Steve McAdam

Steve McAdam
Personnel
Surname	Steven McAdam
birthday	April 2, 1960
place of birth	Portadown ,  Northern Ireland
date of death	February 21, 2004
Place of death	Donaghadee ,  Northern Ireland
position	Full-back (left)
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1976-1988	Portadown FC
1978-1980	Burnley FC	5 (0)
1980	Oldham Athletic	0 (0)
1980	Barnsley FC	0 (0)
1980-1982	Wigan Athletic	26 (0)
1982-1985	EPA Larnaca
1 Only league games are given.

Steven "Steve" McAdam (born April 2, 1960 in Portadown , † February 21, 2004 in Donaghadee ) was a Northern Irish football player . McAdam played as a professional in England and Cyprus for several years.

Career

McAdam was directed in 1976 by Gibby McKenzie to the Northern Irish first division club FC Portadown after he had noticed this as captain of a Northern Irish youth national team at an international tournament. In 1977 he took part in the UEFA youth tournament in Belgium with Northern Ireland . Soon afterwards, interested parties from the English Football League followed , and an offer from Arsenal FC was rejected by McAdam's parents with reference to his ongoing training as an electrician. In the summer of 1978 he finally moved together with his teammate Jim Gardiner for a transfer fee of £ 10,000 for the English second division club Burnley FC . Until his debut it was until April 1980 when he replaced Ian Brennan in the 1-1 draw against Newcastle United on the left-back position. McAdam was also on the last four game days in the squad, but this remained his only appearances for Burnley, who relegated to the Third Division at the end of the season. McAdam turned down a new contract offer from Burnley, also because a new left-back was signed with David Holt . McAdam was active in the following months at Oldham Athletic and Barnsley FC on a contractless basis, but did not make any competitive appearances.

In November 1980 he finally received a contract with fourth division club Wigan Athletic and came to 25 league appearances by the end of the season. In the subsequent season 1981/82 it was enough for the calm and straightforward full-back only for one season use, when his teammates ensured promotion to the third division. McAdam then received no new contract and was brought by Frank O'Farrell to the Cypriot first division club EPA Larnaka , where he was active for three years. Recurring injury problems increasingly hampered him before he was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome .

McAdam returned to Northern Ireland and settled in Bangor , where he lived with his wife and two children. With the increasing severity of the disease and the need for help that came with it, McAdam fell ill with depression and made several suicide attempts. In 2004, although he was acutely suicidal, he was released from a clinic and given into the care of his family because there was not a single inpatient therapy place available in Northern Ireland. Less than 48 hours after his release, he took his own life at Donaghadee Harbor while driving his car into the Irish Sea .

At the instigation of his family, there was a judicial investigation in 2008 and a meeting with the Northern Irish Minister of Health Michael McGimpsey , who promised to improve the accommodation of psychiatric emergencies.

literature

• Dean P. Hayes: The Who's Who of Wigan Athletic . Breedon Books, Derby 2004, ISBN 1-85983-420-5 , pp. 86 .

Web links

• "Steve McAdam passes away" - message on clarets-mad.co.uk from October 11, 2004

Individual evidence

1. ↑ nifootball.blogspot.com: International Youth Tournament Match Details 1948-1980
2. ↑ bbc.co.uk: Health service blamed for suicide (June 23, 2008)
3. ↑ bbc.co.uk: Suicide risk was 'not removable' (June 27, 2008)
4. ↑ portadowntimes.co.uk: Family wins battle as Minister changes hospital strategy for psychiatric patients (7 Aug 2008)