Former Wolves winger Adam Hammill swaps boots for boxing gloves - teaming up with ex-Molineux keeper

A night which, incidentally, will also feature fights for Hammill’s former Wolves team-mates Carl Ikeme and Chris Iwelumo.

For Hammill, a lifelong Liverpool fan and Academy graduate whose taste of the Premier League came with Wolves, heading into the ring is about far more than how well he boxes and raising some valuable funds for charity.  It is about finding a focus and a purpose.

“I think it can be very difficult when you finish playing football, and you lose that structure,” he explains.

“For me it was about dropping the kids at nursery at school, then having a few hours where I didn’t really know what to do with myself, and very quickly that can take hold.

“We are looked after as footballers so well – like babies almost.  If you need anything, from a pair of socks onwards, you just ask, and it is there!

“But then you lose all the structure and team environment at the end of your career and before you know it you feel lost.

“That has happened to me, I always struggle without a structure, and maybe ended up going for a beer at the weekend and then before I knew it, I was out on a Sunday.

“And that gym session I was going to do on a Monday has gone back to a Wednesday, and I just got complacent with everything.

“When I got the call from Stacky about this boxing, it coincided with a time when I had just started getting myself into shape, had started dieting and was back in the gym regularly.

“I really think that when you start doing things right and living your life properly then everything falls into place and opportunities come along and it felt like this was meant to be.

“It’s given me a purpose again, and a sense of pride, and the chance to show that with a bit of hard work and dedication you can achieve something.

“I’m not going to go into the ring and be like Rocky Marciano or anything like that but it’s all for a bigger purpose and to support two great charities.

“Even as footballers, we have lows, and it is so important to have a target to drive towards and for me, this night and whole experience is going to be nothing but positive.”

It feels like Hammill, now 38, is in a very good place in all respects at the moment.   He has always been a confident character, and a very articulate speaker. But as he himself recognises, at times during his career, could perhaps have been a bit more diligent. And worked a bit harder.

His two-and-a-half years at Molineux, albeit punctuated with effectively 12 months away on loans with Middlesbrough and Huddersfield, perhaps epitomised all of the above.

He arrived midway through the 2010/11 season, signed by boss Mick McCarthy as an exciting wing talent who had already notched eight goals in half a campaign in the Championship with Barnsley.

In all he would make 27 appearances, many from the bench, of which 19 were in the Premier League.   But at a time when Wolves were very much batting above their average in the division, a couple of seasons reasonably successfully, it was difficult for the more creative players to make an impression.

“The Premier League is very different to the Championship and always has been,” Hammill explains.

“I’d had some great times at Barnsley, where I’d previously been on loan, particularly under Mark Robins who was one of the best managers I ever worked under.

“He gave me the freedom to go and enjoy myself and make a positive impact where I could, and had players around me to get me the ball and told me to get into the opposition half.

“In the Championship you can get away with that, but then you go into the Premier League, with Wolves battling away, and you have to be an elite level player to get away with not working as hard as everyone else on the pitch.

“I understand all that, and how demanding Mick was in wanting discipline, and he was always a very honest manager which is what players want.

“When I look back, I thought I could have had a little bit more game time, and sometimes didn’t have as many opportunities as other players.

“And there were certain games I thought I did well, often against the more footballing teams where there was more time on the ball, and it wasn’t so much of a grind.

“It was probably a little too soon for me to go to Wolves, I wasn’t very mature at the time, infact I was immature.

“I was the last one in and first out of training, still a home boy who just wanted to get in, train, and then get home.

“As I got older, I developed more of an understanding of the game and realised the importance of hard work, and that was something I benefitted from later in my career.”

When talking about Hammill’s career, it could not have been launched anywhere else. Right on his doorstep, in Liverpool.

With the Academy from the age of six, and progressing all the way through to a scholarship, his football education came right out of the top drawer.

And that included some special advice and guidance from a true club legend Steve Heighway, then working within the youth set-up at Anfield.

“I spent 15 years in the Academy, a hell of a long time, and saw many players come and go during that time,” Hammill recalls.

“For me, growing up, it was the best I could have gone to, and we were really fortunate to be given tickets to every home game and to be able to meet the first team players.

“They would also look after us off the pitch as well, making sure we had a budget to eat the right foods and checking our behaviour at school, which is something I fell foul of from time to time.

“They did everything they could to get the best out of us, and I loved every minute, including when we won the FA Youth Cup against Manchester City.

“Steve Heighway was great for me because I was quite small as a youngster and had been playing as a number 10, number 9 and central midfielder.

“He could see that I had a couple of feet and was quite skilful and – believe it or not – I had a bit of pace back then!

“Steve was the first who put me out on the left, and helped me with the ‘Heighway Shuffle’, a move of touch, touch, drag it to your left and clip it in.

“He helped me completely change my outlook in football in terms of my position.”

It was as an outside left with the ability to go both ways – either past the defender on the outside or cutting onto his favoured right foot – that Hammill’s early career progressed, via several different loan spells.

