Tony Alexander Adams,
MBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 10 October 1966 in
RomfordRomford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
,
EssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
football
managerIn sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
and former player.
Adams spent his
entire playing careerA one-club man is a term used to describe a football player who has played his entire professional career with only one club. In the strictest definition, one-club men are rare in football due to the effects of the promotion and relegation systems used by most professional leagues...
of 22 years as a
defenderWithin the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
at
ArsenalArsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the
Football League 100 LegendsThe Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Premier season of League football...
. With Arsenal, he won four top flight division titles, three
FA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
s, two
Football League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
s, a
UEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
, and three
FA Community ShieldThe Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
s.
When his playing career finished Adams went into football management, spending periods in charge of
Wycombe WanderersWycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...
,
PortsmouthPortsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
and
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
side Gabala.
Club career
Adams grew up in
DagenhamDagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...
and was a pupil at Hunters Hall Primary School from 1971 to 1978 and then
Eastbrook Comprehensive SchoolEastbrook Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Barking and Dagenham, London. In 2009 the school was named as one of the most improved secondary schools in London with 39% of the students achieving the GCSE target. This success was repeated in 2010 with 41% achieving this threshold measure....
from 1978 to 1983.
Adams signed for Arsenal as a schoolboy in 1980. He made his first team début on 5 November 1983 against
SunderlandSunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
in the
First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
, four weeks after his 17th birthday. Adams became a regular player in the
1985–86 seasonThe 1985–86 season was the 106th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :The championship crown went to Liverpool for the 16th time in their history at the end of their first season under the management of Kenny Dalglish, but they had to fight off some very stiff competition to...
, winning his first major trophy in 1987 when playing in the
Football League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
Final win over
LiverpoolLiverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
at Wembley.
Together with
Lee DixonLee Michael Dixon is a former English professional footballer born in Manchester.He formed part of the Arsenal defence from the late 1980s, through till 2002. He was capped 22 times for England, scoring once....
,
Nigel WinterburnNigel Winterburn is a retired English footballer who played at left-back for Arsenal. He is best known for his role alongside Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Lee Dixon, forming a celebrated defensive line in the Premier League and European football during the 1990s.-Early career:Winterburn was born...
and
Steve BouldStephen Andrew Bould is an English former football player and current coach. He played professionally for Stoke City, Torquay United, Arsenal and Sunderland.-Stoke City:...
, Adams was part of the "famous four" that lined up in Arsenal's defence, which under
George GrahamGeorge Graham is a Scottish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success at Arsenal, as a player in the 1970s and then as manager from 1986 until 1995.-Early life:...
was renowned for its well-disciplined use of the offside trap. On 1 January 1988, he became Arsenal captain at the age of 21; he would remain 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 CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
in
1986–87The 1986–87 season was the 107th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :The First Division championship went to Everton in their final season under the management of Howard Kendall before his departure to Athletic Bilbao. His side overcame a spate of injuries to fight off...
and then the
First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
championship twice; the first in
1988–89The 1988–89 season was the 109th season of competitive football in England.-Hillsborough disaster:On 15 April, a crowd crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough killed 94 people and injured more than 300. A 95th Liverpool supporter died in hospital...
after a
winThe final match of the 1988–89 English Football League season was contested on 26 May 1989, between Liverpool and Arsenal, at Liverpool's Anfield ground. By sheer coincidence, it was the match between the top two teams in the First Division and the teams were close enough on points for the match to...
over
LiverpoolLiverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
in the final game of the season against
LiverpoolLiverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
; the second in
1990–91The 1990–91 season was the 111th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :Arsenal won the league. Runners-up spot was achieved by Liverpool, who had led the table for much of the first half of the season but had been shell-shocked in February by the sudden resignation of manager...
, losing once all season.
In
1992–93The 1992–1993 season was the 113th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:This season saw the birth of the FA Premier League. This meant a break-up of the 104-year-old Football League that had operated until then with four divisions....
Adams gained the distinction of being the captain of the first English side to win the League Cup and
FA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
double, lifting the European Cup Winners' Cup the following year.
