Tony Adams

1983–1989: Early career and Anfield title

Adams signed for Arsenal as a schoolboy in 1980, and made his first-team debut on 5 November 1983 against Sunderland, aged 17. He accidentally put his shorts on back-to-front before the match. Then, with virtually his first touch of the ball during the game, he gave it away, leading to Sunderland's opening goal. He put the ball into the opponents' net, but the goal was disallowed. Adams became a regular player in the 1986–87 season, winning his first major trophy that season when playing in the Football League Cup Final win over Liverpool at Wembley. On 1 January 1988, he became Arsenal captain at the age of 21, remaining as club captain for the next 14 years until his retirement. Adams's strong discipline of the defence was considered a factor in Arsenal winning the League Cup in 1986–87 and then the First Division championship twice; the first in 1988–89 after a win over Liverpool in the final game of the season; the second in 1990–91, losing once all season.

1989–1996: Arsenal's famous back four

Together with Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn and Steve Bould, Adams was part of the "famous back four" that lined up in Arsenal's defence, which, under George Graham, was renowned for its well-disciplined use of the offside trap. These four remained formidable for over a decade. Arsenal notably conceded just 18 goals during their title-winning 1990–91 league season, and the four players amassed over 2,000 appearances for the…

Adams made his debut for England against Spain in 1987, and played in UEFA Euro 1988 in West Germany. England lost all three games, but Adams scored in a 3–1 defeat to the Soviet Union. He was the first player to represent England who had been born after the 1966 World Cup win. After a highly promising start to his international career, Adams suffered a series of setbacks during the early 1990s. He was surprisingly left out of the 1990 FIFA World Cup squad by manager Bobby Robson, missed UEFA Euro 1992 due to injury, whilst England failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. England reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 1996 as the host nation, before losing on penalties to Germany. Adams appeared at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Later that year, he made headlines for several statements in his autobiography Addicted, criticising manager Glenn Hoddle for his management of David Beckham and Paul Gascoigne, and for making Alan Shearer captain instead of Adams; he also called Gascoigne an alcoholic, which was denied by the player's representatives. Hoddle told the press that he had no problems with Adams's opinions from the book. His international swansong was England's unsuccessful UEFA Euro 2000 campaign in Belgium and the Netherlands. Adams started England's opening game against Portugal but suffered an injury during the match and missed the rest of the tournament. With Shearer retiring from international football after the tournament, Adams regained the captaincy.…

Described as a "stopper" (or man–marking defender) by Tom Sheen of The Guardian in 2014, Adams played as a centre-back. A tall, brave, rugged, physical, and committed defender, his main traits were his leadership, aerial prowess, and his ability to read the game and time his tackles. While initially he was not known to be the most gifted player on the ball from a technical standpoint, he developed this aspect of his game under Wenger, and he later excelled as a ball-playing centre-back, in which he became known for his ability to carry the ball out from the back, as well as his penchant for undertaking individual runs. However, he was also known for his lack of pace.

Born in Romford, Greater London, Adams grew up in Dagenham and was a pupil at Hunters Hall Primary School from 1971 to 1978 and then Eastbrook Comprehensive School from 1978 to 1983. His cousin is fellow professional footballer Steve MacKenzie.