Charles Graham Adam (born 10 December 1985) is a Scottish former professional

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, rugb ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Adam started his senior career with Rangers. He spent much of his early senior career on loan to Ross County and St Mirren. While on loan to St Mirren during the 2005–06 season, Adam was part of the team that won both the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,First Division, playing in over thirty matches for the ''Saints''. Upon returning to Rangers at the end of the 2006 season, he became a regular under managers Paul Le Guen and

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

. Adam was also part of the Rangers team that reached the

2008 UEFA Cup Final The 2008 UEFA Cup Final was a football match that took place on 14 May 2008 at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. It was the 37th annual final of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second tier club football tournament. The match, which was ...

. After falling out of favour at Rangers during 2008–09, Adam was loaned out to English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

. The loan was made permanent at the start of the 2009–10 season, and Adam became an integral part of the Blackpool side, captaining the team to a play-off victory over

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

which resulted in their promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. Adam shone in his first season in the

, his performances being recognised with a nomination for the

PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

in April 2011; however, Blackpool were relegated the following month, and he transferred to

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in July. After one season at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...

, Adam joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

in August 2012 for a fee of £4 million. He spent seven seasons with Stoke, making 179 appearances, before joining

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

in July 2019. Adam returned to his boyhood club

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

in September 2020. He would captain them for two years and led them to promotion to the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

. Adam played at under-21, B and full international levels for Scotland.

Club career

Rangers

Adam was part of the

and Rangers youth set-ups. He won the

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,

with Rangers in 2001–02. He made his senior debut for Rangers on 14 April 2004 against

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American customs ...

. He played sporadically for Rangers thereafter, but did not become a first-team regular until the management of Paul Le Guen. Adam made an appearance at the start of the 2004–05 season, and then joined First Division club Ross County on loan for the rest of that campaign. While in

Dingwall Dingwall ( sco, Dingwal, gd, Inbhir Pheofharain ) is a town and a royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,491. It was an east-coast harbour that now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest cas ...

, Adam made fifteen appearances, scoring twice, against Raith Rovers and St Mirren. He also played in the 2004 Scottish Challenge Cup Final against

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had ...

. County were ahead courtesy of David Winters 56th-minute goal. Adam was substituted in the 60th minute as was teammate Sean Higgins six minutes later. Neil Scally and

Darryl Duffy Darryl Alexander Duffy (born 16 April 1984) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a striker for Stranraer. He began playing professionally in 2003 and has played for sixteen different teams across a number of countries. He played for Scotland ...

then scored in 70 and 75 minutes respectively for Falkirk to come back to lift the trophy. Adam then joined First Division side St Mirren on loan for the 2005–06 season. During his spell in Paisley, he again appeared in the

2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final The 2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Bell's Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match between St Mirren and Hamilton Academical on 6 November 2005 at Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie. It was the 15th ...

, however this time he was on the winning side as St Mirren defeated

Hamilton Academical 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 Scotti ...

2–1. He was also part of the team that won the First Division title in May 2006. In total he made 37 appearances and scored nine goals for the "Buddies" during a very successful stint in Paisley. After playing for Rangers during a July 2006 pre-season trip to South Africa, including scoring a hat-trick against a Jomo Select side, Adam began the 2006–07 season with the club, and he started in their first

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

match against

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

. He continued to be a regular for Rangers as the season progressed, and scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

win over

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

on 19 October. This was one of fourteen goals Adam scored that season, including strikes against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i sides

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

and Maccabi Haifa, as well as a goal in an end-of-season

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 ...

match from a free-kick. On 16 April 2007, at the end of his first season in the first team, Adam was voted by Rangers fans as the club's Young Player of the Year at an award ceremony. On 28 June 2007, it was announced that Adam had signed a new five-year contract with Rangers. Adam had scored his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

goal on 19 September against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

, and his second in the return fixture. Adam played against Panathinaikos and

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

in Rangers run to the

where he was an unused substitute as Rangers lost 2–0 to

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

. That season Rangers also won the

2007–08 Scottish League Cup The 2007–08 Scottish League Cup was the 62nd staging of the Scotland's second most prestigious football knockout competition, also known for sponsorship reasons as the CIS Insurance Cup. Rangers won the cup by defeating Dundee United in the F ...

and the 2007–08 Scottish Cup, but Adam was suspended for the League Cup final against Dundee United and left out of the squad for the Scottish Cup final against Queen of the South.

