Jean-Pierre Adams
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jean-Pierre Adams | ||
| Date of birth | 10 March 1948 | ||
| Place of birth | Dakar, French West Africa | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1967–1970 | RC Fontainebleau | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1970–1973 | Nîmes | 98 | (10) |
| 1973–1977 | Nice | 144 | (17) |
| 1977–1979 | Paris Saint-Germain | 42 | (2) |
| 1979–1980 | Mulhouse | 20 | (2) |
| 1980–1981 | Chalon | 23 | (1) |
| Total | 327 | (32) | |
| National team | |||
| 1972–1976 | France | 22 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 April 2007. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Jean-Pierre Adams (born 10 March 1948) is a French former international footballer. Along with Marius Trésor, he was a member of the garde noire (black guard) as France's centre back. Since 17 March 1982, he has been in a coma following an operation.
Early life
Adams was born and raised in Dakar until the age of 10, when he left his native Senegal on a pilgrimage to Montargis in the Loiret department alongside his grandmother, who was a devout Catholic. When they arrived, she enlisted Adams at a local Catholic school, Saint-Louis de Montargis.[1] He was adopted by a French couple shortly after his arrival. During his studies he worked at a local rubber manufacturer and he started playing football at several local clubs in the Loiret department.[2]
Club career
He started his football career playing for RC Fontainebleau, with whom he won the Championnat de France amateur in 1968 and 1969. In 1970, he signed a contract with Nîmes, where he made 98 appearances and scored 10 goals in three years.[2] In 1972, he won the Coupe des Alpes and finished second in the national championship. After a convincing period with Nîmes, he was transferred to Nice in 1973, for whom he made 144 appearances and scored 17 goals in four years. He was runner up of the Ligue 1 in 1976, with Nice.[2] The last great team for whom he played for was Paris Saint-Germain, where he made 42 appearances and scored 2 goals, between 1977 and 1979.
International career
In 1972, he made his debut for the France national football team in a unofficial friendly played against an African XI selected by the CAF. He made his last cap for the national team in 1976, in a friendly against Denmark.[2] Alongside fellow defender Marius Trésor, he formed a strong defence for France called la garde noire (the black guard).
Personal life and injury
Adams and his wife Bernadette were married in April 1969. He has two sons, Laurent (born 1969) and Frédéric (born 1976). After suffering a ligament rupture, he was hospitalised for surgery on 17 March 1982 at the Édouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon. After an error made by his anaesthetist, Adams suffered a bronchospasm which starved his brain of oxygen. He entered into a coma on 17 March 1982.[3][4][5]
References
- ↑ "Association des anciens élèves de l'école Saint-Louis de Montargis" (in French). ecolesaintlouis.org. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Jean-Pierre Adams, 30 ans dans le coma" (in French). sofoot.com. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ↑ "Bernadette Adams : l'ange gardien de Jean-Pierre Adams" (in French). midilibre.fr. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ↑ "30 ans dans le coma : Le destin tragique de Jean-Pierre Adams" (in French). ndamli.sn. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
- ↑ "L'Eurélienne Bernadette Adams vit au chevet de son mari footballeur, dans le coma depuis 30 ans" (in French). lechorepublicain.fr. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
External links
- Adams' profile on FFF.fr
- "The footballer trapped in 'The House of the Beautiful Sleeping Athlete'" - an extract of an article on Jean-Pierre Adams' life from The Blizzard, published by The Guardian