Despite this success, a battle with
alcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, which started in the mid-1980s, increasingly blighted his life as he was reportedly often involved in fights in
nightclubA nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s. On 6 May 1990, Adams crashed his
Ford SierraThe Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
into a wall near his house in
Southend-on-SeaSouthend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
, and when breathalysed he was found to be more than 27 times over the legal drink-drive limit. On 19 December that year, at Southend
Crown CourtThe Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
, he was imprisoned for four months (being freed after half of his sentence on 15 February 1991) but after being released, his alcoholism continued and he was involved in further alcohol-related incidents, including playing through a match during the
1993–94 seasonThe 1993-1994 season was the 114th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:From the start of this season, the FA Premier League would be sponsored by Carling Breweries - an association which would last for eight years...
despite being drunk, falling down stairs and needing 29 stitches to a head wound when drunk, and letting off fire extinguishers and firing a flare gun into a disabled lavatory with team-mate
Ray ParlourRaymond "Ray" Parlour , is a retired English footballer. He spent his career playing for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Hull City. During his Arsenal career he was nicknamed "The Romford Pelé"; although the nickname was given with an ironic sense of humour, on account of his solid performance but...
at
Pizza HutPizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
in
HornchurchHornchurch is a large suburban town in England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Hornchurch is in North-East London .It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping...
,
EssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
where they were being taunted by supporters of rival clubs.
Finally, on 14 September 1996, Adams admitted to the public that he was an alcoholic and, after seeking treatment, found a more sensitive side to his character emerging, which included a return to education and an attempt to learn the
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. He became one of the most high-profile recovering alcoholics in the UK; his battle with alcohol is detailed in his
autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
,
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 WengerArsène Wenger, OBE is a French association football manager and former player, who has managed English Premier League side Arsenal since 1996...
as Arsenal manager in October 1996. Wenger reformed the club's
dietaryIn nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are the habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what foods to eat. With the word diet, it is often implied the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management...
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's career by several years. Adams rewarded his manager's understanding handsomely, captaining the club to two
PremiershipThe Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
and FA Cup
DoublesThe Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...
, in
1997–98The 1997-1998 season was the 118th season of competitive football in England.-Premier League:Arsenal overhauled Manchester United's lead during the final weeks of the season to win the Premiership title...
and
2001–02The 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...
; he is the only player in English football history to have captained a title-winning team in three different decades.
In August 2002, just before the start of the
2002–03The 2002-03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.-Most Memorable rise:*Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.-Most Memorable...
season, Adams retired from professional football after a career spanning almost 20 years, his last match being the last league game of the season at home to
EvertonEverton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
(the 2002
FA Cup FinalThe FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most...
was unusually played
before the last league fixtures). He played 668 matches for Arsenal (only
David O'LearyDavid Anthony O'Leary is an Irish football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United and later he managed Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai...
has played more) and was the most successful captain in the club's history. The number 6 shirt that Adams wore when playing was not used again until the
2006–07 seasonThe 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...
, when it was assigned to
Philippe SenderosPhilippe Sylvain Senderos - is a Swiss footballer who plays as a defender for Fulham and the Switzerland national football team. Previously he has played for Servette, Arsenal, A.C...
.
Just before his retirement as a player, Adams had applied to become manager of
BrentfordBrentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
(who had just missed out on promotion to Division One) after the resignation of
Steve CoppellStephen James "Steve" Coppell is an English former footballer and manager, currently without a club.As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and represented England at the World Cup...
, but his application was rejected.
Nicknamed "Mr Arsenal", he was honoured by Arsenal with a testimonial game against
CelticCeltic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
in May 2002 with many Arsenal legends playing, including
Ian WrightIan Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major...
,
John LukicJovan "John" Lukic is an English former football goalkeeper who was a member of Football League championship sides with two different clubs and played at the highest level of English football in four separate decades.-Childhood and early life:Lukic was born in Chesterfield to Yugoslavian parents;...
and Adams's fellow back four stalwarts, Dixon, Winterburn and Bould. The game finished 1–1 with Lee Dixon, in his final appearance for the Gunners, getting their goal.
In March 2003, just seven months after his retirement and with Arsenal
BBC SportBBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...
named Adams as the former Arsenal player that the club would most benefit from returning.
In 2004, Adams was inducted into the
English Football Hall of FameThe English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become...
in recognition of his impact on the English game, and in 2008 he was placed third in the 50 Greatest Gunners poll on the club's website.
