Adam John Forshaw (born 8 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Norwich City.
Forshaw began his career in the academy at Premier League side Everton and came to prominence at Brentford, with whom he won the 2013–14 League One Player of the Year award.
Club career
Everton
Forshaw joined the Everton academy at the age of seven. Prior to the beginning of the 2008–09 season, he was offered a place as a first-year scholar and soon claimed a regular place in the U18 squad. Towards the end of an injury-hit 2008–09 season, Forshaw made his reserve team debut on 29 March 2009, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–0 win over Wigan Athletic. First team manager David Moyes gave Forshaw his competitive debut in a dead rubber Europa League group stage match against BATE Borisov on 17 December 2009, in which he played the full 90 minutes. Forshaw was an unused substitute on two other occasions during the 2009–10 season and was the leading appearance-maker for the reserve team.
Forshaw made his Premier League debut as an 82nd-minute substitute in a 3–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 9 April 2011 and was an unused substitute for a further three league games towards the end of the 2010–11 season. Forshaw signed a one-year contract extension in June 2011 and was an unused substitute for the first team on two occasions during the 2011–12 season. He spent one month away on loan towards the end of the season and won the reserve team's Player of the Year award. Forshaw was not offered a new contract and was released in May 2012.
Brentford
On 24 February 2012, Forshaw joined League One club Brentford on a one-month youth loan. He made his debut the following day as a 69th-minute substitute for Sam Saunders in a 0–0 draw with Scunthorpe United. Forshaw made seven appearances and returned to Everton after sustaining a broken jaw in a 2–0 victory over Rochdale on 24 March.
Forshaw joined Brentford permanently on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee in May 2012. He scored the first professional goal of his career in a 1–0 victory over Oldham Athletic on 22 September 2012. Forshaw received the first red card of his career after picking up a second yellow card in a 2–1 league victory over Crawley Town on 26 February 2013. After Brentford missed out on automatic promotion to the Championship following a 1–0 defeat to Doncaster Rovers, it was Forshaw who scored the winning penalty in the playoff semi-final shoot-out against Swindon Town to send the Bees to the final. Forshaw played in the final against Yeovil Town at Wembley Stadium, but a 2–1 defeat consigned Brentford to another season in League One. He made 53 appearances during the 2012–13 season and scored three goals.
Forshaw signed a new three-year contract on 27 June 2013 and scored his first goal of the 2013–14 season in a 3–1 victory over Sheffield United on 10 August. With the absence of regular penalty taker Kevin O'Connor through injury, Forshaw assumed the role and scored his third penalty of the season (his fifth goal overall) in a 3–0 away league victory over Preston North End on 21 December. A run of 24 consecutive league starts ended when he was left out of the squad for a 2–0 win over Port Vale at Griffin Park on 11 January 2014 due to a calf problem. On 16 March, Forshaw was named as the 2014 League One Player of the Year. Forshaw was sent off for the second time of his career in a 1–0 defeat to Swindon Town on 12 April and owing to being suspended, he was absent for Brentford's automatic promotion-clinching 1–0 victory over Preston North End on 18 April. His final appearance of the season came in a 2–2 draw with Milton Keynes Dons on 21 April and the following day, he underwent surgery to correct a long-standing ankle problem. Forshaw made 40 appearances during the 2013–14 season and scored eight goals. He was also named in the League One PFA Team of the Year and in the League One Team of the Year.
After missing Brentford's first 2014–15 pre-season friendly in July 2014, manager Mark Warburton stated that Forshaw would be available for the final pre-season games. In early August, Forshaw was told to stay away from the club's training ground after two "totally unacceptable" bids for the player were received from Championship rivals Wigan Athletic, managed by former Brentford manager Uwe Rösler. After missing the early regular-season matches with a hamstring strain, it was announced on 25 August that Wigan Athletic had met Brentford's valuation of Forshaw and he was free to talk with the Latics. Forshaw departed the club on 1 September and made 100 appearances and scored 11 goals during his two spells with the club.