Tony Alexander Adams MBE, (born
October 10,
1966)
is an English
football player and manager. He spent his
entire playing career (22 years) at
Arsenal, and is one of the club's greatest players of all time.
Adams was born in
Romford in
the
London Borough of Havering and joined Arsenal as a schoolboy in
1980. He made his
first team debut in
1983 at the age of 17 against
Sunderland. Under
George Graham, Adams became the lynchpin at the centre of Arsenal's defence,
renowned for its well disciplined use of the
offside trap, and was a crucial contributor to the club's success in the
late 1980s and
early 1990s. On
January 1,
1988, he became
Arsenal's youngest ever captain at the age of 21; he would remain club captain
for the next 14 years.
Adams won the
League Cup
in 1987, and
followed that by lifting the
First Division trophy in
1989 and again in
1991. He also won a
League Cup and FA
Cup "double" in
1993 and the
European Cup Winners' Cup the year after. He also made his mark on the
international stage; he made his debut for
England against
Spain in 1987, and played in
Euro 88.
However, at the same time his life was increasingly blighted with alcohol
problems. He was reportedly often involved in fights in
night clubs
and was fined for driving in a drunken state several times. In
1990 he was
imprisoned for
three months after being caught
drink-driving.
Adams' international career suffered a couple of setbacks after such early
promise; he was surprisingly left out of the
1990 World Cup squad by manager
Bobby
Robson, and missed
Euro 92 due to injury. However, he still maintained a regular place in
defence, and after the retirement of
Gary
Lineker in 1992,
Adams unofficially shared the captaincy of England with
David
Platt, though Adams got the job outright before
Euro 96, as Platt's place in the side became less sure. England reached the
semi-finals of Euro 96, before losing on
penalties to
Germany.
Following Euro 96, Adams admitted that he was an
alcoholic,
and after seeking treatment, sought to reinvent himself and find a more
sensitive side to his character, which included a return to education and an
attempt to learn the
piano. He is one of the most high-profile
recovering alcoholics in the UK - his battle with alcohol is heavily
detailed in his
autobiography, Addicted, which was released in
May 1998 to enormous
critical acclaim.
His recovery and rehabilitation were helped in no small part by the arrival
of
Arsène Wenger as Arsenal manager in September 1996, who reformed the club's
dietary practices
and the players' lifestyles. Wenger stuck by Adams following his confessions
about his drink problem, and the improvements in the regime probably extended
Adams' career by several years. Adams rewarded his manager's understanding
handsomely, captaining the club to two
Premiership and FA Cup
Doubles,
in 1998 and
2002; he is the
only player in English football history to have captained a League-winning team
in three different decades.
Meanwhile, England manager
Glenn
Hoddle had given
Alan
Shearer the captain's armband in
1996, a decision
which surprised and angered Adams and left many England fans puzzled. Adams
continued to play for the national side, however and he finally appeared in a
World Cup finals in
1998. His international swansong was England's largely unsuccessful
Euro 2000 campaign. With
Shearer
retiring from international football after the tournament, Adams regained the
captaincy. However, within months , England lost a World Cup qualifier to
Germany in October 2000, the match being the last to be staged at
Wembley Stadium before the stadium being torn down for rebuilding. Manager
Kevin
Keegan resigned and caretaker manager
Peter Taylor, with a view on the future, leaving out almost all the players
over the age of 30 in the friendly against
Italy in November 2000 , the captaincy was handed to
David
Beckham for that game as Adams was left out. With the new manager
Sven-Göran Eriksson looking increasing likely to hand the captaincy to
David
Beckham and Adams under increasing pressure for his place from the emerging
and improving
Rio
Ferdinand, Adams retired from international football before
Eriksson picked his first squad, his last game being the ill fated game
against
Germany that saw
Keegan
resign.
After his second Double win in
2002, Adams retired
from professional football altogether. He played 668 matches for Arsenal (only
David
O'Leary has played more) and was the most successful captain in the club's
history. No Arsenal player since has worn the number 6 shirt that Adams wore
when playing, although the club have not formally retired the number. He is
nicknamed "Mr. Arsenal".
After starting a
sports science degree at
Brunel University, Adams became the manager of
Wycombe Wanderers in
2003. He resigned
from Wycombe in
November 2004, citing personal reasons.
On 7th July 2005,
Adams accepted a trainee coaching role with Dutch side
Feyenoord with special responsibility for its Jonge team, which is a hybrid
reserve/junior side.
