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Charlie Adam hung up his boots after a stint at hometown club Dundee in 2022 and says the lessons he learned at the Rangers Academy provided the building blocks for a top-class professional career.
The former Ibrox midfielder, now 39, progressed through the club’s youth ranks when Rangers royalty like John Greig, Tommy McLean and John Brown were working at the Academy and he will be forever grateful to the trio for schooling him on the game.
Adam, who won 26 caps for Scotland and spent almost a decade playing in the English Premier League with Blackpool, Liverpool and Stoke, made his Light Blues debut in April 2004 during Alex McLeish’s time in the dugout and his first start came at Dunfermline on the final day of the 2003/04 campaign.
Loan spells with Ross County and St Mirren followed before he became a first-team regular during the Paul Le Guen era and the early part of Walter Smith’s hugely successful second spell with Rangers.
He was proud to score important European goals against Stuttgart, Maccabi Haifa and Livorno and was part of the squad that progressed to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final.
The set-piece specialist’s cheeky free-kick, under Celtic’s defensive wall, in a 2-0 Ibrox Old Firm win in 2007 is also among his Rangers highlights and it was with a heavy heart that he moved to Blackpool in 2009.
He moved permanently to The Seasiders at the start of 2009/10 and went on to play a starring role in their march to England’s top flight.
Charlie, as he did so often in his career, struck a sublime long-range free-kick in the Play-Off Final against Cardiff at Wembley – the Welsh side included fellow Academy graduates Chris Burke and Ross McCormack in their ranks – and his form the following season led to Kenny Dalglish signing him for Liverpool.
He won the League Cup in his time at Anfield then moved to Stoke where he worked with Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes – and he continued to score sublime goals. Notably an unbelievable strike from his own half against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Adam then featured for Reading before bringing the curtain down on an impressive career with Dundee and in a wide-ranging interview as he showed his support for The Rangers Youth Development Company – who have donated more than £12 million to the club’s Academy to date – Charlie says he is eternally grateful to Rangers for giving him the tools to succeed at the highest level.
He recalled: “I joined the Rangers Academy when I was scouted by Murdy Stewart, who brought players to the club from the Dundee and Perth areas to Glasgow.
“I would travel from Dundee on Tuesdays and Thursdays and train in the astroturf across from Ibrox. In the past, the Academy would sometimes play games there before first-team games on a Saturday and I played in a few of them.
“It was actually former first-team coach Tommy Møller Nielsen who spotted me playing in one of those games when I was close to being released.
“When I was 15 I came in to train with the under-18s and I did well training with them for a week and they put me on the bench for a game against Hearts and it snowballed from there.
“I then signed a contract with the club and the Academy environment was amazing.
“I was among the first batch of Academy players to start training at Auchenhowie at that time and before that we used to train at Ibrox.
“Walking through the main door at the stadium and seeing the Marble Staircase and the dressing rooms was incredible and we had a good group of players like Stevie Smith, Alan Hutton and Chris Burke.
“It was a great education and brilliant to be part of. I loved it.
“When we started training full-time at the training ground it was a great learning curve.
“You talk about standards, it was tough but we had incredible coaches like John Brown, Tommy McLean and John McGregor and John Greig was still around the place.
“There were a lot of good people there who drilled good habits into the younger players and drove standards around the club.
“We had a great time and in one of my first trips away we went to Australia and won a tournament.
“Winning was a habit and you knew that when you walked in the door.
“We had to keep winning and I always tried to take that level and that standard into every club I played for in my career.
“I made my Rangers debut at Livingston and I think it was Ronald de Boer I came on for. It was a great occasion and my first start was at Dunfermline on the last day of the 2003/04 season.
“A few of us played that day. Me, Stevie Smith, Alan Hutton, Burkey and Ross McCormack and that gave me a taste for it.
“We had trained with the first-team a lot and were playing with better players and we all wanted it.
“A couple of seasons later, the Paul Le Guen era worked for me because I was given a regular chance to play for Rangers.
“It never work for some people which is normal when a new manager comes in but I thank him for the opportunity.
“There were still a lot of top players around the club at that time but we obviously didn’t do as well as we could have and ultimately Paul left.
“For a young player to play for Rangers was a great thing.
“It was amazing to play every week, I got man of the match in his first league game at Motherwell and I scored goals in the UEFA Cup that season.
“Me and Stevie Smith did well under Paul. His approach was different to what the players were used to and it never worked and he moved on.
“It was brilliant to get the opportunity to play though and that was great for me.
“Then Walter came in and I scored against Dundee Utd in his first game back which was great.
“The realisation of a ‘proper Rangers’ really kicked in for me then and the level of the club was raised. Walter had an aura and we knew about his 9-in-a-Row achievements so with Ally, Durranty and Kenny McDowall it was a great coaching staff.
