ARSENAL legend Tony Adams had such a troubled upbringing he could only date women who were the opposite of his “large” mum and reminded him of his sister.
The ex-England star admitted in a searingly honest interview that his mother’s size drove him to bed skinny women.
The former England defender – publicising his new book ‘Sober’ with the Times said: “I had a lot of mother issues, sister issues. My mother was quite a large woman, so that affected my romances.
“Every woman I ever went with was like a stick.
“I loved my parents to bits but they were from a very different generation.
“Mum married Dad because he didn’t knock her about, had a job, and gave her a few quid.
“Dad’s perception of a woman was a cook and sex.
“My girlfriends looked like my sister most of the time.
“Plus I was boozing, so all the romances I did through that time were barmaids, drug dealers and druggies.”
most read in football
Adams is now alcohol free and busy campaigning for better understanding of addiction in football – as well as a job at Arsenal.
He endured miserable moments during his recovery and his coaching career has stalled with disappointing spells in Portsmouth, Azerbaijan and Spain.
But he proved with a gag about former team-mate Freddie Ljundberg that he has not lost his sense of humour along his famously trying journey.
Adams joked: “When I stopped drinking [in 1996], and lived on my own for six years, I got to know me, warts and all, and had grown-up, proper relationships with girls and boys, obviously sex with the girls, but then again Freddie’s [Ljungberg’s] bottom is very attractive!
“People think because you give up the booze you become boring and glum, but there is humour.”
Leave a comment