Blackpool

On 2 February 2009, Adam signed on loan with English

club

until the end of the 2008–09 season, after

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a care ...

Tony Parkes initially enquired about having

Alan Gow Alan Gow (born 9 October 1982) is a Scottish former footballer. As a player he played as either a striker or an attacking midfielder. Gow started his senior career with his hometown club Clydebank, and continued with Airdrie United after the ...

loaned to the club again."Charlie Adam interview: part one"
- Seasiders Podcast, 7 February 2021 Five days later, after an altercation with

Richie Wellens Richard Paul Wellens (born 26 March 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently head coach of EFL League Two club Leyton Orient. Wellens began his career at Manchester United be ...

, he was sent off on his debut for ''the Seasiders'' during a 3–2 defeat by Doncaster Rovers at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

. On 25 February, after serving a three-match suspension, Adam scored twice, including a goal from just inside the halfway line, for the club's reserve team as they beat

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

4–2. Adam scored his first

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

goal for Blackpool in a 2–0 victory over Norwich City at Bloomfield Road on 7 March. Two days later he was named in the Football League's "Championship Team of the Week". His second goal for Blackpool came on 11 April in their 1–0 West Lancashire derby win over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

. Tony Parkes publicly admitted he was keen to sign Adam permanently. He said, "I have spoken to our club secretary and we will be in touch with Rangers to see if we can do a deal for Charlie". At the end of the season, after two goals in 13 appearances, he returned to Rangers. On 6 July 2009, Rangers confirmed that they had accepted a bid from Blackpool and that he was set to sign for ''the Seasiders'' the following day, subject to personal terms being agreed. The following day, Blackpool manager

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

confirmed a deal had been agreed with the Ibrox club, but stressed that talks with Adam would take place on 9 July, once Adam had spoken with Rangers manager

. Four weeks later on 2 August, with Adam still a Rangers player and having been on their pre-season trip to Germany, Smith confirmed that the player was in talks with Blackpool, saying, "Adam is talking to Blackpool at the moment. The clubs have agreed a fee and it will be up to Charlie and his representative." Charlie Adam

In August 2009 Adam signed a two-year contract with Blackpool with the option of a further year, in a club-record transfer fee of £500,000. His competitive debut as a permanent Blackpool player was in a 1–1 draw with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

later that month. His first goal came on 26 August in a 4–1 home win over

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in the League Cup. In January 2010 he was named in the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

"Team of the Week", along with teammate

Neal Eardley Neal James Eardley (born 6 November 1988) is a former Wales international footballer who last played for Cymru Premier champions Connah’s Quay Nomads. He represented Wales at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels, before winning the fir ...

, following his performance two days before in the 3–2 home victory over

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. That same month Adam won the Championship Player of the Month award and was voted the PFA Championship Fans' Player of the Month for January 2010. In March, Adam scored in his 50th league appearance for Blackpool, a 2–0 win at

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

. Just under a month later, Adam was named in the PFA "Championship Team of the Year". Blackpool qualified for that season's play-offs. Adam scored a match-winning penalty against Nottingham Forest in the semi-final first leg, and Blackpool won the tie on aggregate. In the play-off final Adam scored a free-kick as Blackpool beat

3–2 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

and gained promotion to the

. In the fourth week of the

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. ...

Premier League season, Adam was named in the official Team of the Week. He was named again in week seven, alongside teammate

Luke Varney Luke Ivan Varney (born 28 September 1982) is a former English professional footballer who played as a striker. Across his career he had spells with 11 different teams. He began his career with non-League club Quorn, a club in his home county ...

