, against Leicester City on 6 November.

On 11 September 2007, Carroll made his England under-19 debut against Belarus, scoring in the 4–0 victory. On 12 March 2009, Carroll was called up to the England under-20s for a match against Italy, but was withdrawn from the squad and replaced by Hal Robson-Kanu.

While on international duty with the England U-19s, Carroll and teammates Scott Sinclair and Ryan Bertrand were sent home from the squad after breaking a curfew on 14 October 2007 during preparation for a match against Romania U-19s.

Carroll has been involved in many off-the-pitch incidents in his career. On 14 September 2008, he was arrested by police in Newcastle, and later accepted a police caution.

Carroll made his first appearance for Newcastle in the 2008–09 season on 20 October, coming on as a substitute for Shola Ameobi at home to Manchester City. Carroll scored his first competitive goal for Newcastle on his first ever home start with a header against West Ham United in a 2–2 draw on 10 January 2009. He signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract on 12 March 2009, in theory keeping him at Newcastle until 2012.

Following Newcastle’s relegation, and the departures of first-team strikers, Michael Owen, Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins, Carroll was paired with Shola Ameobi in attack for Newcastle at the start of the new season. His first league goal in the Championship came on 16 September 2009 against Blackpool with a header. By 2010, Carroll was playing almost every match, in a new strike partnership with Peter Løvenkrands. This partnership accounted for more than half of the club’s goals in 2010. Carroll finished the season as Newcastle’s top scorer, with 19 goals in all competitions, 17 in the league.

Carroll received his first call up to the England under-21s on 5 August 2009. He made his debut on 11 August 2009 against the Netherlands, coming on as a second-half substitute. On his second cap with the under-21 team, on 9 October 2009 against Macedonia, he scored two goals and assisted another as England won 6–3.

On 7 December 2009, he was arrested in the aftermath of a nightclub fight, again in Newcastle, accused of smashing glass in a man’s face. He was charged with assault and in October 2010 he pleaded guilty to common assault and was fined £1,000. He was also ordered to pay £2,500 compensation.

Carroll was given squad number 9 for the 2010–11 season, a number with great significance for Newcastle United supporters, as it has been worn in the past for Newcastle by the likes of Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer. Carroll scored his first career hat-trick against Aston Villa in their 6–0 win in the Premier League on 22 August 2010. Carroll captained Newcastle for the first time on 3 October 2010 when he came on as a substitute for Kevin Nolan against Manchester City. In October 2010, Carroll signed a new five-year contract, on paper keeping him at the club until 2015. Carroll scored Newcastle’s third in a 3–1 victory over Liverpool at St James’ Park on 11 December 2010, with a low 25-yard drive.

Carroll’s performances for Newcastle United earned him a call-up to the England squad for the friendly against France on 17 November 2010. He passed a late fitness test to start the match. He scored his first senior goal for England, a low left-foot drive into the bottom corner, on 29 March 2011 in a friendly against Ghana which ended 1–1. On 15 May 2012, Carroll was included in the squad for UEFA Euro 2012. He opened the scoring for England with a powerful header in their second group match against Sweden, which England went on to win 3–2.

Carroll has been compared to Newcastle’s record goalscorer Alan Shearer, Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba and former Italy forward Christian Vieri. He has also been referred to as a classic centre forward, owing to his strength, powerful shot and excellent heading ability. Former Newcastle manager and Liverpool player Kevin Keegan stated “he is probably in the top three headers of a ball I have ever seen in football”. After Newcastle’s 2–0 victory at home to Blackpool in September 2010, in which Carroll scored the second goal and was instrumental in creating the first, Blackpool manager Ian Holloway described Carroll as “the best striker in the Premier League”. A strong and very physical centre-forward, Carroll is distinguished by his powerful aerial abilities, with former West Ham manager Slaven Bilić claiming that he is “the best in the world at heading a football”.

