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.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Ian McAdam[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1954-04-09) 9 April 1954 (age 68)[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 | |||
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.