International career
Adams made his debut for
EnglandThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
against
SpainThe Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
in 1987, and played in
Euro 88The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany. West Germany won the right to host the tournament with five votes ahead of a joint bid from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who gained 1 vote, and a bid from England. It was the eighth European Football...
, scoring one of England's two goals. 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 CupThe 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
squad by manager
Bobby RobsonSir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE was an English footballer and manager, who coached seven European clubs and the England national team during his career....
, and missed
Euro 92The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Eight national teams contested the championship, which was won by Denmark, one of...
due to injury. However, he still maintained a regular place in defence, and after the retirement of
Gary LinekerGary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
in 1992, Adams unofficially shared the captaincy of England with David Platt, though Adams became England captain outright before
Euro 96The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by England, who won the right to host the tournament ahead of bids from Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands. It was the tenth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first to use the...
, as Platt's place in the side became less secure. England reached the semi-finals of Euro 96, before losing on
penaltiesA penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...
to
GermanyThe Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
.
When England manager
Glenn HoddleGlenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....
took the Captain's armband from Adams and gave it to
Alan ShearerAlan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...
it was a bitter pill for Adams to swallow. Speaking at a fans' forum in 2008 Adams remarked "I have some resentment over the way Glenn Hoddle gave the captaincy to Alan Shearer instead of me but I can let that go. I reacted positively. I disagreed with him [Hoddle] and he thought Alan could get more penalties being a centre forward. People know my reaction to that".
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
GermanyThe Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
in October 2000, the match being the last to be staged at Wembley Stadium before the stadium was torn down for rebuilding. That match was Adams's 60th Wembley appearance, a record. With
Sven-Göran ErikssonSven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
eventually taking the helm and under increasing pressure for his place from the emerging and improving
Rio FerdinandRio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
, Adams retired from international football before Eriksson picked his first squad. He was the last England player to score at the old Wembley Stadium when he scored England's second goal in a 2–0 friendly win over Ukraine on 31 May 2000. This was also his first goal since he scored in a friendly against Saudi Arabia in November 1988, thus making the record for the longest gap between goals for England.
In total Adams appeared 66 times for England, scoring 5 times.
Managerial and coaching career
After starting a
sports scienceSport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance...
degree at
Brunel UniversityBrunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
, Adams became the manager of
Wycombe WanderersWycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...
in November 2003. He was unable to prevent the club's relegation to
League TwoFootball League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
that season, and although the club were top of the table in August 2004, a loss of form saw them fall down the table. He resigned from Wycombe in November 2004, citing personal reasons. He was succeeded by
John GormanJohn Gorman is a Scottish former football player and coach. He is currently Assistant Manager at MK Dons in the English League One....
.
In July 2005, Adams accepted a trainee coaching role with
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
side
FeyenoordFeyenoord is a Dutch professional football club located in Rotterdam. Along with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord is one of the "big three" clubs in the Netherlands. These three clubs and Utrecht and Roda JC are the only clubs never to have been relegated from the Dutch first division...
with special responsibility for its Jong team, which is a reserve/junior side. Adams later had a short spell seconded to Utrecht as a first team trainee coach in January and February 2006. While at Feyenoord he also worked part-time as a scout for Arsenal, watching games in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France, and the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Adams joined
PortsmouthPortsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
as assistant manager to
Harry RedknappHenry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
in June 2006, a position left vacant by the departure of
Kevin BondKevin John Bond is an English football manager and former player. He is the son of John Bond, also a former footballer. He is currently employed as assistant manager at Tottenham Hotspur.-Playing career:...
. In his first season as assistant, Portsmouth finished ninth in the Premier League – their highest standing since the 1950s and won the 2007–08
FA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
. Adams was appointed caretaker manager of Portsmouth in October 2008, alongside
Joe JordanJoseph "Joe" Jordan is a Scottish football coach and former player and manager. He is currently first team coach for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, under manager Harry Redknapp....
, following the departure of
Harry RedknappHenry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
to Tottenham Hotspur. He was subsequently appointed full-time manager. He was sacked in February 2009 after just 16 games in charge in which Portsmouth picked up only 10 points.
