Blair Vincent Adams (born 8 September 1991) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. His professional career dates back to 2010 since which time he has played with teams including Brentford, Northampton Town, Coventry City, Mansfield Town, Cambridge United, and Gateshead. Over his career he has made over 100 appearances in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

and played in more than 300 matches overall.

Career

Adams graduated from Sunderland's academy in summer 2010. He was given the squad number 34 during his first professional season and was the reserves' leading appearance-maker in 2010–11, playing 24 games. On 8 September 2011, Adams moved to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

on loan until 7 December and on 5 October, he scored his first ever professional goal against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

. With seven appearances, Adams return to Sunderland from a loan spell. On 2 January 2012 Adams moved on loan to Northampton Town. At the end of January, Adams loan spell at Northampton was extended by another month His loan spells was soon extended twice, leading another one until the end of the season On 17 November 2012, he moved to Coventry City on loan. On the same day, Adams made his debut, setting up a goal for Carl Baker, in a 5–0 win over

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

. On 8 December 2012, Adams scored an own goal but Coventry went on to win 5–1. This loan was made permanent on 17 January 2013. Two days after making his move permanent, Adams played his first match in a 2–0 win over

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

. Adams and Coventry mutually parted ways at the end of the 2013–14 season, later signing with League One club

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. In October 2015 Adams joined

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

on a one-month loan. On 17 November 2015, his loan contract has extended until 19 January 2016. After a spell with

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, Adams signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

in January 2017. He was released by Hamilton at the end of the 2016–17 season. After a brief period at Hartlepool United Adams was announced as a new signing for his hometown club,

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

on 27 July 2018. On his 27th birthday, 8 September, he scored a hat-trick in a FA Cup qualifying match against Garforth Town that ended 5–1. Adams signed a new two-year contract in March 2020, with the option of a further year. As of March 2020, he was coaching as part of the club's Futures Academy at Mortimer Community College. On 12 January 2021, Adams joined

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

side

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

on an initial 28-day loan. The one-year option on Adams' contract was triggered at the end of the 2021–22 season. He helped South Shields gain promotion to the

in 2023, and remained with them for one further season. In 2025, Adams spent a few weeks with

North Shields North Shields ( ) is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...

of the Northern League Division One before signing for National League North club

on 24 March until the end of the season.

Career statistics

Honours

South Shields *

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

: 2022–23

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Blair 1991 births Living people Footballers from South Shields English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Sunderland A.F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players South Shields F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players North Shields F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen