Thomas Ian McAdam (born 9 April 1954) is a Scottish former
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
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.
Playing career
McAdam began his career as a striker with
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
in the early 1970s. He joined Dundee Utd in October 1975 for a fee of £37,000 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. Over the next two years, McAdam scored 24 goals in 74 appearances.
Jock Stein
John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...
signed McAdam for Celtic in September 1977 for a fee of £60,000. He initially struggled to hold down a regular place in the team, and was often on the substitutes bench. Stein's successor as manager,
Billy McNeill
William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish football player and manager. He had a long association with Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained Celtic's 'Lisbon Lio ...
, 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. 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 and a League Cup in his time at
Parkhead
Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...
.
McAdam then had short spells at
Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...
and
Hamilton Accies
Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...
, before signing for Motherwell. He spent three years at
Fir Park
Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. M ...
before moving to Airdrie in November 1989, where he finished his playing career.
After retirement, McAdam returned to Celtic for a spell during the 1990s as reserve coach.
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; they played against each other in
Old Firm
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
matches eight times. They both started at Dumbarton and played there alongside each other,Squad & Statistics: 1974/75 The Sons Archive and both later signed for Motherwell but at different times.
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1984–85
*
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
List of footballers in Scotland by number of league appearances
The following is a list of footballers who have made at least 500 domestic league appearances in Scottish league football. This includes the appearances and goals of players, in the Scottish Professional Football League, or its predecessor competi ...