For his first, at just 19, he chose to head to the Scottish Premier League with Dunfermline Athletic, which provided invaluable experience.

Not least as his first ever senior goal came in front of a crowd of nearly 60,000 away at Celtic, and the loan was completed by being part of another narrow defeat in the Scottish FA Cup Final against the same opposition at Hampden Park.  

Further loans followed with Southampton, Blackpool and Barnsley, where he appeared in the draw at Oakwell which saw Wolves clinch the Championship title, but eventually he realised it was time to find a new permanent home.

Every time he returned to Liverpool, they had signed a new winger and he found himself down the pecking order, and so, with a heavy heart but hugely appreciative of all he had learned, he joined Barnsley permanently.

It was from there he found his way to Wolves and, even if he has regrets, there were still big moments.

His Premier League debut came as a substitute against Liverpool, and the historic win when Wolves ended Manchester United’s season long unbeaten run two games later was his first Molineux start.

“Being able to play against that calibre of opposition was something else,” Hammill explains.

“I tell my son now I once played against a Ballon D’or winner and he says, ‘are you mad’ and ‘look at the belly on you now’ – typical Scouser with the banter.

“But I loved my time at Wolves with some of the results and playing at stadiums like the Etihad and the Emirates.

“They were a great set of lads and like I say, I always appreciated Mick’s honesty.

“Looking back, I did get on the wrong side of him a few times which I realise now but I have spoken to him a fair bit since and we enjoy each other’s company.

“One thing I do think about that I did wrong was not to set myself any targets when I came to Wolves.

“Up until then it had all been about playing in the Premier League, but once I made my debut, I was a bit too comfortable and didn’t fully appreciate the opportunity that I had.

“I needed those targets, maybe to play ten games in a row, produce five assists, or get more England Under-21 call-ups which I had for the first time at Wolves.

“But I didn’t do that, and I probably suffered as a result.

“I wish things had panned out differently and I had dedicated myself more but you live and learn from all your experiences.”

And learn he did as he continued his career at several different clubs, also returning to Molineux to score in the 4-0 win for Barnsley during the short-lived Molineux reign of Walter Zenga.

The main highlights arrived courtesy of that third spell with Barnsley during which he scored the decisive goal in the final of the Football League Trophy against Oxford at Wembley, and was on target in both the semi-final and final of the League One play-offs as the Tykes reached the Championship ten years ago.

Hammill was also man of the match in that final, also played at Wembley, but has been far more than just a man for the big occasion.

His love simply of playing the game would take him back to Scotland, with St Mirren, to Ireland, with Derry City, and into non-league well into his late 30s with Prescot Cables and Maghull.

“I just love the game and, since I was a toddler, I’d always have a ball at my feet and it’s all I have ever wanted to do,” he says.

“And that’s whether in the park, in the street, as a pro, or with my mates, which I have been doing up until recently and will do again once the boxing is done.

“I’ve been so lucky in the game and I would like to think I have always stayed humble, despite what has sometimes been said!

“A lot of people who meet me say they didn’t expect me to be like I am – relatively levelheaded – because there is the perception I’m a bit of a loose cannon!

“Listen, there have been occasions in my career where I have let myself down, and I would never shy away from that.

“But overall, that is not me, and sometimes reputations can build which aren’t completely accurate.

“I have always loved playing football and being part of a team, and hopefully that will continue as long as I can!”

Hammill is also making plans to enter the coaching arena in one form or another.  This summer he aims to complete his ‘B’ licence and, having already done some work with young players, is still to decide whether to try and test the water at club level or coach privately.

He certainly has plenty of experience to pass on alongside the tactical and technical side of the game.

That’s a question for the future, however.  For now, all roads lead to the Titanic Hotel on April 17th when Hammill, Ikeme and Iwelumo will all take to the ring.

Hammill, who says the former Wolves trio have already linked up and been chatting about old times, is coming up against Steve Jennings, who spent a hefty chunk of his career with Tranmere Rovers.

“My brother’s a good mate of Steve and it’s nice that we know each other, and we can have plenty of banter in the build-up,” he says.

“I’ve also been really enjoying the training, enjoying pushing myself, even enjoying the hurting!

“When you push yourself through that barrier and come through a really tough session, sitting in the sauna afterwards you feel a million dollars!

“When it comes to fight night, who knows how I am going to respond?! Was it Mike Tyson who said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face?

“I’m excited though, as us Scousers love a few things, football, boxing and maybe going out a little bit too much!

“It’s been great to catch up with the Wolves lads again as well, and I’m looking forward to a fantastic few weeks.”

Hammill enjoyed many ‘nights to remember’ – as the title of the bill states – during a lengthy professional career spanning well over a decade and in excess of 400 appearances.

He is now all set for another one, with a very different type of knockout in his sights!

Tickets are still available for ‘A Night To Remember II’ being staged by Pro Project Promotions and raising funds for Children Charity Merseyside and Autism Merseyside. Click here to visit the website.