In May 2010, Adams signed a three-year contract to manage
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
i club Gabala FC of the
Azerbaijan Premier League-Attendance:- Records :Players in the Premier League compete for the Azerbaijan Premier League Golden Boot, awarded to the top scorer at the end of each season. Nazim Aliyev is the league's all-time top scorer with 183 goals, including 39 in the 1992 season.During the 1995–96 season he became the...
. A surprising decision which Adams justified as a unique opportunity to start from zero to build a successful football club. However, he departed as coach of Gabala due to family reasons on 16 November 2011, before the end of the
2011–12 seasonThe 2011–12 Azerbaijan Premier League will be the twentieth season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992...
.
Charitable work
In September 2000, as a result of his own experiences with
alcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
and drug addiction, Adams founded the
Sporting Chance ClinicThe Sporting Chance Clinic is a registered British based charity, first set up by former Arsenal and England football captain Tony Adams to provide a specialist addiction and recovery facility for sportsmen and women....
, a charitable foundation aimed at providing treatment, counselling and support for sports men and women suffering from drink, drug or gambling addictions. The clinic, which works to the twelve-step programme philosophy of
Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
is based near
LiphookLiphook is a large village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.1 miles west of Haslemere, on the A3 road, and lies on the Hampshire/West Sussex border.Liphook has its own railway station, on the Portsmouth Direct Line....
in
HampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
and includes
Kate HoeyCatharine Letitia Hoey is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Vauxhall since 1989. She served in the Blair Government as Minister for Sport from 1999 to 2001.-Background:...
, Alex Rae and
Elton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
as patrons, and is supported by the Professional Footballers Association. Adams's former Arsenal and England team mate
Paul MersonPaul Charles Merson is a retired English football player, and former player-manager of Walsall. His playing career has included spells at Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Portsmouth and finishing his playing career at Tamworth. He also played for England 21 times...
, himself a recovering alcoholic, is also a patron of the charity.
His Arsenal testimonial match helped raise
£The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
500,000 for his charity, the
Sporting Chance ClinicThe Sporting Chance Clinic is a registered British based charity, first set up by former Arsenal and England football captain Tony Adams to provide a specialist addiction and recovery facility for sportsmen and women....
.
Honours
Arsenal
Winner:
- First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
/Premier League: 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02
- FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
: 1992–93The 1993 FA Cup Final was contested by Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. The original match, played on 15 May 1993 finished 1–1, with Arsenal winning the replay on 20 May; 2–1 after extra-time....
, 1997–98The 1998 FA Cup Final was contested by Arsenal and Newcastle United at Wembley. Arsenal won 2–0, with goals by Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka to complete their second league and cup double....
, 2001–02The 2002 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 2001–02 FA Cup competition. It was an all-London affair between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Millennium Stadium on 4 May 2002...
- Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
: 1986–87The 1987 Littlewoods Cup Final was a football match played on 5 April 1987 between Arsenal and Liverpool. The match, played in front of 96,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium, was won by Arsenal 2–1. Ian Rush opened the scoring for Liverpool, before Charlie Nicholas equalised, turning in a...
, 1992–93The 1993 Coca Cola Cup Final took place on 18 April 1993 at Wembley Stadium, and was played between Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday. Arsenal won 2–1 in normal time, in what was the first of three Wembley finals between the two sides that season; Arsenal and Wednesday also met in the FA Cup...
- FA Community Shield
The Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
: 1991The Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
(shared), 1998The 1998 FA Charity Shield was the 76th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. The match was played contested by Arsenal, who won the league and cup Double the previous season, and Manchester United,...
, 1999The 1999 FA Charity Shield was a football match held on 1 August 1999 at Wembley Stadium. The teams involved were Manchester United, who had won the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League the previous season, and Arsenal, who had finished as runners-up to United in the league. Arsenal won...
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
: 1993–94
Runner-up:
- Premier League: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000-01
- FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
: 2000–01
- Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
: 1987–88The 1988 Littlewoods Cup Final,took place at Wembley Stadium on 24 April 1988, and was contested between Luton Town and Arsenal. Luton won the match, thanks to goals from Danny Wilson and Brian Stein . Goals from Alan Smith and Martin Hayes had seen Arsenal lead 2-1 before a late comeback from Luton...
