Adam Uche Idah (born 11 February 2001) is an Irish 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 ...
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
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
Cork
"Cork" or "CORK" may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
*** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine
Places Ireland
* ...
to a Nigerian father and an Irish mother, Idah attended
Douglas Community School
Douglas Community School, also known as Douglas Com or DCS, is an all boy's community school in Douglas, Cork, Ireland. It was founded as Coláiste Muire by the Presentation Brothers in 1926 as a juniorate (i.e. for lower-cycle secondary s ...
. He started playing football with College Corinthians in 2007 at the age of six. He stayed with the Corinthians for ten years progressing through the youth levels before joining
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
as an academy scholar in 2017. In his first season at Norwich Idah played in the
Professional Development League
The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...
in Norwich's Premier League Under-18 side, scoring nine goals in 15 games. He completed a 10-minute hat-trick against
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
in the
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
before scoring another hat-trick against
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
in the U18 league. At the end of the season Idah won both the Norwich Under-18 player of the season and the academy player of the year awards.
During his second season at Norwich, Idah was productive in the youth team. He played in the club's under-23 side in Premier League 2, scoring 12 goals in 19 games. At the end of the season Idah was one of the eight nominations for Premier League 2 player of the season. On 4 July 2019, he signed his first professional contract with the club, signing a contract until 2023. In the 2019 pre-season, Idah trained with the first team, and was chosen to be part of Norwich's squad on their pre-season tour to Germany. In the first game of the tour he came on as a substitute in the 2–2 draw with
Arminia Bielefeld
DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...
, starting his first senior game for Norwich three days later in the friendly against
Bonner SC
Bonner SC is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Bonn. The club was formed in 1965 through the merger of ''Bonner FV'' and ''Tura Bonn''. Its women's football department won the List of German women's football champio ...
, scoring two goals. Idah again featured in Norwich's final game of the tour, coming on as a substitute against
Schalke 04
Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...
.
Senior career
Norwich City
Idah made his first senior appearance on 27 August 2019, playing the full 90 minutes as Norwich lost 1–0 at
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...
in the
EFL Cup
The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England.
Orga ...
. He made his Premier League debut as a substitute against Crystal Palace on 1 January 2020 before starting Norwich's
2019–20 FA Cup
The 2019–20 FA Cup (also known as the Football Association Challenge Cup) was the 139th edition of the oldest association football, football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates (airline), Emirates and known as The Emirates FA ...
third round match at
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
on 4 January, making his FA Cup debut. He scored his first professional
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
in the match, his third senior appearance for Norwich. On 15 January 2022, Idah scored his first Premier League goal for Norwich City in a 2–1 win against Everton. It was his first start for Norwich City in the Premier League and his first start for the Canaries at Carrow Road.
Celtic
Idah moved on loan to
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
on 1 February 2024. He scored two penalties against Hibernian at
Easter Road
Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-largest ...
Hampden Park
Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
against Rangers, sealing the League and Cup double.
On 14 August 2024, Idah returned to Celtic on a permanent transfer, signing a five-year contract. He was instrumental in Celtic's final two
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
, setting up Celtic's winning goal in the former and scoring twice in the latter.
International career
Idah was born in Cork to an Igbo-Nigerian father and Irish mother.
He has been a youth international for Ireland. Following Idah's hat-trick for
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
against
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
on 4 January 2020,
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
manager
Mick McCarthy
Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool.
McCarthy b ...
hinted that Idah may soon earn a full cap, commenting "He might have just got himself one", while working as a pundit for
BT Sport
TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...
's coverage of the match. On 24 August 2020, Idah was named in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
senior squad for the first time for the
UEFA Nations League
The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...
games against
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
and
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, in what was his manager at under 21 level, Stephen Kenny's first squad as senior manager.
On 3 September 2020, on his first call-up for the senior team, he made his debut in a 1–1 draw away to Bulgaria in the
2020–21 UEFA Nations League
The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...
.
On 19 June 2023, he scored his first goal for Ireland in a 3–0 win against
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier.
On 10 September 2023, he scored the opener for Ireland in an eventual 2–1 defeat to
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list the Republic of Ireland's goal tally first.''
Honours
Norwich City
*
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...
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 ...
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2023–24
*
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...