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Personal
Fullname: Adam Virgo
Born: 25 January 1983
Birthplace: Brighton, England
Signed: 20 July 2005 (£1.5m from Brighton)
Left: 30 June 2008 (free back to Brighton)
Position: Defender, Central Defender
Debut: Rangers 3-1 Celtic, 20 Aug 2005, League
Internationals: None
Trivia
- Adam Virgo was signed on a four year contract by Gordon Strachan in July of 2005 for £1.5 million from Brighton [BBC].
- Adam made his Brighton debut in March 2001, at the age of 18, in a 2-0 victory over Mansfield [BBC] and has been capped at Scotland ‘B’ level.
- In 2006, his season long loan to Coventry was curtailed by a knee injury. In Aug 2007, Virgo joined Colchester on loan for 6 months [BBC]
- On 31 December 2007 Virgo’s loan period at Colchester was extended until the end of the 2007-08 season.
- In June 2008, Virgo was freed by Celtic (e.g. no transfer fee etc), after an unsuccessful spell. A write off of £1.5m at the end of the day. Signed again for Brighton.
Biog
Adam Virgo was a surprise purchase when he moved to Celtic in July 2005 from Brighton as one of Gordon Strachan’s first buys as Celtic manager.
The defender had undoubtedly enjoyed a successful time at the Championship side where he had been voted Player of the Year immediately prior to his move to Glasgow. Adam Virgo’s efforts in defence and as a makeshift striker had played a significant part in earning Brighton promotion in season 2003/04 and then keeping them in English football’s second tier.
However, being a relative unknown from the lower reaches of English football meant that Adam Virgo would have to win over a sceptical Parkhead public unsure of the manager’s early forays into the transfer market.
According to media reports Adam Virgo would cost the Bhoys a relatively hefty £1.5 million. Although that figure was believed to include significant bonus payments which would only be paid if Virgo proved to be a success.
Against such a background then it was key for Virgo to get his Celtic career off to a flier but knee trouble meant the defender would to miss the start of the season. His debut was in a 3-1 defeat to Rangers at the start of Gordon Strachan’s reign as Celtic manager, and it didn’t help matters in light of the then recent low of being knocked out early of the Champions League to Artmedia Bratislava (a match that Adam Virgo did not play in). It was a baptism of fire for Adam Virgo.
Once fit, appearances remained rare and mostly confined to the subs bench. His performances were unconvincing but in fairness he was frequently played out of position. However, Celtic had recovered their form and he had to challenge to get back into the first team.
A rare start in a 3-1 league win at Motherwell saw Adam Virgo – a likeable character – produce a solid defensive display, but it would prove to be a false dawn for his Celtic career. First team chances became increasingly rare and by the start of the following campaign Virgo had joined Coventry on a season long loan which would be ruined by injury.
In reflection, he was unfortunate to not be given more credit as he only played in one league defeat in his time at Celtic. He did also play in the embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Clyde in the Scottish Cup, but he was the least of the problems that day.
He would spend most of 2007/08 on loan at Colchester and was eventually released by Celtic in the summer of 2008.
An expensive transfer that didn’t work out. Many people didn’t even realise Celtic ever signed him or that he ever played for the first team (few remember him), which likely is the most dispiriting aspect of his transfer for him.
After leaving Celtic, he made some incredible allegations such as that in one match he was not chosen as a Chinese player (Du Wei) was picked ahead of him as it would be better for TV ratings for the club. Celtic retorted vehemently denying it, and in truth the club is likely correct. If Celtic really did wish to use Du Wei to help leverage the club’s image to gain revenue from Chinese markets, then the club would have played him regularly.
However, he only ever played once and that was as a sub. So hardly indication that Virgo was sidelined for Du Wei during his time at Celtic (and it was a early round Scottish Cup game v Clyde). Doesn’t stand up really, and maybe Virgo should have looked closer to home for his own failings for his time at Celtic.
He alleged abuse and threats from Rangers fans, which is unacceptable. If all true doesn’t reflect well on the Scottish environment in those days (and the Rangers fans in this case). No players should have to deal with any of that. He’s a player who didn’t behave badly, and so people targeting him was wrong and misdirected, although sadly it does go on across the football world in many cities.
He retired from playing in October 2013. He moved into coaching football at his old school, Ardingly College.
We wish him the best.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2005/06 | 3 (7) | 0 (1) | 1 (0) | 0 | 4 (8) |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
Articles
My disbelief at Celtic interest
https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/6802956.my-disbelief-at-celtic-interest/
20th July 2005
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Adam Virgo today revealed his bewilderment at being told he was wanted by his favourite top-flight club.
The 22-year-old Albion star is set to join Celtic in a record-equalling £1.5 million move today.
