A defensive lynchpin, Tony Adams is considered as Arsenal’s best-ever defender.
A giant standing at 6ft 3in, he oozed class when on the pitch with countless interceptions, dominant performances and all around exceptional skill and defensive stability.
Adams, who captained both the Gunners and England, had a statue made after him, which is situated at the North Bank area 0f the Emirates Stadium.
The 49-year-old joined Arsenal back in 1983 as a trainee and progressed through the ranks before being presented with the captain’s armband in 1988 at the age of just 22.
The defender retired with the second highest all-time appearances record at Arsenal (669) placing him behind David O’Leary, and left the national team at the age of 34 with 66 caps to his name. An impeccable player.
1892: The first game of basketball was played at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.
1974: Millwall beat Fulham 1-0 at The Den in the first Football League match ever to take place on a Sunday.
1984: Swimmer and ‘Tarzan’ actor Johnny Weissmuller died, aged 79. The first man to swim 100 metres in under one minute, he won five gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1924 and 1928. After his swimming career he went on to star in 12 Hollywood Tarzan films.
1987: Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli was born. The Italian tragically died on October 23, 2011 after an accident during the Malaysian Grand Prix.
2006: Arsenal signed 16-year-old striker Theo Walcott from Southampton for an initial £5million.
2009: England and Bath prop Matt Stevens revealed he had failed a drugs test and was promptly suspended from both club and country.
2011: British sprinter Bernice Wilson had a four-year ban confirmed after losing an appeal against the sanction imposed following her positive test for two anabolic steroids.