. In early December, a tribunal ruled in favour of Adam in a dispute over unpaid bonuses from the previous season. They found that Blackpool were required to pay the player £25,000 for successfully avoiding relegation to League One. The club had argued that the promotion bonus (which had been stipulated in Adam's contract) superseded the 'survival bonus.' The panel upheld Adam's complaint, but did not agree with his second argument that the failure to pay the amount constituted a breach of contract on the club's part. As a result, both parties were responsible for their own legal fees – leaving Adam with a very small net gain from the venture. In January 2011, Blackpool rejected a £4.5 million bid from

to buy Adam, an amount described by manager Ian Holloway as "disgraceful". Blackpool then rejected a transfer request that Adam had made to the club. He was one of seven nominees for the 2010–11

. However, Adam and his Blackpool teammates were relegated at the season's end. In May 2011, Blackpool activated an option to increase Adam's contract by a further twelve months.

Liverpool

In July 2011

signed Adam from Blackpool for a fee of £6.75 million after having their initial bid rejected. He played the second half of Liverpool's friendly against

Guangdong Sunray Cave Shaanxi Wuzhou Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club based in Xi'an, Shaanxi which last played in the China League One division. The club was originally formed on February 5, 2007 as Guangdong Sunray Cave F.C. and was once ...

in a 4–3 win on 13 July. On 13 August 2011, Adam made his full debut in Liverpool's first game of the

2011–12 Premier League The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012 with Manchester Ci ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. There, he assisted the opening goal from

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

from a free kick outside the area. On 27 August 2011, Adam scored his first

goal for Liverpool in a match against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

which Liverpool went on to win 3–1. On 18 September 2011, Adam was shown a second yellow card for a challenge on Scott Parker in a 4–0 defeat at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. Adam helped Liverpool beat local rivals Everton 2–0 on 1 October 2011. He then scored a penalty in a 2–0 win away at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. Liverpool reached the 2012 Football League Cup Final where they defeated Championship side

in a penalty shootout, despite Adam missing his kick. They also made it to the 2012 FA Cup Final, which Adam missed due to injury as they lost 2–1 to Chelsea.

Stoke City

On 31 August 2012 Adam signed a four-year contract at

for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £4 million. He made his debut for Stoke the following day in a 2–2 draw against

. After leaving Liverpool, Adam stated he left in order to play more games. He scored his first goal for Stoke in a 1–0 victory against

on 10 November 2012. He scored in another 1–0 win for Stoke two weeks later against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

. Adam was given compassionate leave after his

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

died on 17 December 2012. Adam then spent three months in and out of the team before returning to the starting line up in April and scored the winning goal against Norwich City which eased Stoke's relegation worries. He dedicated his goal to his father. Adam ended the 2012–13 season a poor note, being sent off against

for two bookable offences. Adam scored Stoke's first goal of the 2013–14 season as City beat

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

2–1 on 24 August 2013. Adam then scored a penalty in a 3–3 draw with

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

and then in the next match against

in a 2–0 victory. Adam came off the bench to help Stoke to a 2–1 victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

on 21 December 2013 which earned him praise from manager

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...

for his contribution. He scored Stoke's second goal against his former club Liverpool on 12 January 2014 in a 5–3 defeat. On 1 February 2014, Adam scored twice in a 2–1 win over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

to help Stoke record a first league win over the Red Devils since 1984. His first goal however was later ruled by the Premier League as a

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently head coach of Middlesbrough. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year p ...

own goal. In the next match against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 8 February, Adam provided assists for both Stoke's goals in a 2–2 draw. He was given a three-match retrospective ban by

the FA The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

following an altercation with

Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team. Regarded for his work-rate, strength, acrobatic strikes, shot power, consistent goal-s ...

in a 1–0 win over Arsenal on 1 March 2014. On 11 May 2014 Adam scored the winning goal against

on the final day of the season which earned Stoke 9th place in the Premier League. Adam scored his first goals of the 2014–15 against Sunderland and Swansea City. In November 2014 he lost his place in the side due to the form of

Bojan Krkić Bojan Krkić Pérez (; sr-Cyrl, Бојан Кркић Перез, ; born 28 August 1990), also known as simply Bojan, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Bojan began his career at Barce ...

