Thirty years after English football’s biggest confession, Tony Adams feels a new addiction is taking over the game.
In 1996, former Arsenal and England captain Adams exposed his demons in a book that changed football writing forever. Adams has done as much as any other sports star to improve addiction, mental health, and give us something to talk about. His Sports Chance Clinic also saved hundreds of lives.
His book Addicted, co-authored with Ian Ridley, was brilliantly written and opened people’s eyes. Sober is the next chapter, and this edition of “1996: A Reflection on the Year That Changed My Life” goes even deeper.
But there are also clear warnings of new dangers in football. When asked if gambling has replaced alcohol as the biggest solution for football players, Adams insists:
“It’s a mental thing. I always give the example of breathalyzers. You can’t meet someone who’s three times over the gambling limit. You know what I mean? You can’t meet them. There’s no sign.”
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“You’re looking at someone. You don’t know if they’re going to go down William Hill after this or what. Most people are on the phone right now anyway. So it’s very difficult to discover that.
“You know, they usually lick the money or mortgage the house to pay for it. But if one of us, a football player, they can say: ‘Oh, you’ve got a little bit, you’ve got a problem, come see me later.’
“Once a year, my grand used to bet on Aintree. It’s not a gambling problem, is it? But that doesn’t justify the people there being into this thing. 85% of the money they were making was coming from addicts?”
“You know what I mean? I mean, they’re targeting addicts. They don’t want you not to take a chance. You know what I mean? I mean, it’s all by bad people.
“Players aren’t allowed to bet on football. But even though they’re not in football, they can do other things, right? Yeah, bet on the wall, you know what I mean? To be honest, I’ve never done that. There’s so many other things.”
Tony Adams feels a new addiction is taking over his game. (Image: Alexandra Arlett)
Adams’ other big success was Six Mental Health Addictions, but while he recognizes the problems with sports in general, including prescription painkillers, booze and gambling, perhaps his greatest accomplishment was getting people talking about it.
“Oh, yes, about tramadol and rugby players. And there have been some suicides recently. Yes, a jockey, a jockey, is also one of Sporting Chance’s customers. And then there are football players and children,” he said.
“For some reason, it’s like now it’s an option, right? Back in ’96, when I was 29 years old and at my lowest point, there wasn’t a lot of talk about that. And, you know, those numbers are still going up, right? There’s all this awareness and it’s like everyone is coming forward and starting to talk about this.”
An hour spent with Adams is an uplifting and inspiring experience. He rescued his own son from alcoholism and now runs sessions and participates in recovery projects.
1996 was a great year for Adams. Euro 96. Confront the devil. Arsene Wenger has arrived at Arsenal, entering a new chapter in his career and life. The details of this latest book and year are very powerful.
England captain Tony Adams after victory over Spain at Euro ’96 (Image: Offside)
“I think it’s a celebration. I think it’s a celebration of recovery,” Adams said. “And that’s hope and someone who’s living a great life because he’s recovered. You know, I think that’s the important thing. It’s like going. I’m not going to hide behind going to meetings or anything like that anymore.”
“I’m really proud that I haven’t wet the bed in 30 years. Incredibly proud. What would I be most proud of? And you’d think maybe winning the Cup Winners’ Cup. No, I haven’t wet the bed in 30 years. I kept at it, you know?”
“And if I could have found a way to drink without wetting myself, I probably would have still been drinking. But I couldn’t. You know, I crossed the line. So this is a celebration. I’m the one to go. That was the year. And this year sums it all up. From Arsene to me putting my wife in rehab.”
“I thought I needed to record it because things have turned upside down. I think this is a very important year. It really marks the beginning of the journey. It shows what happened and the end of the journey.”
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Meanwhile, Adams has offered to open the doors to his rehabilitation clinic for Tiger Woods.
Golf superstar Woods has announced he will take a “period of time away” from golf after crashing his car and subsequently being arrested and charged with drunk driving.
Adams founded Sporting Chance after his own struggles with alcohol, and 30 years later he is still supporting sports stars. When asked what he sees when he looks at Woods, Adams said, “Honestly, I see an addict. And if he wants to come to my rehab, there’s a place in my room. If he wants to change, change. Yeah.”
Tony Adams is ready to open the door to Tiger Woods (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“My CEO at Sports Chance, to be honest, we want to get into the American market. MLS, you know, we have all the deals. We just signed with the BBBOC, right, British Boxing. I was there two weeks ago and we launched a partnership with them.”
“I think Americans are pretty good at drinking and driving. Remember when you joined a program and instead of going to jail, you were made to go to rallies? I know it was a little coerced, but they were actually made to go to rallies and stuff like that.”
Adams recalled former teammate Lee Dixon trying to help him and offered an analogy for Woods if he wanted to come clean.
He added: “I think people are starting to say, ‘Look, here’s the problem.’ What I’ve done is I’ve avoided everyone who has told me. You know what I mean? Just like the Lee Dixons of the world were like, ‘Tone, what are you doing? What are you doing that for?'”
“You ignore people or exclude people because you don’t want to see yourself. And if I were talking to him (Woods), and I know someone from my neck of the woods, I’d just say, ‘Do you want to take a shower?’
1996: A look back at the year that changed my life, by Tony Adams and Ian Ridley, is published by Floodlit Dreams in paperback for £11.99 and in hardcover for £14.99, only at http://www.floodlitdreams.com.
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