During training in March 2010, Carroll was allegedly involved in an altercation with teammate Steven Taylor, which left Taylor with a broken jaw. Carroll reportedly suffered a broken hand in the incident, and shortly afterwards he was photographed at a concert with bandages to both hands. Newcastle manager Chris Hughton, club representatives and both players then declined to comment any further on the incident and no charges were pressed.

On 18 October 2010, Carroll was charged with assault in an incident with his ex-girlfriend. Claiming self-defence, and having given a local hotel as his address, Carroll was granted bail on the condition that he resided with Newcasle’s then captain Kevin Nolan until the case resumed in January. The charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence. Two days following his bail, Carroll’s car was set on fire while parked on Nolan’s driveway, with the club captain’s garage door also being daubed with obscenities.

On 31 January 2011, Liverpool put in a bid of £30 million for Carroll, which was rejected. Newcastle then accepted a bid of £35 million and, following the agreement of personal terms and a medical, the transfer was completed shortly before the 11:00 pm deadline.

Carroll finally made his Liverpool debut as a substitute in the 3–1 win against Manchester United on 6 March 2011. On 10 March, he appeared in his first European match for Liverpool in a 1–0 loss at Braga in the UEFA Europa League, appearing as a substitute after half-time. In the return leg a week later, he made his first Liverpool start, although the match finished 0–0, leading to Liverpool going out of the competition losing 1–0 on aggregate. On 20 March, he made his first Premier League start for Liverpool at the Stadium of Light in a 2–0 victory against Sunderland. On 11 April, Carroll scored his first goals for Liverpool in a 3–0 victory against Manchester City at Anfield, scoring his first with a long-range strike and his second with a header. He played several more times that season, but did not score any more goals.

On 24 August 2011, he scored his first goal of the new season with a 20-yard drive against Exeter City to make the score 3–0 in the second round of the League Cup. On 1 October 2011, he scored his first league goal of the 2011–12 season during a 2–0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park. His third goal of the season came in a 2–0 win away at West Bromwich Albion. He scored his first goal of 2012 in a 5–1 third-round FA Cup victory against Oldham Athletic. He would go on to create the Dirk Kuyt goal that would secure victory in the 88th minute over Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 28 January, before marking the first anniversary of his signing with Liverpool with his fifth goal of the season in a 3–0 victory away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 31 January. He later scored, and set up teammate Luis Suárez, during Liverpool’s 6–1 thrashing of Brighton & Hove Albion in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Following England’s 1–1 draw with Ghana on 29 March 2011, England manager Fabio Capello told Carroll to curtail his drinking habits. Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish responded by saying, “Well he’s never bought me a drink. I’ve been with him at Boyzone concerts and he’s still never bought me a drink!”

On 30 August 2012, it was agreed that Carroll would spend the 2012–13 season on loan to fellow Premier League club West Ham United, who were newly promoted to the division at the time. Liverpool initially wanted a £17 million option for a permanent transfer written into the loan deal, but dropped the demand to facilitate the deal, and West Ham ultimately paid a £2 million loan arrangement fee and also all of Carroll’s £80,000-a-week Liverpool wages.

Carroll made his debut on 1 September, setting-up two goals in a 3–0 home win against Fulham. He scored his first goal on 25 November 2012 in a 3–1 away defeat against Tottenham Hotspur. After making his first start since November due to injury, Carroll scored the only goal in a home win against Swansea City on 2 February 2013. Carroll ended the loan spell with seven goals in 24 appearances.

In an interview in April 2012, Carroll admitted that he had gained a reputation for drinking and socialising during his time at Newcastle, but that since joining Liverpool in January 2011 he had “settled down” and changed his lifestyle.

On 21 May 2013, West Ham and Liverpool agreed a fee of around £15 million to make the loan move permanent, pending Carroll agreeing to the move, and then to personal terms. Carroll signed a six-year contract with West Ham on 19 June 2013 for a then club record transfer fee of £15 million.