Virgo, who spent holidays as a youngster visiting relatives in Scotland, is a long-time admirer of Celtic and remembers watching current Albion boss Mark McGhee play in televised Old Firm matches.
All of which made it even harder to get his head around the fact he was moving to Parkhead.
Virgo and McGhee met on Saturday morning for the guessing game that changed the young defender’s life.
He said: “The gaffer tried to get me to guess who the team was and I named some Championship teams.
“He had a green shirt on and he pointed to that and said it’s the big team in Scotland.
“I couldn’t believe it. I felt dizzy, overwhelmed. I was in a daze for a little while. Then we had a good chat for 45 minutes. I had to go home and think about it and talk to my friends and family but it was an easy decision to make.
“It’s going to be a new experience for me to move away from Brighton.
“I’ve been here for 22 years, I’ve been to school here, played local football and now to move to a different country with a different style of football and different way of living will be a big step up.
“But I know I’ve got my family behind me. I’ve got very close friends who will come and support me and my girlfriend Jodie is going to move up eventually which is a nice factor as well.
“A lot of things have happened and to come out of it hopefully signing for Celtic if the medial goes well is a dream come true.”
Virgo is relishing a first visit to Parkhead today but insists the prospect does not over-awe him.
He said: “I’ve supported Celtic since about 1988. Me and my brother have been massive fans.
“I remember watching the gaffer playing for them when I was a youngster.
“You had Frank McAvennie, Paul McStay, then there was Jorge Cadete and Paulo di Canio and more recently Henrik Larsson.
“I’ve been to Scotland to see relatives and when I was in the Scotland Futures squad.
“I’ve never been to Parkhead, I must admit, but I’d always watch Celtic when they were on the telly.
“I was on the club website on Monday night and it looks a big ground. But I’ve played at the Millennium Stadium.
“I thought I had a decent game that day and we won, which was the biggest point of that day.
“It was a good experience and playing in front of crowds like that every other week is going to be a big change for me in my life.
“The Championship is fast and aggresive but there are some very good teams in the Scottish League as well, regardless of what people say.
“You’ve got the Old Firm games and the factor of playing in the Champions League as well.
“We’ve got qualifiers for that but I feel we have the quality to get through and have got every chance of playing the likes of Juventus and Barcelona next season.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to learn as player.”
Virgo is not the first player Strachan has taken off his old mate’s hands.
McGhee was manager of Wolves when he sold Robbie Keane to Strachan at Coventry City.
McGhee said: “Gordon was at an advantage this time in that he’s seen more of Adam Virgo than most managers because he has been here a lot being a friend of mine.
“The same was true when he bought Robbie Keane from Wolves. He had seen a lot more of Robbie Keane than anyone else. He took Robbie Keane for £3 million and sold him for £10 million.
“I sincerely hope it works for him and for Virgo.”
Interview with Adam Virgo
source: http://www.bristolrovers.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=321742
This summer, there are thought to be somewhere near 700 footballers who face uncertainty over their futures, and compete for an ever decreasing number of professional contracts.
One however, in the case of Adam Virgo, has trodden a very different path than most to get to where he is now.
“It`s never easy for a player coming out of contract. You hope a manager likes you enough to give you a chance, and when you`ve been injured for a period of time that`s harder, as managers will look at games played and your age and think ‘what can I get from this player and is he value for money?`”
With a career that takes in the entire Football League in England and Champions League football at Celtic, unsurprisingly his options are slightly wider.
“I have had one or two offers from this country, and spoken with clubs abroad. Some managers think ‘if I can get him fit then I could get a player for good value`. You need luck of course, but you hope what you`ve done in the past will help.”
To say that Adam Virgo`s life story has been eventful would be an understatement.
“I lost my mum at 13 to a heart attack.” Recalls Adam, however worse was to follow.
Later that same year, his father Bob was diagnosed with liver disease; and in 2001 his elder brother James, also a footballer, underwent a lengthy operation to unblock a valve in his heart.
In 2005 however, with Adam a key part of hometown club Brighton & Hove Albion, worse was to come. Far worse.
“My dad was burgled in January 2005 and attacked, which led to his death two weeks later. It`s still an open manslaughter case.”
Adam was the first person to his father`s aid following the attack, and had to painfully relive those moments at an inquest into his death later that year.
Two men had broken into the property and demanded a stash of drugs they believed was hidden there. Those men have never been found.
A verdict of unlawful death was returned, and Sussex Police launched a manhunt to try and find those responsible.
In such circumstances it would perhaps be understandable if Adam had made the wrong career or life choices, but he instead worked hard on the pitch, and was rewarded with the player of the year trophy after a turbulent season.
