Former Dundee skipper Charlie Adam has opened up about his relationship with his late dad, Charlie Snr.
And the 36-year-old admits his father never wanted him to come back to his home town after becoming a professional footballer.
Charlie Snr, who played for St Johnstone, Brechin, Dundee United, Forfar and Arbroath, passed away suddenly in 2012 at the age of 50.
In a wide-ranging and emotional interview on the BBC’s ‘This Sporting Life’ podcast, Charlie Jnr says his dad pushed him “to the limit” to be the best player he could be.
‘I couldn’t do anything right’
Criticism may have come often with some tough love but Adam says he was lucky to have the upbringing he did.
“I had a mentor to push me to the limit every day to make me better,” Charlie Jnr said.
“It was an unbelievable upbringing for me.
“He was very tough in everything. I couldn’t do anything right.
“I could play the best game but there was always a fault. Always something.
“I played for a Sunday League team and my dad had a big input and I remember one team he came down hard on me in front of everybody. I was in tears.
“Everybody felt it was harsh but I was used to it.
“There were some disagreements but the respect I have for my dad, I believed everything he said because he was going to make me the best player possible.
“Lucky for me, over the years, the effort and time he put in to make me better I hopefully repaid.”
He added: “I never really speak about it but 10 years is a long time and you never forget.
“I was lucky to have someone like that beside me and pushing me on.”
‘Only twice did he say he was proud’
Though he would be into double figures for Scotland caps and having played in Europe for Rangers, got promoted to the Premier League with Blackpool, it wasn’t until he signed for Liverpool that Adam saw the softer side of his father.
“This is how it was, even when we got promoted (with Blackpool), I didn’t have the best game and he criticised me,” Adam continued.
“The day we got promoted to the Premier League.
“Only twice did he say he was proud – the day I signed for Liverpool and the day I scored for Liverpool.
“He was crying in the stand when I signed.”
‘He never wanted me to come back’
After leaving Stoke, Adam would play for Reading before a call came from Dundee boss James McPake to join boyhood club Dundee.
At this time his mother Ellie was ill and her health would sadly deteriorate before she also passed away in December 2020.
A big part of returning to his home town was for his mother but Charlie Jnr says things would likely have been different had his father still been around.
“If my dad was still here, he probably wouldn’t have wanted me to sign (at Dundee),” Adam said.
“He never wanted me to come back home.
“Just because he wanted me to have a better life than what I was brought up in.
“He would say: Listen son, this will always be here, just go and enjoy your career’.
“I never thought about moving back to Scotland, I always thought England would be where I lived.
“I never thought I’d come back.
“I had some discussions with Steven (Gerrard) to come back for Rangers early on but it never happened. I was still at Stoke.
“But going back to Dundee, my dad never really wanted me to come back.
“He might have thought I’d get sucked into what everyone else was doing back home and the mentality of having everything go by you.
“He would say: ‘You’ve got your own life, go and do your own thing’.”
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