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.
Playing career
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.
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.