![]() ![]() “Because he gets it, that’s why he’s got that connection with the fans,” Adie says. ![]() I show Adie the picture of Tyrone being carried off the pitch shoulder high after Villa beat Leicester in the semi-final second leg. ![]() It must be a little bit surreal at times, bearing in mind the number of people walking around with Mings on the back of their shirt and the fact that Prince William, an avid Villa fan, recently described Tyrone as his favourite player. We sat there and watched cup finals together and you sort of say, ‘One day, that could be you’, so for the day to finally come is immense.” But to then achieve what he’s achieved in the last 12 months, that’s what dreams are made of. So to then get to the next level up and get a move to Bournemouth and play in the Premier League, you really do start to pitch yourself. “When he got back in at Ipswich, you’re over the moon. But I still dreamt of him being a professional footballer,” he says. What’s going through his mind.”Īs we talk about that scene at Wembley later, it all feels so far removed from the days when Tyrone was playing non-league football and Adie, as the Chippenham Town manager, had a column in the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald newspaper that made the two of them think that he was famous at the time.Īdie smiles when it is put to him that there must have been a time when he could never have dreamed that he’d get to see his son playing in a major cup final at Wembley. The adrenaline, the emotion - what must be going through players’ minds. The nerves start to kick in just after the warm-up finishes, Adie explains, although they soon give way to a buzz of a different kind. I prepare like I do from when I was playing, so it started from last night for me, thinking about the game, and just hoping that it goes well.” That is not to say that Adie hasn’t been playing this cup final over and over in his mind, as so many parents do when they go to watch their son and hope that everything falls into place.Īsked whether he was thinking about the match during the three-hour drive from his home in Bournemouth this morning, he says: “All the time. “Or, ‘When De Bruyne is going through, give him a reducer!’” “I can’t be saying, ‘Make sure you get tight to Aguero,” Adie says, chuckling. But from the moment Tyrone signed for Mick McCarthy at Ipswich, he recognised that his role as a parent had changed to one where it was predominantly about providing support. Adie was a semi-professional footballer for Bath City and Gloucester City, and now works as a scout for Chelsea, so he knows and understands the game. That phone call is neither the time nor the place to be talking tactics - and those days are long gone anyway. “I’ll wish him all the best and say, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing.’” ![]() “He’ll ring in a little bit and we’ll have just a one, two-minute conversation,” he says. It was obviously written in the stars to see these special moments that he’s been through the last 13 months.”Īdie looks at his watch. To come through that, to be alive to see these days… there’s a reason why I’m here today. As for Adie, he counts himself fortunate to be here after undergoing 11-hour emergency heart surgery a little over two years ago to repair a ruptured aorta. Tyrone was working as a mortgage advisor and playing for Chippenham Town before turning professional with Ipswich Town in 2012. “Some players don’t get that in their career,” Adie says with a mixture of pride and incredulity in his voice.Ī father watching his son in a cup final is no ordinary day, especially given the journey that Adie and Tyrone have been on together. Two England caps, two Wembley appearances, one promotion, one cup final.” He shows one that reads, “In 13 months Ty has played 40 out of 46 games, one suspension, four injuries, one illness - that’s 89 per cent. Adie is scrolling through some WhatsApp messages on his phone. ![]()
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