. On 4 April 2015 Adam scored from 65 yards against Chelsea in a 2–1 defeat. Adam described his goal as a "once in a lifetime goal". Adam then went and scored four more goals in April and May including on the final day of the season in a 6–1 victory against his former club Liverpool. Adam ended the season by playing and scoring for

in Julián Speroni's testimonial. Adam signed a new contract with Stoke on 20 June 2015. Adam made 25 appearances in 2015–16, 11 of which were as a substitute. He scored once, on 30 April 2016 against Crystal Palace. He played 28 times in 2016–17, as Stoke finished in 13th position. Adam again scored one goal which was a penalty against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

in December 2016. Adam struggled for playing time in 2017–18, making 14 appearances, as Stoke suffered relegation to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

. Adam made two noticeable errors during Stoke failed survival bid as he saw his last minute penalty saved against

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 ...

in February and was needlessly sent-off against Everton in March. Following relegation Adam criticised the behaviour of some of his teammates. Adam struggled for playing time under Gary Rowett in the first half of the 2018–19 season before he was brought back into the squad by Nathan Jones in January 2019, before a calf injury disrupted his comeback. Adam revealed in April 2019 that he wanted to extend his contract at Stoke. However, after talks with manager Nathan Jones, Adam left Stoke at the end of the season. Adam met with Blackpool's new owner Simon Sadler about possibly rejoining the club and hopefully finishing his career there. "But, out of the blue, I got an opportunity to go and play for

in the Championship.""Charlie Adam interview : Part two"
- Seasiders Podcast, 8 February 2021 In 2021, it was revealed that Adams had been nicknamed ''Parched'' by his teammates. This was not known to Adams at the time, and stemmed from a mistaken belief by his teammates that he was ingratiating with management when there was drinks break during training. The nickname came to prominence after being discussed by Peter Crouch on his podcast,

That Peter Crouch Podcast ''That Peter Crouch Podcast'' is an entertainment and sports podcast hosted by Peter Crouch, Chris Stark and Steve Sidwell. Ostensibly a guide on how to be a professional footballer, the episodes include insight on everything from dressing rooms, ...

Reading

On 22 July 2019, Adam joined

, signing a one-year contract. He scored his first goal for Reading from the penalty spot in a 3–0 victory over Derby County at the Madejski Stadium on 21 December 2019. Adam was released by Reading at the end of the season.

Dundee and retirement

On 15 September 2020, after training on his own and having considered an offer to play in Australia, Adam joined his boyhood club

on a two-year deal, which he described as being a "dream" of his. In an interview with ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had ...

'', Adam stated he believed Dundee would be his final club, due to his age and happiness at Dens Park. Adam made his debut for Dundee in a

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 existe ...

tie against

Brora Rangers Brora Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club from the village of Brora, Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. They play in the Highland Football League, of which they have been champions four times, having won their ...

on 10 October 2020. His first goal followed in his first league game in a defeat to Hearts. After a successful start to his time with ''the Dee'', during which he was made

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 ...

, Adam was awarded the SPFL's Championship Player of the Month for December. At the end of the season, Adam was named to

PFA Scotland The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repla ...

's Championship Team of the Year for 2020–21, as well as being shortlisted as a finalist for their Championship Player of the Year. Adam would captain the club to winning the Premiership play-offs and helping Dundee to a return to the

. Afterwards, Adam described this achievement as the highlight of his career, stating: "This is the best. I've dreamed of playing for my boyhood club in the top division and we've managed to get there." Adam would also be included in the

SPFL The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As w ...

's Championship Team of the Season, and would be named the Championship Player of the Year. Adam sustained a groin injury in a Premiership match against

in August 2021, and despite avoiding surgery he was ruled out for six weeks. He would make his return in October and be nominated Man of the Match in a home win over

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

. Adam's final few months of the season would feature various highs and lows, with a dive against St Johnstone and an unfortunate "assist" for St Mirren both going viral along with the club being relegated, but also scoring impressive goals against Dundee United and in the club's final home game of the season against Hibernian, with the

Dundee derby The Dundee derby is a football match between Dundee and Dundee United. The clubs are based yards apart in the city of Dundee, the fourth-largest city in Scotland. History Dundee is the older of the two, having been founded in 1893, compared ...

goal winning Dundee's Goal of the Season. Adam left Dundee following the end of his contract in May 2022. On 21 September 2022, Adam officially announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 36.

