Arsenal and England legend Tony Adams was about to apply for the job of manager at Bristol City - until the actor that once played Lofty in EastEnders persuaded him not to.
Actor, writer and Arsenal fan Tom Watt, who is close friends with the former England captain, told him ‘anyone can be Bristol City manager’, and persuaded him to concentrate on his work running addiction clinics for sports stars.
The revelation came in a retrospective interview in The Athletic, which the central defender and former Portsmouth manager talked about his life now outside of football.
Adams captained England at Euro 96 and is the only player in English football history to captain a championship title-winning team in three different decades, and holds the record for the most number of appearances at Wembley.
But his managerial career dwindled, and after spells coaching teams from Wycombe to Azerbaijan and from Portsmouth to Spain, he hasn’t had a job in management since losing all seven games as coach of Granada in 2017.
This summer, he said he was about to submit his CV to Ashton Gate, to apply for the then vacant Bristol City manager’s job.
“I have lunch with the actor Tom Watt once a week - he lives round the corner,” Adams told The Athletic.
“One time, there were a few jobs going in the Championship, maybe Bristol City were in there, and I told him I was thinking about putting my CV in. And he looked at me, and he said, ‘Why? Why would you do that?’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s what I do, isn’t it?’”
But the man who is most famous for playing Lofty, the hapless EastEnder who married Michelle Fowler only to find out Dirty Den was her baby’s father, persuaded the England legend not to.
“He said, ‘In one breath you’re talking about saving people and the work you’re doing with Sporting Chance, maybe even starting new projects to help more people - and in the next you’re talking about getting a job as a manager.
“Tone, anyone can be Bristol City manager. No disrespect, but anyone can do that. You’re saving people. Something told you to do this with your life and you keep f***ing ignoring it,” he added.
After Euro 96, Adams went on a three-week bender before finally admitting he was an alcoholic, and sought treatment at the Priory. As a recovering alcoholic, his footballing career was remarkably rehabilitated by Arsene Wenger’s arrival, and he went on to lift the league and cup double twice more.
City’s managerial summer saga ended two weeks ago when former assistant head coach and caretaker manager Dean Holden was appointed five weeks after the sacking of Lee Johnson.
