From the moment he watched Swansea City on Sky Sports, a love affair began.
For Tom Carroll, style wasn't a choice. It was a necessity.
To that end, the previous TV viewing made one particular phone call in the summer of 2014 explicitly easy to answer.
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"As soon as I knew there was interest, I wanted to go," Carroll told WalesOnline of the initial interest Swansea showed in him. "The few years before with Brendan (Rodgers) and (Michael) Laudrup, Swansea got that reputation of playing really good football. I remember every time they were on Sky, I thought 'they're playing the right way, that's a bit of me'.
"Even when I was at Spurs, I thought if I was to leave, you have in your mind what football you'd like to play and what team would suit you. Swansea always stood out from that perspective, so once that opportunity came up it was great."
The opportunity was swiftly grasped, and Carroll wasted no time in showcasing his talents after joining on loan from Tottenham as Garry Monk's outfit clinched eighth spot in the Premier League, their highest ever finish in the Premier League.
"It was a good squad with some great leaders," explained Carroll. "Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Wayne Routledge and Nathan Dyer, I felt like a bit of a young kid at the time.
"As a manager he (Monk) was good. It probably wasn't total Swansea like they're playing now or the way they got that reputation, but he wanted to put his stamp on things and you've got to leave people out and things like that, so it's tough. But we had some great games, we beat Arsenal 2-1 at home, we had good times."
Not even at the prime stage of his career, the central midfielder appeared destined to have an impact at the highest level, although it wasn't to be with parent club Tottenham.
After seeing his game-time with Spurs dwindle under Mauricio Pochettino, Carroll knew the time was right to seek a new project. And there were no regrets whatsoever.
"I had a few years left on my deal, I'd played quite a lot the year before, but the year after I wasn't getting much game-time," he said of his final stages in north London. "I'd made my mind up that it was the right time to go, I wanted to play week-in week-out.
"I still think it was the best choice I ever made."
The club he returned to was drastically different to the one he left little more than 18 months earlier. Now battling to avoid relegation under Paul Clement following the sacking of Bob Bradley, the Swans were a team on the slide following years of success and free-flowing football.
Carroll was undeterred. In fact, he was relishing the prospect of playing regularly again, regardless of Swansea's predicament.
"Swansea were in a difficult place and written off almost," he said of his second stint at the club. "They'd gone through a few managers, and I came in under Paul Clement, and Nigel Gibbs who I know well through Spurs.
"But I loved it. I wanted to play. I got thrown straight in, my first game we played Liverpool and beat them at Anfield. The big man Fernando (Llorente) with his head was incredible. I enjoyed it, we got some wins, the confidence grew and it was a really good group.
"Against bigger teams we were really well organised and we still had some quality when we got the ball back in certain areas. Again, it wasn't total soccer, but when you're down there, the manager probably couldn't have done any more and he got us out of trouble."
Wins over the likes of Crystal Palace, Southampton, Leicester City and Burnley in addition to that famous triumph over Liverpool galvanised the club, although, just as safety appeared on the horizon, a wretched run that saw Clement's troops collect just one point from 18 plunged the Swans back into the mire.
Enter Leon Britton. The club legend was thrust into the limelight against Stoke City having not played a single minute of action in almost four months - with Carroll netting moments after the Potters missed a penalty in a crucial 2-0 win.
"He was brilliant. He was an incredible player, if you had him on your team in possession you knew you'd be pretty good," Carroll said of his midfield partner. "He was getting on a bit at that time but his know-how and experience along with what he means to the fans and everything else, it definitely helped us."
Britton's impact was seismic as - with the midfielder back in the side - the Swans collected 13 of the 15 points on offer across the final five matches of the campaign to preserve their Premier League status with a game to spare.
It afforded Swansea the chance to take stock, although, the summer after the euphoria of a remarkable Premier League survival was one that ultimately proved costly in the following season.
Two particular sales were as damaging as many anticipated. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente, the dynamic duo who contributed 24 goals between them in the previous campaign, joined Everton and Tottenham respectively as Swansea left themselves with precious little time to find replacements.
"It was a really tough year," recalled Carroll. "We lost all of our goals, Fernando and Gylfi went. With the role they played the year before and how influential they were, it was a massive blow to us.
"They ended up doing well at both clubs they went to. I think if we kept hold of them, it's a different ball game. They were the two main boys.
"It was a bit of a nightmare situation, it got left last minute to hold out for more money which leaves you short trying to get people in. It works both ways."
The theme was similar to that of the 2016/17 campaign as, after a poor first half to the season, Swansea made a change in the dugout, with Carlos Carvalhal replacing Clement.
The Portuguese had great success early on, beating Watford in dramatic fashion in his first match at the helm before embarking on a five-game unbeaten run which included wins over Liverpool and Arsenal.
Once again though, a drop off left Swansea with work to do going into the final stages of the season. Only this time, there were no heroics.
Carvalhal's side failed to win any of their final nine fixtures of the campaign and lost the last five in succession as their seven-year stay in the top flight was ended in dismal fashion.
"Clement's CV, you knew you were going to get a really good coach and I knew Nigel from Tottenham and how good a coach he is," Carroll said, when asked of the two permanent managers in Swansea's fatal campaign.