That triggered interest from north of the border.
“The move to Celtic happened quite quickly. I didn`t want to go initially because of the stuff that had happened with Dad. I knew of the interest and didn`t feel I was ready, but the club forced me to leave.”
Thanks to Adam`s performances for Brighton there were no lack of suitors, and the club is a very different place these days to the one which needed the £1.5m from Celtic back then.
“I had offers from England but none as big as Celtic, and the chance to play in the Champions League was hard to turn down.”
Big things were promised to Virgo by Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, who had personally seen him several times while at Brighton.
“I was promised I would start as his number one right back, and then move into the centre of defence, but that was never kept to. On my debut I got voted man of the match in a game live on TV, and the next game I was dropped.”
There was one match which encapsulated his time in Scotland.
“We played Clyde in the FA Cup, and I was promised again that I would start. The manager played a Chinese boy instead as he was told the game would be live on Chinese television so the club would get more money.”
To further illustrate the mental strength that he has, Virgo recalls some of the more unsavoury times in Scotland.
“I received death threats on the phone and by post, and of course the usual stuff from Rangers fans. For some reason footballers are expected to take that, or in some way deserve it.”
Adam could never quite establish himself in the team at Parkhead, and spent the second half of his three-years at the club out on loan, back in England.
Unsurprisingly, when he left Scotland his first choice was to rejoin boyhood club Brighton, and reunite with manager Mickey Adams who had initially brought Adam into the side.
“I moved back to Brighton mainly because of the manager. He had come to watch me train when I was a kid playing for the youth team in my half term holidays, and he was the one who offered me my first professional contract.”
“The ground was a big factor as well, the club had recently gained approval for the new stadium at Falmer after a long battle. I could have gone elsewhere but I really thought this would be my last move. That never really worked out.”
Sadly in Adam`s case the old adage of never going back proved to be the case. The club informed him that his contract would not be renewed, and the summer of 2010 brought about his first taste of the West Country.
“Yeovil seemed like a good move, I knew I would be a regular starter and I already knew Nathan Jones, the assistant manager. That always helps, and I loved it.”
After a stand-out season though, Virgo was on the move again.
“I had agreed to join Wycombe in League One, but when Paul Buckle told me what he wanted to do at Bristol Rovers, and the players he had already brought in like Matt Gill and Matty Harrold I felt I would be winning a lot more with Rovers than with Wycombe.”
“Bucks seemed a good man and three or four phone calls to me helped me pick the Gas.”
Sadly the pre-season optimism which engulfed both players and supporters quickly dissipated.
“On paper that team was the best in the league, but when you sign so many players at once it can take a season to gel. We did well in pre season and at the start but we then had a few injuries, and a few bad results so the manager made a few changes which ultimately confused the players.”
Buckle was given his marching orders after just a few months, and replaced by another of Adam`s former managers at Brighton, Mark McGhee.
“Injuries played a huge part in Mark`s time at the club. He had a good start, and stabilised the club well after Bucks but for the new season maybe the new players weren`t firing. He missed out on James Constable and also lost Matt Harrold and Gary Kenneth to long term injuries, and it does unsettle the team.”
“Again us as players could we have done more, and I think Mark would have said he may have done things differently.”
Rovers fortunes did improve however when following another sacking, former manager John Ward returned.
“John brought a lot more organisation to the club, and a bit more structure. Some players missed training sometimes before, with some fairly strange reasons. I have never known that in my whole career.”
“The tempo of training has increased and he is on everyone`s case and doesn`t let much slip. The gaffer is a good bloke who had time for everyone, even the injured players. I never played for him unfortunately but he was always asking how I was doing.”
Injuries have blighted Adam`s time at the club, and have meant that he`s never really managed to sustain a long run in the Rovers team.
“I picked up a micro-fracture of my right knee; and then I had a further cartilage operation; and a meniscus repair as well. I had five operations in total.”
It was an unheralded time for lengthy injuries for Bristol Rovers, but is that purely down to luck?
“Bad luck has played a part for some of us definitely. I`m not saying the other injuries were the players` fault but injury prevention in training does help and I feel we just didn`t do enough of that as a team.”
“When you start getting a few of the same injury you have to look at why that might be, and I don`t think we did that. Moving training grounds didn`t help because there was no gym for the injured players to use, so we were all in different places.”
Adam remains positive about his future though.
“I have seen a new surgeon and started seeing a new physio who has sorted me right out with a new training schedule. I am looking at possibly moving abroad so it`s exciting times for me and my family.”
After a long, winding road of a career, Adam has finally enjoyed a couple of positive years away from the pitch. He became a father to William, now 2, in 2011 and recently got married.
