The Thistle Archive

Although born in Clitheroe, this defensive midfielder has played internationally for both Northern Ireland, in a senior friendly, and for Republic of Ireland at under-21 level. While playing for Preston North End, he earned his sole senior cap for Northern Ireland under manager Nigel Worthington, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 friendly draw against Morocco on November 17, 2010. Earlier, he had briefly pulled out of a Northern Ireland squad to keep his options open for England. Later, in March 2011, he also turned out at the youth level, making appearances for the Republic of Ireland under-21 team, creating a unique cross-border international background.

The 25-year-old Adam joined Alan Archibald's Thistle from Portsmouth on transfer deadline day in August 2016, signing a three-year contract. Appreciated for his height (6' 3"), elegance on the ball, and calm distribution, he operated effectively in central midfield and could also drop back to central defence when required. His debut 2016–17 season at Firhill was his finest. He won the Ladbrokes Premiership Player of the Month award for October 2016, becoming the first Thistle player to claim the monthly honour. In what was a fine double-whammy, he was also voted Thistle's Player of the Month for November 2016. An excellent Top 6 finish for the Jags was confirmed after the 1-0 Firhill win vs. Motherwell on 8th April 2017. It was the first time Thistle had made the "Top 6" League split, and came at the sixth time of asking. Capping a personally succesful season, Adam was voted the fans Player of the Year, with more than 1,200 votes being cast online.

By stark contrast, the 2017–18 season saw a sharp decline for both the player and the club. Struggling for form and results, he was often shifted out of midfield into central defence to try and plug a leaking backline. Thistle finished in the relegation play-off spot and lost 3–1 on aggregate to a much hungrier Livingston side, ending a five-year stay in the top flight. Following the drop, Adam was (quite rightly) placed on the transfer list and subsequently left the club by mutual consent in July 2018 before joining Dundee United. His career fairly nosedived at that point as he made very little impact at United, Connah's Quay Nomads, Wrexham or Farsley Celtic. He did, however, find a new lease of life with Curzon Ashton where, during his 5th season at the club, he was named player-manager in March 2026.

Adam is included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists →