Thomas Ian McAdam (born 9 April 1954) is a Scottish former footballer who played for a number of British clubs, spending around half of his career with Celtic. He began as a forward but was later converted to a defender, where he played for the majority of his career.

Tom McAdam
Personal information
Full name Thomas Ian McAdam[1]
Date of birth (1954-04-09) 9 April 1954 (age 70)[1]
Place of birth Glasgow,[1] Scotland
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre forward / Central defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1975 Dumbarton 77 (30)
1975–1977 Dundee United 61 (21)
1977–1986 Celtic 261 (37)
1986 Stockport County 5 (1)
1986 Hamilton Academical 3 (0)
1986–1989 Motherwell 99 (3)
1989–1991 Airdrieonians 24 (1)
Total 530 (93)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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McAdam began his career as a striker with Dumbarton in the early 1970s. He joined Dundee Utd in October 1975 for a fee of £37,000[3] and made his debut for the club on 1 November 1975 in a home league fixture against St Johnstone, scoring twice in a 3–1 win.[3][4] Over the next two years, McAdam scored 24 goals in 74 appearances.[3]

Jock Stein signed McAdam for Celtic in September 1977 for a fee of £60,000.[5] He initially struggled to hold down a regular place in the team, and was often on the substitutes bench.[6] Stein's successor as manager, Billy McNeill, played McAdam in central defence in the final league match of season 1978–79, against Rangers; McAdam played well and helped Celtic win 4–2 to clinch the league title.[6] The positional move was a success and McAdam eventually played over 350 games for Celtic before leaving on a free transfer in 1986. McAdam won three league titles, a Scottish Cup[7] and a League Cup[8] in his time at Parkhead.

McAdam then had short spells at Stockport County and Hamilton Accies,[9] before signing for Motherwell.[10] He spent three years at Fir Park before moving to Airdrie in November 1989,[11] where he finished his playing career.

After retirement, McAdam returned to Celtic for a spell during the 1990s as reserve coach.[12]

McAdam's elder brother Colin was also a professional footballer, who played for Celtic's biggest rivals Rangers at the same time as Tom was with Celtic;[13] they played against each other in Old Firm matches eight times.[14] They both started at Dumbarton and played there alongside each other,[15] and both later signed for Motherwell but at different times.

Honours

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Celtic

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Tom McAdam". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  2. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. ^ a b c "Tom McAdam - Player Statistics (The Arab Archive - Dundee United Historical Archive)". The Arab Archive. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Dundee United 3-1 St Johnstone, Nov 1st 1975, Tannadice Park". The Arab Archive. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  5. ^ Broadfoot, Darryl (6 September 1997). "Where are they now Tom McAdam: still busy". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  6. ^ a b Spiers, Graham (24 August 2013). "The battling McAdam brothers". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  7. ^ "Celtic 2 - 1 Dundee United, Scottish Cup (18/05/1985)".
  8. ^ "Celtic 2 - 1 Rangers, League Cup (04/12/1982)".
  9. ^ "Tom McAdam". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  10. ^ Michael Gannon (8 June 2013). "Motherwell boss Stuart McCall can build new team despite loss of stars this summer, says Steve Kirk". Daily Record. Glasgow. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  11. ^ "McAdam at Airdrie". The Herald. Glasgow. 16 November 1989. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  12. ^ "The Bhoy in the Picture : Tom McAdam". Celtic Underground. 8 May 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  13. ^ Rangers player McAdam, Colin, FitbaStats
  14. ^ Sibling Rivalry – The McAdams: Spanning The Great Glasgow Divide, Beyond the Last Man, 11 November 2019
  15. ^ Squad & Statistics: 1974/75, The Sons Archive
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