- FA Community Shield
The Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
: 1989The 1989 FA Charity Shield was the 67th Charity Shield, a football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Football League and FA Cup competitions...
, 1993The 1993 FA Charity Shield was the 71st FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. The match was played on 7 August 1993 at Wembley Stadium and contested by Manchester United, who had won the 1992–93...
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
: 1994–95
- UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
: 1999–2000The 2000 UEFA Cup Final was a football match contested between Galatasaray of Turkey and Arsenal of England on 17 May 2000 at Parken in Copenhagen...
- UEFA Super Cup: 1994
Individual
- PFA Young Player of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football...
: 1987
- PFA Team of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the top four tiers of English football; the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two, whom are seen to be deserving of being named in a "Team of the Year".The award...
: 1994, 1996, 1997
- Overall Team of the Decade – Premier League 10 Seasons Awards
The Premier League 10 Seasons Awards were a set of English football awards which marked the first 10 years of competition in the Premier League, the top-level domestic league competition of professional football in England...
(1992/3 – 2001/2)
- Member in The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (2004)
Player
| Season |
Club |
Division |
League |
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
|
League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
|
Europe |
Other |
Total |
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1983–84 -Overview:The 1983–1984 season was the 84th completed season of The Football League.- First Division:Liverpool had a great first season under the management of Joe Fagan as they wrapped up their third successive league title and the 15th in their history. They overcame strong competition from...
|
ArsenalArsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
|
First Division The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
| 1984–85 -Overview:The 1984–1985 season was the 85th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Howard Kendall’s Everton side beat neighbours Liverpool to the league championship, while Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United followed closely behind...
|
16 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
| 1985–86 -Overview:The 1985–1986 season was the 86th completed season of the The Football League.-Final league tables and results :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at the website, with home and away statistics separated.Re-election: During the first five seasons...
|
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
| 1986–87 -Overview:The 1986–1987 season was the 87th completed season of the The Football League.-Innovations for this season:Playoffs to determine promotion places were introduced in 1987 so that more clubs remained eligible for promotion closer to the end of the season, and at the same time to aid in the...
|
42 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
55 |
6 |
| 1987–88 The 1987–1988 season was the 88th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool won the league title with a comfortable nine-point margin and just two defeats all season...
|
39 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
51 |
2 |
| 1988–89 The 1988–1989 season was the 89th completed season of the Football League.No European qualification took place due to the Heysel Stadium disaster suspension in place....
|
36 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
43 |
4 |
| 1989–90 The 1989–1990 season was the 90th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :Liverpool overhauled a greatly improved Aston Villa side to win their 18th league championship trophy and their fifth major trophy in as many seasons under Kenny Dalglish’s management. To date, this remains...
|
38 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
46 |
5 |
| 1990–91 The 1990–1991 season was the 91st completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Arsenal took their second league title in three seasons despite a season during which it often looked as though the good points would be outnumbered by the bad points...
|
30 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
37 |
4 |
| 1991–92 The 1991–1992 season was the 92nd completed season of The Football League.- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of players like Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David...
|
35 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
44 |
2 |
1992–93The 1992–93 FA Premier League was the first season of the Premier League, the top division of English football. The league was made up of the 22 clubs that broke away from The Football League at the end of the 1991–92 season. The new league was backed up by a five-year, £305 million deal with...
|
Premier League |
35 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
52 |
2 |
| 1993–94 -New league sponsors:From the start of the 1993-94 season, the FA Premier League was sponsored by Carling Breweries.-Promoted teams:Newcastle United and West Ham were promoted to the Premier League from the First Division as champions and runners-up respectively. The last promotion place was won by...
|
35 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
50 |
0 |
1994–95-Promoted teams:Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest were promoted from the Football League First Division as winners and runners-up respectively. Leicester City won the 1993-94 playoff.-Controversial incidents:...
|
27 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
10 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
44 |
4 |
| 1995–96 -Promoted teams:Due to the decision to reduce the number of clubs in the Premier League from 22 to 20, only two clubs were promoted this season: Middlesbrough as Football League First Division champions, and Bolton Wanderers who won the 1994-95 playoff.-Transfers:...
