Adam James Wharton (born 6 February 2004) 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

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for club

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

and the

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. A Blackburn Rovers academy graduate, Wharton made his senior debut in the EFL Championship in 2022. He was signed by Crystal Palace in 2024, and won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, the club's first ever major trophy, in

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, his first full season. Wharton made his senior debut for England in June 2024, and was included in the squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

Club career

Blackburn Rovers

Wharton supported

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

as a young child and aged four, in 2008, he was club

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for a Blackburn game against Chelsea. Two years later, he joined the Blackburn academy. In February 2022, Wharton signed his first professional contract at Blackburn, a two-and-a-half-year deal with an option through to 2025. On 10 August 2022, Wharton made his professional debut after being named in the starting XI for a 4–0

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 ...

first round victory at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

against

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 27 August 2022, Wharton made his league debut against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

coming off the bench at half time for Joe Rankin-Costello. On 31 August 2022, Wharton made his full 90 minutes league debut against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, winning player of the match. On 22 October 2022, Wharton scored his first goal for the club during a victory over

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Crystal Palace

On 1 February 2024,

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

announced the signing of Wharton on a five-and-a-half-year contract. The fee was undisclosed by the club, but reported to be an initial fee of £18 million, which could potentially rise to £22 million. He made his first appearance for the club two days later, coming off the bench against

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Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in a 4–1 defeat. Wharton started all 15 of Crystal Palace's remaining league fixtures that season. In October 2024, Wharton suffered a groin injury that required surgery and kept him sidelined for three months. On 17 May 2025, Wharton started in the

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against

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, helping his side to a 1–0 victory that secured Palace's first ever major trophy.

International career

On 16 September 2022, Wharton along with Blackburn teammate Ashley Phillips was called up to the England under-19 squad. Wharton made his debut in a 2–0 win against

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. On 31 August 2023, Wharton was included in England under-20 training camp squad. On 16 November, he made his U20 debut during a 3–0 defeat to

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at the

Eco-Power Stadium The Eco-Power Stadium (formerly known as Keepmoat Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Doncaster, England, with a capacity of 15,231. It cost approximately Pound sterling, £20 million to construct, as part of the wider Lakeside Sports ...

. On 25 March 2024, he received his first call up for the England under-21 team for a Euro qualifying match, and made his debut the following day, coming on as a substitute in a 7–0 win over

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. On 21 May 2024, Wharton received his first

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call up as part of the 33-player preliminary squad for

. He made his England debut, as a substitute on 3 June during a 3–0 win against

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. On 6 June, he was named in the final 26-man squad for the tournament, where he remained an unused substitute.

Style of play

Wharton's intelligence and technical ability is a notable characteristic of his playing style. The head of Blackburn Rovers academy, Stuart Jones, told BBC Radio 5 "In terms of his attributes, he was always an outstanding footballer, his ability on the football, his football intelligence and game understanding, he sees things that possibly other players don't see and he's always shown that from a young age." Following his England debut, Gareth Southgate commented on his ability to receive the ball.

Personal life

Adam is the younger brother of Scott Wharton, a professional footballer at Blackburn. Wharton was privately educated at Moorland School in Lancashire.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Crystal Palace *

: 2024–25 England *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

Adam Wharton
at

Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club, commonly referred to as Crystal Palace or simply Palace, is a professional football club based in Selhurst, South London, England, which competes in the Premier League, the top-tier of English football. The clu ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Adam 2004 births Living people Footballers from Blackburn English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers England men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century English sportsmen