The Shirt With: Hull City Manager Nigel Adkins

HULL, England- For someone who exposed the careers of Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain among others before they went on to earn big money moves and become full England internationals, Nigel Howard Adkins knows a thing or two about taking opportunities and making them count.

The Hull City FC manager was therefore, the perfect candidate to roll out the global content series entitled ‘The Shirt’ with SportPesa partners Everton FC, Southampton FC, Torino FC and his Tigers.

Adkins, 53, is the only manager to have been filmed for the series that will run exclusively on SportPesa online and social media platforms that aims at uncovering what it really means to don ‘The Shirt’ and represent their club at the highest level.

Having played as a goalkeeper for former English Premier League side, Wigan Athletic FC and Tranmere Rovers, Adkins started his managerial career at Welsh club Bangor City.

Over two decades later, the Tigers boss has distinguished himself as one of the most respected coaches and talent spotter in England and abroad, with some of the precocious talent that has played under him going on to be global stars.

Adkins broadened his odds of chance when he graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in physiotherapy after his playing career, a route seldom taken by professional footballers. He later joined the physiotherapy department at Scunthorpe United FC.

So, how did this respected figure get into football?

Sewed stripes

Adkins was inspired to be a goal keeper at nine when his father found him a yellow shirt which the mother sewed black stripes on the side of the arms to grant him his first football jersey.

“I remember England national team had a yellow shirt then, so the uniform that my mother stitched became my pride and joy. I felt like England keeper, Ray Clemence,” Adkins recollected.

This motivation drove him to work extra hard and his efforts paid off when he penned his first contract with Tranmere at 18.

Adkins moved to Wigan four years later, where he plied his trade from 1986 to 1993 before a spinal cord injury almost ended his career.

“I was thinking, what I’m I going to do now? I wanted to play for as long as I could but realised that I probably couldn’t,” he underlined.

Determined not to part ways with the beautiful game, he embarked on a degree course in physiotherapy.

Things got tight for him half way through the course when his wife was taken ill after giving birth to their second born, Nicholas.

Nevertheless, Adkins soldiered on to complete his sturdies believing his course would help him secure a job to look after his family when he retires from football.

Lady luck smiled on him and he was able to reach an agreement with Bangor, who signed him as a player-coach from 1993 to 1996.

“We were very, very successful. I gained loads of experience from that, and then went to Scunthorpe (2006 to 2010) and Southampton (2010 to 2013) where I furthered my skills,” Adkins stressed.

His tenure at Southampton saw the Saints move from League One to the EPL in successive seasons.

Adkins also had stints with Reading FC (2013 to 2014), Sheffield United FC (2015 to 2016) before taking over from former Russia boss Leonid Slutsky at Hull last year.

As a manager of five different clubs in Britain, Adkins maintains prospective bosses need to instil confidence in the players at the same time, work himself through the process.

Elite level

“Make sure you do the basics well to an elite level. I make sure we have a training programme in place to help the players get fitter within the framework of a team and excel at what they are good at.

“I keep reminding them that their playing days are the best ever, so let them be the best they can be. I tell them to work within as a team but they have to do their job. I tell them to come to training every day and maximize the full potential they got,” he underlined.

Adkins is also quick to remind his players to respect the badge and the uniform, for they are so powerful.

Finding a struggling club that was at risk of dropping to the third tier League One, Adkins steadied the Hull ship and led them to an 18th finish out of the 24 teams.

In sustaining his reputation, Adkins gave youngsters such as Jarod Bowen, the Tigers top scorer last season and midfielder David Myler, an extended run on his side.

This term, Adkins and Hull are working to lift themselves to three places off the bottom of the Championship table having won four, drawn as many times and lost nine of their league games in 17 outings.

Starting with Hull, ‘The Shirt’ will run on SportPesa social channels for four weeks with a new club series will be released during the period.

- Watch the full Nigel Adkins ‘The Shirt’ video here