“I have come a long way personally in the last few months. I hope to stay in football when I retire but I`m excited about spending time with my family.”
Hopefully that`s not just yet though. At just 30, Adam has experience that is rare in the lower leagues, and still harbours an ambition to play at Wembley. Either on the pitch or the stage…
“Playing the guitar is my favourite hobby! I`ve played for about 16 years and have even done open mic spots before in front of audiences!”
For a player who probably won`t be considered as a great for Bristol Rovers, I struggle to think of many I hope succeed more.
And if young William grows up with even half as much dignity, courage and talent as his father, he will do very well for himself.
Many thanks to Mark McBurney for the interview.
Celtic deny claims by former Hoops player Adam Virgo that he was dropped for a game in favour of Du Wei for Asian TV
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/celtic-deny-claims-former-player-1954029
VIRGO also hits out at former manager Gordon Strachan and claims he received death threats while he was at Parkhead where he made just four starts for the club.
By
Virgo was overjoyed when he signed for Celtic (Image: SNS Group/Aubrey Washington)
ADAM VIRGO has claimed a shocking series of events wrecked his Celtic career.The Englishman was viewed as an almighty £1.5million flop at Parkhead after an injury-ravaged and disastrous spell at the club after signing in 2005 from Brighton.
Virgo made just four starts for the club in three years after a nightmare time.However, in his defence, the defender has come up with a list of stunning reasons as to why things went so badly wrong and contributed to his dismal contribution in the Hoops.Virgo claims he was:
Virgo, now 30, is on the lookout for a new club having been released by Bristol Rovers at the end of last season.However, in a far-reaching interview on vitalfootball.co.uk, he cast his mind back to the days when he was hot property after being snapped up by Celtic eight years ago.Virgo’s problems began even before he got here, with heartbreaking personal circumstances clouding his move.His mother died of a heart attack when he was just 13, his father was diagnosed with liver disease and then died in awful circumstances.
Burgled in January 2005, Virgo’s father was attacked during the raid and passed away two weeks later after a crime which is still an open manslaughter case.Within weeks, Virgo was subject to a move from Strachan to sign from Brighton and he said: “The move to Celtic happened quite quickly.
“I didn’t want to go initially because of the stuff that had happened with Dad. I knew of the interest and didn’t feel I was ready, but the club forced me to leave.“I had offers from England, but none as big as Celtic and the chance to play in the Champions League was hard to turn down.”Virgo claims big things were promised to him by Strachan, who had personally seen him play several times for Brighton, but the position changed rapidly.His instant impact on the Celtic fans was impressive. Starting his first match against Dunfermline at the end of August, Virgo stood out with a fine performance as the team swept to a 4-0 win over the Fifers at East End Park.
Buoyed by his display, the defender set his sights on the subsequent match against Aberdeen at Celtic Park.However, he was bombed back onto the bench for the visit of the Dons. Virgo claimed: “I was promised I would start as his [Strachan’s] No.1 right-back and then move into the centre of defence, but that was never kept to.Virgo claims he was dropped for the Scottish Cup tie at Clyde to let Du Wei in (Image: SNS) “On my debut I was voted man of the match in a game live on TV. The next game, I was dropped.
”Virgo went on to describe the scenario which he says sums up his time in Glasgow’s East End. Having made just four more appearances in four months since his starting slot against the Pars, Virgo was preparing with extra vigour for a Scottish Cup tie against Clyde at Broadwood.With first-choice centre-back Bobo Balde having left Glasgow to take part in the African Nations Cup, Virgo says he was promised a start against the Bully Wee. But he claims Strachan was then told he had to play Du Wei to help the club obtain valuable income from TV in Asia. A claim which has been strongly denied by the club who insist it’s untrue.
But Virgo claimed: “We played Clyde in the Cup and I was promised again that I would start.“The manager played a Chinese boy instead as he was told the game would be live on Chinese television, so the club would get more money.”
Virgo also says he was targeted by fans on the opposite side of the Glasgow divide and added: “I received death threats on the phone and by post and, of course, the usual stuff from Rangers fans. For some reason footballers are expected to take that or in some way deserve it.
”Virgo, of course, spent a large part of his Celtic career punted out on loan.Having been farmed out to Coventry and Colchester as the Hoops realised he was not going to provide any value for money, he was eventually freed back to Brighton.Spells at Yeovil and Bristol Rovers followed and now he faces the prospect of trying to find new employers again.
Virgo remains positive, though, and said: “I have seen a new surgeon and started seeing a new physio who has sorted me right out with a new training schedule. I’m looking at possibly moving abroad so it’s exciting times for me and my family.
“I have come a long way personally in the last few months. I hope to stay in football when I retire but I’m excited about spending time with my family.”