Neil Adams

Neil James Adams (born 23 November 1965) is an English former professional footballer and former manager who is the current technical director of EFL Championship club Norwich City.

He played as a midfielder for Stoke City, Everton, Oldham Athletic and Norwich City. Adams began his career playing for his local club Stoke City, where he quickly earned a reputation of being a tricky and productive winger. This prompted Everton to pay a fee of £150,000 for his signature in June 1986. He was part of the Everton's Championship-winning squad in 1987, but after three years at Goodison Park he turned down the offer of a new contract and moved to Oldham Athletic. At Oldham, Adams played a major role in helping the club win the Championship and gain promotion to the newly formed Premier League in 1992, and he also helped the Latics to reach the 1990 League Cup Final. He signed for Norwich City in February 1994 for a fee of £250,000, and became a regular in the Norwich team for the next six seasons, before ending his playing career with another two years at Oldham. After retiring from playing, Adams became a pundit for BBC Radio Norfolk, before taking up a coaching role at the Norwich City Academy – guiding the U-18 team to victory in the 2012–13 FA Youth Cup. In April 2014 Adams was appointed first-team manager following the departure of Chris Hughton.

Playing career Adams was born in Stoke-on-Trent and began his career with local side Stoke City making his professional debut against Coventry City in the Full Members Cup in 1985–86. On 6 April 2014 he was appointed Norwich City first-team caretaker manager for Norwich's 5 remaining Premier League matches of the season against Fulham, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, following the departure of Chris Hughton. On 22 May 2014 he was appointed permanent manager of Norwich City, signing a three-year contract. On 5 January 2015, and with Norwich in 7th place in the Championship table, Adams surprisingly resigned from his position. On 31 July 2015, Adams returned to Norwich City as Loan Player Manager, a role he fulfilled until September 2021 when he was promoted to Assistant Sporting Director, and then Technical Director in 2023

Career statistics Source:

A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the FA Charity Shield, Full Members Cup, Football League Trophy and Screen Sport Super Cup.

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordNorwich City6 April 20145 January 2015 Total—