Former Aston Villa man Albert Adomah giving kids the chance with five-a-side tournament

Now the former Villa winger is keen to help others follow in his footsteps.

Next Saturday, July 3, Adomah is staging a five-a-side football tournament in Birmingham which, while primarily designed as a fun event to build community spirit, he hopes can also act as a showcase for talented youngsters who might otherwise be overlooked.

Few know about that better than Adomah, who played for years on the parks and five-a-side pitches of London before belatedly being spotted and given his break in the professional game by Barnet, aged 20.

“Parks football, cage football, amateur, Sunday football – you name it, I played it,” he says.

“I really just wanted to do something to get youngsters involved, just give them an opportunity really. I’ve invited my agent and a few others and who knows, they might spot someone?

“Players do get missed. QPR were my team growing up and I used to play on the cage pitches right next to Loftus Road.

“It was right around the corner but no-one ever came to watch us and they missed me out. Sometimes I do think clubs are guilty of missing what is right on their doorstep.”

At the age of 33, Adomah is finally playing for his beloved Rs, after a career which has also taken in stops at Bristol City, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Cardiff and of course Villa, where he spent three seasons and was part of the team which helped the club win promotion back to the Premier League in 2019.

While he hopes his playing days still have some time left to run (only when he reaches the same age as his No.37 shirt will he even consider retirement), the former Ghana international knows he is nearer the end than the start and already giving consideration to what might come next.

Adomah is steadily working through his coaching badges, having earned his B licence prior to the pandemic. The tournament, which takes place at Goals in Perry Barr, is viewed as a chance to ‘give something back’ to the community.

Never one to forget his roots, Adomah was named Villa’s community player of the year in his final season with the club, following his work with the club’s charity foundation.

“I still live in Birmingham with my family and wanted to do something locally which would bring people together,” he explains.

“This is the first one I am putting on and hopefully, if it goes well, I will look to do more, maybe in other cities where I have played or back here in Birmingham. I just want to get as many people involved as possible.”

The tournament will be split into two age categories, one for players aged between 11 and 14 and the other for those aged 15 to 22.

Each squad requires a minimum of six players and can have a maximum of eight, while the entry fee is £30 per team.

Prizes, including a trophy, customised footballs and footwear will be presented to the winners, while Adomah intends to reward the player he spots producing the best piece of skill on the day.

A willingness to attempt the outrageous and embrace the fun side of the game when appropriate has always been part of Adomah’s character.

It made him a popular figure among Villa supporters and during the pandemic, with fans shut out of stadiums, he has posted regular videos of his own tricks on social media, carried out around the home, encouraging his followers to try them out for themselves.

“I think young people can be inspired by that,” he explains. “They see a footballer doing these skills and think: ‘Wow’.

“I’ve got some special slippers which I wear for the skills challenges around the home. The winning team at the tournament will get a pair each.”

Adomah claims to have been a social media sceptic before being convinced by a friend to join Twitter and Instagram early last year.

He continues: “I always said I’d never go on social media. After matches we’d be sat in the dressing room, team-mates would go straight on social media and I would think: ‘Don’t they have lives?’

“Somehow I got talked into it. That is where it started with the skills challenges during the first lockdown.

“People are stuck at home and can’t really have fun. I thought, why not do some skills and show what I can do not just on the pitch but off the pitch too?

“This tournament is about trying to get that social media audience involved in a physical way.

“If someone comes along and gets scouted, that is something I would be very proud of. But just taking part, that is the most important thing.”

For more information on the Uncs37 Tournament or information on how to enter, visit Adomah’s Twitter and Instagram page @uncs37.