Adam Mohamad El-Abd ( ar, آدم العبد; born 11 September 1984) is a retired professional footballer who plays as a defender. El-Abd made over 500 first team appearances in his professional career and also played for the Egypt national team.

Early and personal life

Born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

, to an Egyptian father and a British mother, El-Abd holds dual-nationality. His older brother

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

played professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and is a coach at

Castres Olympique Castres Olympique () is a French rugby union club located in the Occitanian city of Castres and is currently competing in the top level of the French league system. Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906. They play at the Sta ...

. His younger brother Sami was an apprentice at Brighton, before moving into

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

, Hayes & Yeading United,

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originally ...

Bognor Regis Town Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks',the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently compe ...

, Dorking Wanderers and

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Club career

Brighton & Hove Albion

El-Abd joined

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

's youth department when he was nine and was granted a scholarship there at 16. He signed his first professional contract of two-and-a-half years at the age of 19. He made his full league début for the club in the 2–1 win at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

in November 2003. He was then a regular in the first team squad, playing either in defence at right-back or centre-half, or in a more defensive midfield role. During the game at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

on 18 March 2008, El-Abd was stretchered off with

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint in humans and other primates. Its primary function is to resist out ...

damage and ruled out for the remainder of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. In June 2008, El-Abd signed a new two-year deal with Brighton. He won the Seagulls Player of the Season award for their

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

winning 2010–11 campaign. El-Abd hit the milestone of 250 league appearances for Brighton on 7 March 2012, named Man of the Match in a 2–2 draw with Cardiff City. El-Abd made his 300th and final league appearance for the Seagulls coming on as a 90th-minute substitute against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 11 January 2014.

Bristol City

On 16 January 2014, El-Abd transferred to

club

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

for an undisclosed fee. Rarely used at Bristol City, he spent time out on loan at

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

, and Gillingham.

Shrewsbury Town

After his contract at Bristol City expired, he moved to

club

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

on a free transfer in July 2016, signing a two-year contract, where he immediately became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in place of the departed

Nathaniel Knight-Percival Nathaniel Lawrence Knight-Percival (born 31 March 1987) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defender (association football), defender for Kidderminster Harriers F.C., Kidderminster Harriers. He started his ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home victory against

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

on 20 August, but was sent off in a 2–1 defeat at former club

three weeks later. After the departure of Shrewsbury manager

Micky Mellon Michael Joseph Mellon (born 18 March 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Tranmere Rovers. As a player, he was a midfielder for clubs including Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion, Blackpool, Tr ...

, El Abd scored a "30 yard half-volley" in a 1–1 draw away at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

on 29 October, to hand new boss

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, ba ...

a point in his first match in charge. El-Abd left the club at the end of June 2017 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

Wycombe Wanderers

On 3 July 2017, El-Abd signed a two-year contract with

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. In May 2018 he extended his contract for a further year, to the end of the 2019–20 season. El-Abd left Wycombe on 2 September 2019 by mutual consent.

Stevenage

He signed for

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

on 6 September 2019, but was released by the Hertfordshire side at the end of the 2019–20 season having made just 4 appearances in all competitions.

Whitehawk

El-Abd joined

on 5 August 2020, firstly as player-assistant manager, then as a player and assistant U18 coach for the 2021–22 season, before leaving at the end of the season.

Worthing

On 8 June 2022, El-Abd joined newly promoted

National League South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

, linking up with former Brighton teammate

Adam Hinshelwood Adam Hinshelwood (born 8 January 1984) is an English football manager and former player who manages Worthing. Playing career Brighton & Hove Albion Hinshelwood was born in Oxford and joined Brighton & Hove Albion as a trainee. He turned pr ...

, now Worthing manager.

International career

El-Abd stated in a 2005 interview with ''EgyptianPlayers.com'' that he intended to play for the

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

national side if he got the call. On 15 May 2012, and for the first time, Egypt national team coach

Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of Toronto FC. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton University, Bradley coached in the American college game and Maj ...

included El-Abd in the squad for friendly games against

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, and also against

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

in a FIFA World Cup Qualifier.

Career statistics

''Footnotes'' :a. appearances in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

. ''Bognor Regis Town statistics unavailable''

Honours

Brighton & Hove Albion *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Individual * Brighton & Hove Albion Player of the Season: 2010–11

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abd, Adam 1984 births Living people Footballers from Brighton English men's footballers Egyptian men's footballers Egypt men's international footballers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Bognor Regis Town F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Bury F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Whitehawk F.C. players Worthing F.C. players English Football League players Isthmian League players English people of Egyptian descent Men's association football defenders