|
21 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
3 |
| 1996–97 The 1996–97 FA Premier League season was the fifth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool...
|
28 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
35 |
3 |
| 1997–98 The FA Premier League 1997-98 season saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991, and also become only the second team to win the 'double' of the FA Cup and league title twice...
|
26 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
3 |
| 1998–99 The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...
|
26 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
36 |
2 |
| 1999–2000 |
21 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
33 |
1 |
| 2000–01 The FA Premier League 2000-01 season was the third season running which ended with Manchester United as champions and Arsenal as runners-up. Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league titles, although three teams had achieved that feat in the past - but with...
|
26 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
38 |
2 |
| 2001–02 The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...
|
10 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
1 |
| Total |
504 | 32 | 54 | 8 | 60 | 5 | 48 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 672 | 48 |
International goals
| Num | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 |
11 November 1987 |
Stadion Crvena ZvezdaThe Red Star Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Belgrade, Serbia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Red Star Belgrade. The stadium is all-seated and the capacity is 51,328. It was opened in 1963 after construction which had started three years...
, BelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, SFR YugoslaviaThe Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
|
|
4–1 |
Win |
Euro 1988 qualifying |
| 2 |
23 March 1988 |
Wembley Stadium, LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England |
|
2–2 |
Draw |
Friendly An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
|
| 3 |
18 June 1988 |
Waldstadion The Commerzbank-Arena is a sports stadium in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. Commonly known by its original name, Waldstadion , the stadium opened in 1925. The stadium has been upgraded several times since then; the most recent remodelling was its redevelopment as a football-only stadium in preparation...
, FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, West GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
|
|
1–3 |
Loss |
Euro 1988 |
| 4 |
16 November 1988 |
King Fahd International Stadium, RiyadhRiyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, Saudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
|
|
1–1 |
Draw |
Friendly An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
|
| 5 |
31 May 2000 |
Wembley Stadium, LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England |
|
2–0 |
Win |
Friendly An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
|
Manager
| Team |
Nat |
From |
To |
Record |
| G | W | D | L | Win % |
Wycombe WanderersWycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...
|
 |
5 November 2003 |
9 November 2004 |
53 |
12 |
21 |
20 |
22.64 |
PortsmouthPortsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
1 |
|
26 October 2008 |
8 February 2009 |
22 |
4 |
7 |
11 |
|
| Gabala |
 |
11 May 2010 |
16 November 2011 |
37 |
15 |
14 |
8 |
|
| Total | 112 | 31 | 42 | 39 | |
1 Adams first game as manager of Portsmouth (a 1–1 draw with
FulhamFulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
) was in the role of joint caretaker manager alongside
Joe JordanJoseph "Joe" Jordan is a Scottish football coach and former player and manager. He is currently first team coach for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, under manager Harry Redknapp....
, and prior to his appointment as full manager of the club.
In popular culture
In the 1997 motion picture
The Full MontyThe Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...
, Horse (played by
Paul BarberPaul Barber is an actor from Liverpool. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he is best known for playing Denzil in Only Fools and Horses and Horse in The Full Monty.- Early life :...
) specifically mentions Adams while attempting to explain that a particular part in their dance routine was similar to the "Arsenal offside trap."
In the debut album
Rock Art and the X-Ray Style-Personnel:* Joe Strummer - lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mixing* Antony Genn - synthesizer, guitar, piano, bass, strings, beats, backup vocals, programming, mixing, producer* Richard Norris - keyboards, E-Bow, drum programming, producer...
by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, the opening track is named 'Tony Adams'.
Adams remains a popular figure with Arsenal fans. In December 2008, more than six years after he left the club, Adams led out his Portsmouth side onto the pitch at Arsenal to be greeted with the chant "There's only one Tony Adams" by Arsenal fans.
On 30 December 2009 Adams was the guest editor on
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's
Today programme.
"Ali in the Jungle" a song by the English rock band
The HoursThe Hours can refer to:* The Hours , by Francesco Bartolozzi, based on a painting by Maria Cosway* The Hours , by Michael Cunningham...
, refers to him in its lyrics.
In the series of books "Cherub", protagonist James Adams changes his last name in honour of the Arsenal legend in order to maintain an undercover identity.
External links