Tony Adams MBE will be coming out of retirement but not to head back on the football pitch. The former football player and manager will be swapping his football boots for dancing shoes as one of the 15 celebrities signed up for Strictly Come Dancing 2022.
He'll join the likes of former Coronation Street stars Kym Marsh and Will Mellor, Countryfile host Helen Skelton, Bros legend Matt Goss, Hits Radio host and singer Fleur East and EastEnders actor James Bye who will also be hoping to impress the judges and viewers this year.
The formidable centre-back’s football career spanned over 22 years, playing for both Arsenal and England. Having captained both, he is regarded as one of Arsenal’s greatest ever players and one of the all-time greats of English football. Tony won 66 caps for England, appeared at four major tournaments and had 10 major trophy wins whilst is still the only player in English football history to captain a team to three top-flight titles over three different decades.
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As captain of England, he famously led the national team to the Euro 96 final. Whilst he was playing he founded Sporting Chance, a charity to help sportspeople with mental health and addiction issues of which he remains Honorary president today.
Upon retirement from football, Tony, a father to six and husband to wife Poppy, went into coaching and management and as a result of his experiences with alcohol addiction, he later founded Sporting Chance, a charity to help sportspeople with mental health and addiction issues.
He has also recently launched his new venture, SIX MHS, which delivers mental health and addictions services to non-sportspeople and non-sport’s organisations. The 55-year-old remains a patron of four other additional charities, NACOA, Forward Trust, Saving Faces, School Home Support and has started the charity, 6 Addiction, for people that can’t afford private mental health services.
And Tony has shared how coming close to death spurred him on to join the "silly" BBC One show. He said: "I’ve been asked a few times. I had a mental breakdown when I was 49 and working too hard in China and I’ve just got time now. I’m not working too much, my calendar’s pretty empty for the next three months so I just thought yeah, go for it.
"After my heart procedure – I nearly died when I was 49 – my main artery was 99% closed and the stress of life. I’m a bit of a born worrier, my mum was a worrier so I just decided to take things a bit easier and get myself on a silly show."
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