International career

Adam was called up by national manager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

to the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

squad for the first time on 11 May 2007 for a friendly against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and a Euro 2008 qualifying Group B match against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. He made his debut at the

Gerhard Hanappi Stadium The Gerhard-Hanappi-Stadion was a football stadium in Hütteldorf, in the west of Vienna, Austria. It was the home ground of Rapid Vienna. It was officially opened in 1977 as ''"Weststadion"'' (Western stadium). In 1980 it was renamed to honour ...

in Vienna on 30 May as a 67th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 victory. He then made his competitive debut as a 77th-minute substitute in a 2–0 win over the Faroe Islands at the

Svangaskarð Svangaskarð (pronounced ), also referred to as Tofta Leikvøllur, is a multi-purpose stadium in Toftir, Faroe Islands with two football fields and a sports arena for athletics around the lower field. It is currently used mostly for football match ...

stadium in

Toftir Toftir ( da, Tofte) is a village in Nes Municipality on the island of Eysturoy, in the Faroe Islands. It is part of a chain of villages stretching over a distance of 10 kilometres on the east side of Skálafjørður (fjord) on Eysturoy island. ...

on 6 June. Adam was recalled to the Scotland squad by manager

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

for a friendly against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

on 10 October 2009 at the

Nissan Stadium Nissan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, it is primarily used for football and is the home field of the Tennessee Titans of the Nati ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, Japan. On 10 November 2009, Adam was drafted into the Scotland squad for the friendly against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

four days later. He replaced his former Rangers teammate

Kevin Thomson Kevin Thomson (born 14 October 1984) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Thomson played as a midfielder for Hibernian (three spells), Rangers, Middlesbrough and Dundee and represented Scotland. Thomson began his care ...

, who pulled out due to illness. George Burley said of Adam: "He scored a cracking goal for Blackpool last weekend. He is a very good replacement. He has been playing consistently, is a quality player, and is getting a real benefit from playing regularly."

Personal life

Adam is the son of former professional player Charlie Adam, a midfielder who played for various Scottish clubs in the 1980s and 1990s. His father died on 17 December 2012, aged 50; the cause of death was publicly revealed as suicide in 2015. Adam's mother, Eleanor, fell ill with cancer, and was a big factor in his move back to Scotland. She died in December 2020."Football community rallies round Dundee’s Charlie Adam after mum Ellie’s death from cancer"
- '' The Courier'', 22 December 2020 Adam's brother,

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

, is a goalkeeper who is currently playing for fellow Dundee-based side Lochee United. He has four other siblings: brothers Gary, Connor and Grant, and sister Nicola. Adam grew up supporting

. He attended Dundee's Braeview Academy, alongside fellow future footballers Garry Kenneth and Scott Robertson (the latter of which he would be reunited with at

)."Charlie Adam: The boy who got booed now makes Blackpool rock"
– ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 17 April 2011 Adam is married to Sophie Anderson, whom he met in September 2009 in her hometown of Poulton-le-Fylde during a night out with some of his Blackpool teammates."Charlie Adam interview: part one"
- Seasiders Podcast, 7 February 2021 They have two sons, Jack and Louis, and a daughter, Anabella. He moved with his family to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

after signing for Dundee, having lived in Poulton-le-Fylde since his days at Blackpool. Adam was arrested and charged with a drink-driving offence in December 2021."Footballer Charlie Adam arrested on suspicion of drink-driving"
- BBC News In January 2022 he pleaded guilty; he was fined £2000 and disqualified from driving for one year. "Ex-Scotland footballer Charlie Adam fined for drink-driving"
- BBC News

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Ross County *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

St Mirren *

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

: 2005–06 *Scottish Challenge Cup: 2005–06 Rangers *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2007–08 *

: 2007–08 *

runner-up: 2007–08 Blackpool *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Liverpool *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

: 2011–12 Dundee FC *

play-offs:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2009–10 Championship *

Football League Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Originally named the Football ...

: January 2010 * SPFL Scottish Championship Player of the Month: December 2020 * PFA Scotland Team of the Year:

2020–21 Scottish Championship The 2020–21 Scottish Championship was the eighth season of the Scottish Championship, the second tier of Scottish football. Ten teams contested the league: Alloa Athletic, Arbroath, Ayr United, Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Greenock Morton, ...

Team of the Season:

Scottish Championship Player of the Year:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Charlie 1985 births Living people Footballers from Dundee Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland B international footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Rangers F.C. players Ross County F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Reading F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players