Adams, Tony

Adams is a graduate of the Arsenal Academy . In 1980, he signed a school contract with the Gunners. On November 5, 1983, he made his debut in the England Championship in a match against Sunderland . Two years later, Adams became the player of the base, making an impressive tandem with Arsenal veteran David O'Leary . In the 1986/87 season, Arsenal won its first Adams trophy by beating Liverpool in the League Cup final.

On January 1, 1988, at the age of 21, he received a captain's armband from Kenny Sansome , thus becoming the youngest captain in the history of Arsenal ^[1] . Adams broke up with her only after completing his football career in 2002.

Later, he became a key link in the famous four defenders of Arsenal, consisting of Dixon , Bould (he was eventually replaced by Keeoun ), Winterburn and Adams. The defense of the gunners at that time was distinguished by high discipline, coherence of actions, and skillful use of artificial offside. It became the basis by which Arsenal became the champion of the country in the 1988/89 and 1990/91 season (this season the "Gunners" suffered only one defeat for the entire championship). But in the next few years in the championship at the "Arsenal" little worked. Although the defense played at its previous level, the midfield and the attack of Londoners did not correspond to the champion level. Nevertheless, the "Gunners" remained a formidable force in cup competitions. In the 1992/93 season, Adams led the team to victory simultaneously in the League Cup and the FA Cup . A year later, Tony won his first European trophy - the Cup Winners' Cup .

The appearance in 1996 of Arsene Wenger had no effect on the composition of the defense and the status of Adams in the team, while the midfield and the attack underwent major changes. As a result, Arsenal once again became one of the strongest teams in the country. In the 1997/98 and 2001/02 season, Adams won the doubles . The championship in 2002 allowed Adams to become the owner of a unique achievement: he was the captain of the team that became the champion of England in three decades.

In May 2002, Adams held his farewell match in an Arsenal T-shirt. Friendly match with Celtic ended with the score 1: 1.

In 2004, Adams was included in the English Football Hall of Fame .

Adams made his debut for the national team in 1987 in a match against Spain . He took part in the Euro 88 and scored one of two goals against England in this tournament.

However, then in the career of Adams for the team began a difficult period. Bobby Robson unexpectedly did not take him to the 1990 World Cup . Before the 1992 European Championships, he was injured and had to miss him. But by this time he had already become a major player in the national team. After the departure of Lineker, Tony became vice-captain of the team. And in 1996, Adams actually became the captain, as Platt lost his place in the first team. This year, England reached the semifinals of the European Championship , losing to Germany in penalties.

After Glenn Hoddle became the national team coach, he was expected to appoint Adams as team captain. However, he decided to appoint Alan Shearer captain, which caused a negative reaction from Adams.

In 1998, Adams finally played at the World Championships . England left the group, but lost in the 1/8 finals of the Argentina national team on penalties.

The latest international tournament Adams became Euro 2000 . England on him appeared very dull team, Adams had a series of inexpressive matches, critics called him to leave the team. On August 24, Shearer announced the completion of his international career, and Adams became captain of the national team. However, in January 2001, Adams himself decided to leave the main team of the country. Tony was the last player of the England team, who scored on the old Wembley , it happened on May 31, 2000 in a friendly match against Ukraine . In total, Adams played at Wembley in sixty games, which is a record.

After receiving a degree in sports science at Brunel University, in November 2003, Adams became the coach of Wycombe Wanderers . According to the results of the 2003/04 season, his club took the last place in the third strength division (second division of the Football League) and flew out of it. In November 2004, Adams decided to leave, explaining this to personal reasons ^[2] .

In June 2006, Adams was promoted to assistant head coach at Portsmouth . After the departure of Redknapp in October 2008, Tony became the head coach of the team. However, he only worked until February 2009. The loss of key players, the unstable financial situation led to the fact that Portsmouth was at the bottom of the standings and the threat of departure from the Premier League hung over him, so the management decided to send Adams to resign.

On May 11, 2010, Tony Adams headed the Gabala club from Azerbaijan, signing a three-year contract. In November 2011, he left the team for family reasons ^[3] .

After a 6-year break in his coaching career, which Adams filled with the work of a sports director in China, in April 2017 he headed Granada , which occupied 19th place in the Spanish championship.

Addiction to drinking began at Adams back in the 80s. He was not the only Arsenal player who had similar problems: one of the Arsenal matches at Highbury even posted a Drunk Guards poster featuring Adams, Dixon, Kioun and Bould.

One day, Tony Adams fell drunk on the sidewalk. As a result of the fall, he received a concussion and a lacerated wound on the back of his head. To sew it, it took 30 seams.

In 1991, Adams spent 4 months behind bars for drunk driving. In 1996, he admitted that he had serious problems with drinking and was an alcoholic . Then he was going to finish his career as a football player, but he was dissuaded by convincing him to sign up for anonymous alcoholics . As a result, he managed to overcome his addiction. Not the last role in this was played by Arsene Wenger, who made significant adjustments to the training regimes and the nutrition of football players. After all, one of the reasons why Adams abused alcohol was that he was often forced to play through pain with unhealed injuries.

In May 1998, his book Addiction was published. In it, the football player told about how at the age of 20 he began to suffer from alcoholism.

In September 2000, Adams opened a rehabilitation center for athletes with alcohol, drug addiction and addiction to gambling. The center was built with Adams money and several anonymous sponsors.

• Champion of England (4) : 1988/89 , 1990/91 , 1997/98 , 2001/02
• Winner of the FA Cup (3) : 1993, 1998, 2002
• Football League Cup Winner (2) : 1987, 1993
• Cup Winners' Cup Winner : 1993/94
• Winner of the Supercup of England (3) : 1991, 1998 , 1999

Personal

• PFA Young Player of the Year : 1987
• Included in the symbolic team of the Championship of England (3) : 1994, 1996, 1997
• Member of the Order of the British Empire