Adams turned Seagulls and Foxes into very different beasts
FIRST CLUB WAS ‘A S***HOLE’... NEXT WAS SKINT IN A RUGBY CITY
MICKY ADAMS dragged Brighton and Hove Albion out of the doldrums AND fired Leicester City to promotion, despite administration.
We’re now 17 years on from former manager Adams successfully swooping on the Seagulls then preventing the Foxes from being culled.
Ask the Yorkshireman to put the two clubs’ respective positions today into perspective, and he has one clear answer.
Adams, 59, said: “The easiest way to gauge where they are now is if either of the two manager’s jobs become available.
“If Brendan Rodgers or Graham Potter were to leave – and I’m not suggesting they should – world-class coaches would be interested in those vacancies.
“Back in the day, both clubs took a chance on me – a wannabe, might be, could be, might-never-be manager – and I think I did OK.
“But that wouldn’t happen now. The infrastructure, playing, backroom, and support staff, allied to the facilities at both clubs would attract the very best.”
Brighton’s training ground at Lancing certainly falls into that bracket while Leicester have just spent £100million on an 185-acre site at Seagrave, including a private nine-hole golf course and 30-bedroom complex.
Very different from when Adams took the reins, first on the south coast.
“It’s great to see Brighton not just surviving but thriving in the Premier League,” he said. “Of course, it’s all a far cry from when I turned up. The club was on its knees.
“It had no stadium, no training ground and no identity.
“The Withdean was a dump but it was our dump and the training ground was a s***hole too, but it was our s***hole.
“We had a kit room – the first team used to wash our own kit – run by a lovely Scottish fella who, unimaginatively, was called ‘Jock.’
“But if you forgot yours, there was some stuff that had been tossed in there and if anyone needed some kit, it was first come, first served. The clean stuff was at the front. It got dirtier the further back you went. It was pretty grim for anyone who didn’t get there early!
“Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t horrific at Brighton. It always was a nice club. But it was still in desperate need of investment.
“We were training on rugby pitches. And if it rained heavily, we weren’t getting on them either. We were training on bits of grass between them.
“As anyone will tell you, there isn’t a lot of grass anywhere in Brighton, other than the parks. We were a League Two club, struggling financially.
“Dick Knight was the saviour. He is a character. A very good marketeer. He came up with a shirt sponsorship with ‘Skint.’ How apt was that?
“He was a clever man who sold the club to the public
and that kept
it alive. Without him, and people like him, and the 6,000 hardcore fans it would have gone.”
Adams’ success at Brighton – he helped them secure promotion from League Two and it was his team that continued its upward momentum into the Championship – saw him head-hunted by Leicester.
But the financial problems that were lurking under the surface there soon came to the fore.
He said: “I didn’t realise the serious financial difficulties Leicester were in – otherwise I might have stayed at Brighton.
“We ended up in administration. I ended up addressing the staff. Nothing can prepare you for moments like that.
“Back then Leicester City played second fiddle to Leicester Tigers.
“The rugby union club carried the city’s name more than the football club.
“I think that’s been reversed now.
“It’s exciting times – and all for the right reasons.”