"Carlos was more tactical but a bubbly guy and a big character. He got us organised with the three at the back, we picked up some results there and, the way that season ended, we only needed one more win in a long run of games, but it never came and it was heartbreaking.
"It was just a gutting spell. I think it was a fairly negative way of playing, but when you soak up a lot of pressure and get results it might encourage you to do it a bit more. Against the lesser teams or at home, you probably need to go out and get after them.
"Once you go on a run without a win there's more pressure on your shoulders. It was just a frustrating spell."
A fire sale followed as the likes of Lukasz Fabianski, Roque Mesa, Ki Sung-yueng, Kyle Bartley, Alfie Mawson, Federico Fernandez, Jordi Amat and Sam Clucas were all sold while Jordan Ayew, Andre Ayew and Borja Baston were loaned out and Britton and Angel Rangel were released.
As well as young guns such as Connor Roberts, Joe Rodon, Oli McBurnie and Daniel James performed in the Championship under Graham Potter, Carroll knew the drastic squad turnover was too much.
"We lost a lot," he said of the summer window. "It would have been nice to keep hold of a couple more because, I felt like, even with the young boys who did well in the younger age groups, if we had that better mix, it would have really helped. I feel like we let people go for next to nothing.
"When we went down, I thought 'let's push to go straight back up'. You don't just want to go into the Championship and become a mid-table team.
"Potter was a brilliant coach and was almost a little bit ahead of his time. It was just little things that we as players hadn't seen before. The boys really enjoyed his coaching."
Carroll played a fairly prominent role in the post-Premier League era, although he became plagued by a hip issue that simply would not go away.
After three months on the sidelines, a shock move to Aston Villa was on the table, and the midfielder joined Wilfried Bony and Jefferson Montero in leaving the Swans on deadline day in January 2019. However, his struggles worsened, with Carroll getting just 35 minutes of action at Villa Park.
"I'd been injured, I kept pinging my hip and I was just thinking 'I don't know what's going on here'," Carroll said of his injury woes. "We tried to get to the bottom of it, and the Villa thing came up, kind of out of nowhere.
"It was just a bit crazy really, but I remember my first session at Villa, I made a pass and my hip pinged. We had a game the next day and I was on the bench, I was almost embarrassed to tell them. Then in the warm-up, I had to clip a ball and I felt a tear in my hip again.
"I sat on the bench with a hot water bottle telling the doctor 'I'm in trouble here'. I was just gutted. I knew deep down I'd done my hip and I had to get an operation. That was a really tough spell for me."
The years that followed have proven deeply frustrating for the former England Under-21 international who was a bit part player under Steve Cooper before his unexpected departure in January 2020.
"I missed pre-season and then got back training. The boys were doing all right, I got back involved and he (Cooper) told me I was in his plans," recalled Carroll.
"But it got to transfer deadline day and I found out I had to go. I was gutted, and then Covid hit so I ended up missing another chunk before going to QPR.
"I was really happy in Swansea, but it wasn't meant to be. It's a lovely place to live, if you have a family it's perfect. The missus loved it there."
The midfielder made 24 appearances for Queens Park Rangers before leaving west London after the Hoops offered a new deal, despite the fact Carroll failed to feature after January 12.
A tough stint at Ipswich Town followed, and Carroll has now been out of the game for more than a year, although he has since been a regular at his former club Tottenham's plush Hotspur Way training complex as he bids to maintain his fitness.
"This year has probably been the hardest mentally that I've ever had to deal with," said the 30-year-old.
"I've been training at Spurs and then I was with a Championship club which I thought was going to happen, but it was a bit of a mess in the end and it didn't happen.
"Last year was tough at Ipswich, it's a big club but I just feel I should still have been in the Championship. QPR offered me a year but they messed my contract about so I said to leave it.
"I need to look at if I'm going to stay in England, if a team takes me in pre-season I'd back myself to show my quality. Hopefully something good will come up. I feel like I can still play at a high level. I still feel young, I feel good at the minute.
"So it's been a tough year out of the game, but hopefully I can find something to get me going again."
At just 30 years of age, Carroll still has time to make an impact in the game, and Swansea are never too far away from his thoughts.
The Hertfordshire-born star is a huge admirer of the Swans' current playing style, so much so that he delivered an emphatic verdict on head coach Russell Martin while stating he would be only too happy to have a role on the club's staff in the future should he opt to undertake the relevant coaching courses.
"For the second tier of English football, I feel like there should be a lot more teams wanting to play exciting football," he said of the Championship. "Burnley have done it this year and, Swansea are right up there. I still tune in to watch them.
"I fell in love with Swansea. I loved the place, the people and the staff. People like the kitmen, Mike Eames and Shaun Baggridge, they're top fellas. So I always look out for Swansea.
"I want to get back for a game soon and, even in the future, maybe if I do my coaching badges I'd love to get back there and be a part of something.
"When I watch it now I know it would definitely suit my style. Perhaps other than Burnley, they're playing the best stuff in the league. They probably want to get a couple more in and they can push on.
"Russell Martin is a massive asset to the club. Keeping hold of him will be key."
Being in the thick of what was ultimately Swansea's most turbulent spell since 2003 failed to dampen Carroll's love for the club and the city of Swansea. In fact, it probably strengthened it, such was the togetherness of those behind-the-scenes in such extreme adversity.
Despite viewing from afar these days, the love affair firmly remains.
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