Adams: Already graduated from University of Life (PhilCole/Allsport)

Tony Adams, a footballer with enough material to submit a fascinating dissertation about himself, might just be joining them in their biomechanics lectures.

If the Arsenal captain does choose to retire from his defensive duties after 19 years at Highbury, and he says it is a decision he will reach while on holiday in the south of France this summer, a return to education is among his more serious options.

'I've been putting off a lot of things for a number of years,' said Adams as he prepared for what will probably be his last FA Cup Final appearance, against Chelsea in Cardiff tomorrow.

'I've felt for some time that maybe a change in direction was needed, and a sports science degree is something I've thought about. Because I came straight into football, my education suffered. It's not something I regret, but perhaps it's time to go back to school.

'Education does interest me. I think the degree would touch on many different areas, and as yet I'm not sure which one I would ultimately like to go into, but it would give me a wider perspective.

When the French coaches do their licence they do a sport science degree alongside it, so who knows where it could take me?'

University hours would certainly allow him to spend more time at home and that, as much as aching bones, is why a life away from football now seems so appealing to the 35-year-old former England skipper.

'I'll make a final decision once I'm away from all this and on holiday,' he said. 'But my children are growing up - Oliver's 10 and Amber's seven - and they want their dad.

'This is a great life, a great job, and it's what I choose to do. But take this week. I had the kids on Sunday and Monday and yet I didn't see them. I was off to Bolton. See you later. And for the next couple of days I can't go to the park and play football with my son. I'm resting for the FA Cup Final, and on Friday night I'll be in Cardiff. Before I know it they will be 19 and gone.

'Weekends away would be nice as well, as would New Year's Eve and a Christmas Day when I didn't have to disappear off to a hotel in the evening.

'I lost my mum last Christmas and it would have been nice to have spent more time with her. My dad's now not very well. I want to be around.'

While the Adams family represents reason enough to end a glorious career with a testimonial match against Celtic on May 13, his body would also appreciate a less punishing existence. In recent years Adams has struggled with a variety of injury problems, one of the more recent of which was that most fashionable of complaints, the fractured metatarsal.

'I'm OK at the moment, and if I'm fit I'll play this weekend,' he said. 'I've had a good five months off this season and because of that I feel fairly fresh.

'Physically, though, the football is demanding. I can pretty much get away with it week to week, but if we're getting into the Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday scenario and I get a knock, the chances are I won't recover in time for the next match.

'I told Arsene Wenger there were periods over Christmas when I could have chucked it all in. I always felt I would like to lend a hand. I just wasn't sure in what capacity it would be.

'It happens to be playing, but I said I wanted to stick around even if it was from the sidelines cheering the boys on, and the manager said he would be supportive of anything I chose to do.

'The things I have to consider this summer are physical as well as emotional. I now have to have things in my boot to make sure I still run the way I always have. I'm very slow, but at 35 it's not good if a problem with your toes makes you run differently.'

Just how much he will miss being a professional sportsman is a question he simply cannot answer at the moment. 'If I feel, physically, that I can go on for another year, then perhaps I will,' he said. 'I will make my own decision, once I've detached myself from the footballing world. But the fact is you can't go on for ever. It will get to the point where it becomes impossible, and I want to go out at the top. I have my pride.

'How I feel about that once I walk away, I just don't know. There is bound to be a transitional period when it could be tough, but there is so much else I plan to do.'

First comes Chelsea tomorrow, followed by an opportunity to secure a second domestic Double in four years and a testimonial he hopes will raise a fortune for the Sporting Chance charity he supports.

After that, though, a graduate, with honours, from the university of life might turn his attention to his studies. Freshers' week could be interesting.