79 Facts About Mickey Adams

Michael Richard Adams was born on 8 November 1961 and is an English former professional footballer and football manager.

Mickey Adams began his managerial career as player-manager for Fulham in 1996 and has led several teams at varying levels with mixed success, being named Manager of the Season twice, dismissed a number of times and earning four promotions for the teams he has managed.

Mickey Adams turned professional at the Third Division team Gillingham in 1979, where he established himself in the first team, winning a move in 1983 to Coventry City who were in the First Division.

Mickey Adams spent four years at Coventry before being sold on to Leeds United in 1987.

Mickey Adams was bought by Southampton for £250,000 in 1989, where he enjoyed five years of top-flight football.

Related searches

Mickey Adams was loaned out to Stoke City in 1994, before he signed with Fulham later in the year.

Mickey Adams was sacked after the club were relegated at the end of the season.

Mickey Adams joined Nottingham Forest as assistant manager, taking charge for one Premier League game in a caretaker capacity.

Mickey Adams then moved to Leicester City as an assistant, before finally being named as the club's manager in April 2002.

Mickey Adams took charge at former club Coventry City in January 2005, though lost his job in January 2007.

Mickey Adams returned to Brighton in May 2008, though his second spell in charge would only last nine months.

Mickey Adams was appointed as manager of Port Vale in June 2009, before he departed for Sheffield United in December 2010.

Mickey Adams failed to prevent United being relegated into League One, and was sacked in May 2011; this enabled him to return to Port Vale as manager.

Mickey Adams resigned as Vale manager in September 2014, and took charge at Tranmere Rovers the following month.

Mickey Adams left Tranmere with the club bottom of the Football League in April 2015.

Mickey Adams was appointed manager of Irish side Sligo Rovers for a three-month spell starting in August 2015.

Mickey Adams has been married twice and has four daughters and one son.

Mickey Adams was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, and was an associate schoolboy with Sheffield United from the age of twelve, where his boyhood idol was Tony Currie.

Mickey Adams was a favourite of manager Jimmy Sirrel, though Adams was released from the youth set-up a few months after Harry Haslam replaced Sirrel as manager in September 1977.

Mickey Adams went on to sign as a professional at Gillingham in November 1979.

Mickey Adams struggled with injury during his time at Highfield Road, and was never popular with the fans.

Mickey Adams retained his place for the next seven games, before losing out to Gerry Forrest for the last few matches of the season.

Once he had overcome the niggling injuries of his first two seasons at The Dell, Mickey Adams' consistency began to ensure that the left-back position was more or less his own, with his energetic forays along the touchline helping to give the side an extra cutting edge.

Mickey Adams was sent off for dissent on 19 August 1992 against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, during the second game of the season.

Mickey Adams featured in 19 out of 42 league games that season as Southampton finished 18th and narrowly avoided relegation.

Related searches

Mickey Adams never played under Ball and was loaned out to Stoke City in March 1994 until the end of the season.

Mickey Adams scored three goals in ten games for the "Potters", but did not join the club on a permanent basis as the management staff refused to allow him to help out as a coach at the club's academy.

Mickey Adams signed with the club on the understanding that Branfoot would teach him the ropes of coaching.

When Branfoot became general manager in March 1996, Mickey Adams was appointed player-manager of a Fulham side on course for their lowest ever finish – 17th in Division Three.

Mickey Adams built his side on free transfers and small fees, installing belief and self-confidence in the players at his disposal rather than spending big money.

Shortly after his dismissal from Fulham, Mickey Adams made a quick return to management with Swansea City in Division Three, but left after thirteen days and three matches in charge.

Mickey Adams claimed that the money he had been promised to strengthen the team had not been forthcoming.

Bassett was dismissed in January 1999 and so Mickey Adams took charge as caretaker manager for a single Premiership match, before Ron Atkinson was appointed as Bassett's replacement.

Mickey Adams's first full season as manager was a matter of consolidation as the club finished a respectable 11th, whilst Adams signed talent such as star striker Bobby Zamora.

Mickey Adams was named as Third Division Manager of the season for a second time, picking up the Third Division Manager of the Month award in September 2000.

Mickey Adams was clear about his ambitions at managing at a higher level, stating his disappointment at not being offered the management positions at either Southampton or West Ham United in the summer of 2001.

In October 2001 Mickey Adams left Brighton to become assistant manager to Dave Bassett at Leicester City.

Mickey Adams chose the move in an attempt to get closer to his dream of managing a Premiership club.

Mickey Adams spent six months working under Bassett, during which time Leicester were almost permanently stuck to the bottom of the Premier League table.

The next month, just before relegation was confirmed, Mickey Adams was promoted to the manager's seat while Bassett became Director of Football.

Mickey Adams said: "I'm not expecting to produce a miracle, I'm still working with the same group of players".

Mickey Adams has gone into clubs with little or no money to spend and shown he is not afraid of taking on tough jobs.

Mickey Adams was in charge for the first game at the Walkers Stadium.

