| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Adrian Emmanuel Forbes[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1979-01-23)23 January 1979 (age 46)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Greenford, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Right midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Texoma FC (Head Coach & Sporting Director) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1996 | Norwich City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–2001 | Norwich City | 112 | (8) |
| 2001–2004 | Luton Town | 75 | (14) |
| 2004–2006 | Swansea City | 69 | (11) |
| 2006–2008 | Blackpool | 36 | (1) |
| 2008–2009 | Millwall | 13 | (0) |
| 2009 | →Grimsby Town (loan) | 15 | (3) |
| 2009–2010 | Grimsby Town | 13 | (1) |
| 2010–2012 | Lowestoft Town | 33 | (4) |
| Total | 363 | (38) | |
| International career | |||
| 1997 | England U18 | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2025– | Texoma FC | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Adrian Emmanuel Forbes (born 23 January 1979) is an English former professionalfootballer and current head coach and sporting director forUSL League One clubTexoma FC.
As a player, he was amidfielder andforward from 1996 until 2012. Having started his career withNorwich City in 1996 he remained with the club for six years establishing himself in the Canaries' first team before moving toLuton Town in 2001. He went on to play forSwansea City,Blackpool,Millwall andGrimsby Town. Having been relegated out of theFootball League with Grimsby in 2010, he was released by the club; he subsequently dropped intonon-league, joiningLowestoft Town, where he remained for two seasons before retiring from competitive football in May 2012.
Forbes scored the last league goal forSwansea City at theVetch Field against Shrewsbury Town on 30 April 2005 in a 1–0 win in front of 11,469 past a young Joe Hart . He then went on to score the winning goal against Bury to secure promotion to League 1 with a volley after 15 seconds in front of 6000 travelling Swansea fans.
Forbes began his career atNorwich City in 1995. He played under several different managers in his six years atCarrow Road, includingMartin O'Neill,Mike Walker andBruce Rioch. Forbes remained with City from 1996 to 2001, he played in 131 league games, scoring 8 goals.
In the summer of 2001 he moved toLuton Town in a £60,000 deal, and played in three seasons atKenilworth Road, notably playing his best football underMike Newell.
Forbes signed forSwansea City, who were then inFootball League Two, on a free transfer in 2004. In his first season at the club he was ever-present and scored seven goals.[2] On 30 April 2005, Forbes scored Swansea's last-ever league goal at theirVetch Field stadium in a 1–0 win overShrewsbury Town, before their move to theLiberty Stadium. The following match he scored again againstBury to earn the club automatic promotion toFootball League One.[2][3] Two years later, in May 2006, he was released by Swansea. Forbes claimed that there had been on-going discussions about a new contract and that he had expected to stay at the club. He reacted by saying he was "shocked and hurt" and that he left "with a very bitter taste" in his mouth about the way the club treated him.[2]
On 1 July he signed forBlackpool on a two-year contract with an option for a further year.[4] In December 2006, before Blackpool played Swansea atBloomfield Road, Forbes publicly slated Swansea managerKenny Jackett for the manner in which he was released from the club earlier that year, stating that he was still bitter at Jackett.[5] He scored his first goal for Blackpool on 6 March 2007, in a 2–0 win overAFC Bournemouth atBloomfield Road.[6] He played in Blackpool'sPlay-off final win overYeovil Town atWembley Stadium which earned the club promotion to theFootball League Championship for the first time since 1978.
On 3 January 2008, after failing to establish himself in Blackpool's Championship side, Forbes signed an 18-month contract withFootball League One clubMillwall despite recently being managed byKenny Jackett who released him atSwansea City over a year earlier. Forbes however only played 13 times for the club and struggled to establish himself as a first team player.[7]
Forbes signed forGrimsby Town, managed by Mike Newell, on 2 February 2009, signing on loan until the end of the 2008–2009 season. In his second game he scored an overhead kick to equalise in the 3–3 draw withBarnet. On 6 July 2009 following his release from Millwall, Forbes agreed to join Grimsby permanently on a two-year deal.[8] During the 09/10 season, Forbes struggled to break into the first team and was eventually ruled out for a lengthy period after breaking his leg. This coupled with playing second fiddle to other players and the failure to consistently earn a place in the team meant that he would only feature in 13 league matches throughout the entire season. Forbes had returned to fitness towards the end of the campaign but only made a cameo appearance as the season wound to a close. On 12 May 2010, Forbes was one of seven players placed who were deemed surplus to requirements and were placed on the transfer list byGrimsby managerNeil Woods following their relegation from theFootball League.[9] After failing to find a new club, Forbes was handed a squad number for the 2010–2011 season along withNick Colgan,Nick Hegarty andChris Jones who has also failed to sign terms elsewhere. On 13 July it was announced that Grimsby had accepted a request to let Forbes join league rivalsDarlington for 3 days of training with a view to a permanent move. Darlington had also requested to use Forbes in a friendly in which Grimsby boss Neil Woods declined.[10] Forbes had his contract at Grimsby cancelled by mutual consent on 1 September 2010.[11]
On 16 September 2010, Forbes joinedConference National sideHayes & Yeading on trial.[12]On 30 September 2010 Forbes joinedLowestoft Town, signing a two-year deal.[13] In May 2012 following the conclusion of the 2011–12 season Forbes announced his departure from Lowestoft and his retirement from competitive football.
In October 2011 Forbes re-joinedNorwich City as an academy coach on a part-time basis alongside his playing days with Lowestoft,[14] however following his retirement in May 2012 Forbes became a full-time coach with City. After gaining a full-time role at Norwich's Cat 1 academy looking after the U9 and U10 players he was promoted in September 2017 and he is currently the Lead Foundation Phase Coach and responsible for the day-to-day running of the U9 to U12 age groups as well as being the match day announcer at Carrow Road. He is also in year 4 of The Premier Leagues Elite Coaches Apprenticeship Scheme.
He worked as the Head of Coaching & Player Development atLuton Town for five years before moving to the United States.[15]
On 9 May 2024, Forbes was named as the first-ever sporting director forUSL League One clubTexoma FC.[16] He was announced as head coach for Texoma on 17 October 2024.[17]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Norwich City | 1996–97[18] | First Division | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 1997–98[19] | First Division | 33 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 4 | |
| 1998–99[20] | First Division | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 1999–2000[21] | First Division | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 2000–01[22] | First Division | 29 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 3 | |
| Total | 112 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 121 | 8 | ||
| Luton Town | 2001–02[23] | Third Division | 40 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 5 |
| 2002–03[24] | Second Division | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2003–04[25] | Second Division | 27 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 32 | 14 | |
| Total | 72 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 20 | ||
| Swansea City | 2004–05[26] | League Two | 40 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 48 | 7 |
| 2005–06[19] | League One | 29 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8[b] | 1 | 38 | 5 | |
| Total | 69 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 86 | 12 | ||
| Blackpool | 2006–07[27] | League One | 34 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 43 | 1 |
| 2007–08[28] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 36 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 1 | ||
| Millwall | 2007–08[28] | League One | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 2008–09[29] | League One | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| Grimsby Town (loan) | 2008–09[29] | League Two | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
| Grimsby Town | 2009–10[30] | League Two | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| 2010–11 | Conference Premier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 4 | ||
| Total | 330 | 38 | 23 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 378 | 45 | ||
Swansea City
Blackpool