Carroll started the 2013–14 season injured with a heel problem picked up in the final match of the previous season. He made his first appearance of the season on 12 January 2014, as a substitute in the 72nd minute of a 2–0 victory over Cardiff, assisting Mark Noble for West Ham’s second goal. On 31 March, he was named man of the match by Sky Sports for his performance in a 2–1 win against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in which he scored one and assisted the other of the Hammers’ goals. Carroll ended the 2013–14 Premier League season with two goals from 18 appearances.

During a pre-season tour of New Zealand, Carroll sustained an ankle ligament injury which prevented him from appearing during West Ham’s first eleven Premier League matches. Carroll returned to the team on 8 November 2014, coming on as a substitute for Mark Noble in a 0–0 home draw with Aston Villa.

On 7 December 2014, he scored his first two goals of the season against Swansea in a 3–1 home win; these were also his first goals scored at Upton Park since March 2013. On 20 December, Carroll scored the 50th league goal of his career in West Ham’s 2–0 defeat of Leicester. From December 2014 to January 2015, he went on a run of five goals in eight league appearances.

Born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, Carroll attended Brighton Avenue Primary School and Joseph Swan School. He is a model for clothing retail company H&M and has fronted a campaign led by fashion designer Alexander Wang. In November 2014, Carroll became engaged to reality TV star Billi Mucklow. The couple live in Essex. Their son, Arlo, was born in June 2015. He has two children, Emilie Rose and Lucas, from a previous relationship. In November 2017, Mucklow and Carroll had a second child, Wolf Nine.

On 11 February 2015, Carroll was substituted in the second half of a 0–0 draw against Southampton with a tear in his medial ligament on the side of his knee. Two days later, West Ham’s website announced Carroll was set to have surgery the following week and that he expected to miss the remainder of the 2014–15 season. He did not play again after February and made only 14 league appearances in the 2014–15 season, scoring five goals; three against Swansea City and one each against Hull City and Leicester.

Carroll returned to the first team on 14 September 2015, making his first appearance of the season as an 88th-minute substitute for Victor Moses in a 2–0 home win against his former club, Newcastle.

On 2 January 2016, Carroll started for West Ham against his former club Liverpool, in a 2–0 victory with Carroll scoring again from a header following a cross from Mark Noble. This was the first time Carroll had scored in consecutive matches in nearly 12 months, and was his first goal against Liverpool since leaving the club in 2013. On 9 April, Carroll scored his first hat-trick with West Ham, in a 3–3 draw against Arsenal. On 20 April, Carroll scored in his third consecutive Premier League match for the first time in his career as West Ham beat Watford 3–1 at the Boleyn Ground.

In November 2016, Carroll was approached by two men on motorcycles while driving near his home in Brentwood, Essex. Armed with a handgun, they attempted to steal his £22,000 watch but failed. Carroll was then chased in his car for about 20 minutes as he drove back to West Ham’s training ground in Rush Green to get help from security staff. In September 2017, 22-year-old Jack O’Brien was found guilty of the attempted robbery. He was sentenced to six years in prison for the offence.

On 3 December, he returned to action, scoring as a 73rd-minute substitute in a 1–5 home loss against Arsenal. On 14 January 2017, Carroll scored what he admitted to be “the best goal I’ve scored” with a bicycle kick in a 3–0 win against Crystal Palace at London Stadium. The goal was named Goal of the Month for January by the Premier League on 10 February.

Carroll played only 14 games in the 2018–19 season, scoring just the one goal in the FA Cup, before being ruled out in April 2019 for the remainder of the season following ankle surgery. He was released by West Ham at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Carroll re-signed for Premier League club Newcastle United on 8 August 2019, signing a one-year contract. He made his return debut on 21 September as a substitute for Jetro Willems in the 82nd minute of a 0–0 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. In June 2020, Carroll agreed a one-year extension to his contract.

In May 2019, Carroll was listed as the 14th-wealthiest sports person aged 30 or under in The Sunday Times Rich List, his personal wealth having increased to £19m.