Mickey Adams was clearly resentful of lucrative long-term contracts dealt out to his less talented players by previous managers, which restricted his ability to bring in fresh faces to boost their campaign.

Mickey Adams had previously initiated a crackdown in club discipline, going so far as to enforce random breathalyser tests.

Related searches

Mickey Adams said that "in a lot of people's eyes, the players are guilty before they have had a fair trial – which is not the case".

Mickey Adams did in fact offer his resignation, which was rejected by the club.

Mickey Adams's faith was later vindicated when it transpired that all allegations against the players were false.

Mickey Adams had previously stated his concern that they would be unable to regain their top tier status before he resigned as Leicester manager in October 2004, after a poor start to the Championship campaign dashed the club's hopes of an instant return to the Premiership.

In January 2005, Mickey Adams made a return to management in the Championship with struggling Coventry City, a club he had been at during his playing career.

Mickey Adams's team started well, however midway through the campaign, following a run of five games without defeat, Coventry suddenly and unexpectedly hit a bad run of form.

Mickey Adams stated that he intended to return to management as soon as possible.

In July 2007, Mickey Adams was appointed by Colchester United as assistant manager to Geraint Williams, replacing Mick Harford who had left the previous month.

Mickey Adams subsequently left this role in January 2008, stating that he wanted to return to management.

Mickey Adams brought in former Wales international Robbie Savage and future Premier League midfielder Bradley Johnson in on loan.

On 2 February 2009, he spent £150,000 on defender Jimmy McNulty and signed striker Craig Davies for an undisclosed fee; however 19 days later Mickey Adams left the club by "mutual consent", due to poor team performances.

Mickey Adams later acknowledged that it had been a mistake to return to Brighton, and that he should have instead sought a fresh opportunity elsewhere.

Mickey Adams was announced as manager of Port Vale in June 2009, having been a late applicant for the post vacated by Dean Glover.

Mickey Adams led the Vale to victory over Championship sides Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday in the opening rounds of the League Cup.

Three wins – including a League Trophy win over League One Stockport County and a league win at local rivals Crewe Alexandra – and three draws within four weeks saw Mickey Adams nominated for the League Two Manager of the Month award for October 2009.

In December 2010, following Gary Speed's departure from the job as manager of Sheffield United for the position as the head coach of Wales, Mickey Adams was one of a handful of names linked to the vacant position at his boyhood club Sheffield United.

Mickey Adams and United parted company after a meeting with owner Kevin McCabe.

Mickey Adams signed the contract within days, saying it was time to "finish the job I started".

Mickey Adams followed this by tying Gary Roberts to the club for another season, and signing Walsall centre-half Clayton McDonald, left-back Mike Green, and Sheffield United teenagers Kingsley James and Phil Roe.

Mickey Adams did though manage to sign Chris Shuker and Paul Marshall on non-contract terms.

Related searches

Mickey Adams would have signed Chris Birchall, however before the deal was finalised the Football League placed the club under a transfer embargo after a tax bill went unpaid.

Mickey Adams duly signed midfielder Darren Murphy and winger Jennison Myrie-Williams from Stevenage, Colchester United attacker Ashley Vincent, Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Chris Neal, Crewe Alexandra centre-back David Artell, and former Wales international Richard Duffy.

Mickey Adams was named as Manager of the Month in September 2012, after his side beat Tranmere Rovers in the League Trophy and claimed 13 of a possible 18 points in the league to take the administration-hit club to second in the league.

In preparation for League One football, Mickey Adams signed winger Kaid Mohamed to replace the departing Ashley Vincent.

Mickey Adams signed defenders Chris Robertson and Carl Dickinson, midfielders Chris Lines and Anthony Griffith, and forward Gavin Tomlin.

Defeat to local rivals Crewe Alexandra marked the club's fifth consecutive loss, and after the game Mickey Adams accepted that his position would be under threat if results did not turn around quickly.

In October 2014, Mickey Adams was appointed manager of Tranmere Rovers, who at the time were bottom of the Football League.

On 4 August 2015, Mickey Adams was appointed manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Sligo Rovers, taking over from interim managers Joseph N'Do and Gavin Dykes; he was charged with keeping the side in the Premier Division and performing well in the cup.

Mickey Adams was seen as an 'old-school' manager due to his emphasis on fitness – with particularly gruelling pre-season running sessions – and straightforward tactics, expecting his players to outrun and out-battle the opposition.

Mickey Adams's mother was a cook and his father was a steelworker; he grew up with two sisters and one brother; his brother suffers from cerebral palsy.

Mickey Adams has three daughters from his first marriage; the marriage broke down during his time at Fulham, due in part to the amount of time he was putting into his football career.

Mickey Adams later married Claire, with whom he had son Mitchel, born 2001, and daughter Madison, born 2004.

Mickey Adams made an appearance on BBC Radio Leicester's version of Desert Island Discs in August 2004, and chose songs from Nat King Cole, Billy Joel, The Style Council, and INXS.

Mickey Adams released his autobiography, Micky Adams – My Life In Football in September 2017.