BIG BRO WATCHED OVER ME SAYS NICK
VETERAN midfielder Nicky Adams says the threat of a slap from his big brother kept him out of trouble when he had to choose between football and crime.
Adams is looking to escape League Two for a third time in five seasons when he lines up for Northampton against Cheltenham in the play-offs on Thursday night.
And Adams, who previously went up with Northampton (2015-16) and Bury (2018-19), has made a total of 590 appearances for nine league clubs.
But the star, 33, admits his life might have turned out very differently.
“We grew up in a tough place in Bolton,” said Adams, who has played under Premier League bosses Chris Wilder and Nigel Pearson.
“The estate I’m from, you have to be streetwise and it’s easy to take the wrong path. My brother, Michael, was a really good player.
“He was a centreforward with Bolton and he could have made it, but he made the wrong choices and ended up in jail. He made sure I never took that path. He kept me on the straight and narrow.
“He always said if I made the mistakes he made, he would give me a slap.
“It’s easy to make the wrong choices when you want quick money.
“Nobody believes me but when I started at Bury I was on £45 per week and a £15 bus pass – and I had a baby on the way.
“I decided to dedicate myself to football. I knew I had the ability to make it.
“Now I’m in my thirties, everyone asks me about becoming a manager and I say, ‘When I finish playing at 40 I will think about it.”
Pearson signed him for Leicester and under Wilder, during his first spell at Northampton, Adams won League Two.
“Nigel and Chris are two of the best managers in the country and Ryan Lowe and (current Northampton boss) Keith Curle are great bosses too.”