carver began his career at his hometown club rotherham united and after establishing himself in the squad he was signed by jimmy scoular, then manager of cardiff city for a fee of £11,000 in january 1966. he made his debut in a 1–1 draw with bury and eventually formed a strong full back partnership alongside gary bell. his only league goal for the club came on 17 october 1970 during a 2–2 draw with leicester city. after spending six years at cardiff he was loaned out for a short period at swansea city before being allowed to leave and join hereford united in 1973, where he spent one year before finishing his playing career at doncaster rovers.