“The club was going in the right direction and we had a leader in Walter who everybody looked up to on a daily basis. We knew something good was going to happen.
“To qualify for the Champions League was amazing and the draw against Barcelona, Stuttgart and Lyon couldn’t really be tougher.
“I scored in both games against Stuttgart which was great and Barcelona had so many great players like Messi, Ronaldinho and Xavi but we drew at Ibrox and then won in Lyon.
“It was a special time and scoring against Celtic late in the season before was great.
“It is something really special to play for Rangers and score in an Old Firm game.
“When you meet Rangers fans they want to talk about goals against Celtic and rightly so.
“I knew it was going to be tough for me to stay and play though when top players like Kevin Thomson, Steven Davis and Pedro Mendes joined in my position but I always say that my upbringing at the Rangers Academy stood me in good stead for the rest of my career.
“Standards, how you need to win, how every day at training is important and my journey there was special. I would never change it.
“I was fortunate to play for Rangers and get the opportunity because a lot of player would love it and never get the chance.
“I was proud to be part of the football club over those years.
“I went to Blackpool and that was a good move for me.
“I wanted to feel like the main man and I did there.
“We did really well and got promoted to the Premier League, that really kick-started my career.
“Scoring a free-kick against Cardiff at Wembley in the Play-Off Final was a great memory. It is a great club and I loved my season with them in England’s top flight.
“The level and standard was incredible but I always say the history and tradition of playing at a big club like Rangers stood me in good stead for that.
“It was normal to me to be expected to win games because of my time at Rangers and it was the same when I played at Liverpool.
“I grew up knowing the level needed and the expectations and I used my Rangers blueprint to keep improving throughout my career.
“When I went to other clubs I always tried to drive the standards I learned at Rangers.
“It was a dream to play in the Premier League for so many years against the best players.
“Blackpool were really unlucky to get relegated after a season with a high points total that usually would have been enough.
“Liverpool came in for me and they, like Rangers, are one of the biggest clubs in the world. They strive to win every week and have to win trophies so when they want you, you have to take it and I was fortunate enough to play.
“It was a great time with good people and Kenny Dalglish signed me.
“I was fortunate to play with legends like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Luis Suarez and Pepe Reina.
“It was a special time and I was proud to win the Carling Cup there.
“After that I had six seasons at Stoke in the Premier League and that was another special club.
“We had brilliant times under Mark Hughes and a lot of top players were there.
“I scored a goal against Chelsea for Stoke at Stamford Bridge from our own half and again that is something people always want to talk about.
“It was a great moment in time.
“I was also proud to play for Scotland 26 times. It’s not really until you retire when you start to look at what you have achieved.
“I finished my career at Dundee, my hometown club and earned promotion from the Championship to the top flight.
“Playing in the Premier League with Dundee was also a special time and that’s where my career ended. It was a brilliant way to finish.
“I’m proud of what I achieved in football. I am humble and don’t really want to keep talking about my career as I’m not that type of person.
“But it’s nice to look back and my son is getting a bit older and he’s asking questions about stadiums I played in and players I played with or against.
“I played more than 500 games and scored over 100 goals and played for my boyhood club and two of the biggest clubs in European football.
“My journey was special. I never take it for granted and loved every minute of it.
“Coaching when I retired was always on my mind and any coaches or managers I worked with would probably say I was a pain in the backside as I was always asking questions or in their office!
“I am doing my Pro License at the moment and Craig Mulholland, who was part of my Rangers Academy journey, is on it too.
“I always wanted to go into coaching and management and that’s the pathway I am going down now.
“I’ve had a couple of jobs – manager of Fleetwood and Everton’s youth team – and I’ve learned so much from the people who coached me.
“How you manage people is important and the way Walter did it has always stood out for me.
“I always say to young players I am always here to give any help and advice I can. I have been through it all and know what it’s like to play or not play.
“I’ve also done a lot of media work and I enjoy speaking about the game too.
“It’s a new era at Rangers under Russell Martin and he knows the expectations. He knows you have to win and he has been inside the club before as a player.
“He knows what the football club means and it has been a tough few years so it won’t be fixed overnight.
“But he has a strategy and the new owners have been speaking about the long-term so Russell is a good appointment.
“He has clear principles, a clear style and a clear way of playing.
“Recruiting the players to play the way you want to is important and it is great to get that calibre of manager in with good people around to support him.
“I know Kevin Thelwell from my time at Everton’s Academy and he will be good for Russell.
“He has to win quickly but that’s the great thing about being the Rangers manager. There is a daily challenge to be the best and I am looking forward to seeing what he does.
“I wish him all the best and hopefully he can be successful.”
Charlie’s career development was assisted by annual RYDC donations to the Rangers Academy and more than £12 million has already been provided.
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