10 October: Tony Adams, Arsenal's captain
Tony Adams
«Mr Arsenal»
- Arsenal Fútbol Club 1983-2002 · 32 goals
Captain at twenty-one
He made his debut at seventeen and George Graham made him captain at twenty-one. He was the leader of one of the most famous defences in English football, the one that stepped up together and raised their arms for offside.
In 1989 Arsenal won the league in the last minute of the last game, at Anfield, with a Michael Thomas goal. Adams lifted that title and the one in 1991, with just one defeat all season.
1996
For years Adams drank heavily, something the English football of the time almost celebrated. In September 1996, a few weeks after captaining England at Euro 96, he admitted publicly that he was an alcoholic and was in treatment. Nobody of his standing had done that before.
He kept playing, better than ever. In 2000 he founded Sporting Chance, a clinic to help sportspeople with addictions that has since treated hundreds of footballers.
The goal against Everton
With Arsène Wenger in charge, Arsenal won the double in 1998. The title was sealed with a 4-0 win over Everton at Highbury and a goal from Adams himself: Steve Bould played a long ball over the top, he brought it down and lashed it in with his left, and celebrated standing still with his arms spread wide. In 2002 he won another double, his final season.
As a coach he had a brief spell in Spain: he took charge of Granada for the final stretch of 2016-17, with the team all but relegated, and did not win any of his games.
Another 47 internationally known footballers were born on this day. We do not list them for the sake of it: only those with a story to tell make it here.
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September14 ★
- 11 September: Ruud Gullit
- 1111 September: Franz Beckenbauer
- 1818 September: Ronaldo
- 2020 September: Henrik Larsson
- 2121 September: Sándor Kocsis
- 2222 September: Thiago Silva
- 2323 September: Quini
- 2424 September: Marco Tardelli
- 2525 September: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
- 2626 September: Michael Ballack
- 2727 September: Francesco Totti
- 2828 September: Javi Poves
- 2929 September: Andriy Shevchenko
- 3030 September: Frank Rijkaard
October10 ★
- 11 October: George Weah
- 22 October: Alisson Becker · Roberto Firmino
- 33 October: Zlatan Ibrahimović
- 44 October: Jorge Valdano
- 55 October: Kopa, Rial, Di Stéfano, Puskás and Gento
- 66 October: Bruce Grobbelaar
- 77 October: Diego Costa
- 88 October: Zvonimir Boban
- 99 October: Gheorghe Popescu
- 1010 October: Tony Adams
November
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